Kama

Kama, also called Kandarpa and identified as the god of love, enters the narrative as a power that can unsettle even a sage. His role is brief but consequential: desire helps shape an encounter that ends in a curse, while Kama’s flight marks his withdrawal from its violent aftermath.

Identity and Influence

Kama is named through Kandarpa, whose might is said to have subdued the sage as he beheld a beautiful woman in a secluded retreat. The account attributes the sage’s changed state to Kama’s influence, making love an active force in the scene rather than simply a quality of the woman he sees. The passage does not describe Kama’s own appearance or give him speech; his presence is registered through its effect on another person.

The Encounter and the Curse

Under that influence, the sage addresses the woman. The encounter then turns sharply: an angry sage’s curse transforms her into stone. Kama hears the words of the curse and quickly flees from the sage’s presence. The sequence gives his influence a clear limit: he can contribute to desire, but the curse brings a consequence that prompts his retreat.

Narrative Role

Kama’s brief appearance links desire with the danger of disrupting ascetic self-command. The scene does not establish that he causes the curse or controls its outcome; instead, it places his power at the beginning of an episode whose decisive action belongs to the angry sage. His flight supplies the closing reversal: the force that had subdued another withdraws when anger and supernatural punishment take over.