Kamadeva, Kama-deva, Kāmadeva: 25 definitions
Introduction:
Kamadeva means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, the history of ancient India, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
Alternative spellings of this word include Kamdev.
Images (photo gallery)
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—See under Kāma.
1a) Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—The form in which Hari reveals himself to Lakṣmī in the continent of Ketumāla.1 Fought with Durmarṣa in a Devāsura war.2 Overlord of all Apsaras and ṛtus3 (see kāma); as part of the gift of kalpapādapa.4
- 1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa V. 18. 15.
- 2) Ib. VIII. 10. 33.
- 3) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 8. 15.
- 4) Matsya-purāṇa 277. 6. Vāyu-purāṇa 70. 14.
1b) The son of Yaśodharā (Yaśodhāri, Vāyu-purāṇa.).*
- * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa II. 11. 35; Vāyu-purāṇa 28. 30.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Kavya (poetry)
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) is the name of an important person (viz., an Ācārya or Kavi) mentioned in Rājaśekhara’s 10th-century Kāvyamīmāṃsā.—One of the eighteen disciple of Kāvya-puruṣa. According to Rājaśekhara he was composed the gratification-śāstra (Binod śāstra). However it is not confirmed that he was the Kāmadeva or the any other Ācārya.
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) is the name of a merchant, as mentioned in the Vividhatīrthakalpa by Jinaprabhasūri (13th century A.D.): an ancient text devoted to various Jaina holy places (tīrthas).—Accordingly, “The merchant Kāmadeva becomes a lay faithful after having listened to Mahāvīra in Campā. One day, a god of false belief decides to test him. He first takes the form of a monstrous Piśāca and threatens three times to tear Kāmadeva to pieces, if he does not give up the practice of the Law. [...]. After the sermon, Mahāvīra evokes the upasarga of Kāmadeva and praises his courage: he is an example to follow for monks who must be at least at the level of a layman”.
Cf. Uvāsagadasāo Hoernle 1890 I (text) p. 45-66, II (translation) p. 64-89; Āvaśyakacūrṇi I 454.9-455.2 (short version); Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra X.8. v. 265-275: Johnson VI p. 208-209 (includes only the episode of Kāmadeva's conversion to Jainism).
Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Kalpa (Formulas, Drug prescriptions and other Medicinal preparations)
1) Kāmadeva (कामदेव) or Kāmadevacūrṇa refers to one of the topics discussed in the Rasakaumudī, a Sanskrit manuscript collected in volume 1 of the catalogue “Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts (first series)” by Rajendralal Mitra (1822–1891), who was one of the first English-writing historians dealing with Indian culture and heritage.—The Rasakaumudī by Mādhavakara represents a treatise on practice of medicine and therapeutics. It is a leading work on Hindu medicine, very largely studied in Bengal containing causes and symptoms of diseases. It contains 3,092 ślokas.—The catalogue includes the term—Kāmadeva-cūrṇa in its ‘subject-matter list’ or Viṣaya (which lists topics, chapters and technical terms). The complete entry reads: (1) kāmadevacūrṇaṃ (2) kāmadevarasaḥ.
2) Kāmadeva (कामदेव) also refers to one of the topics discussed in the Yogāmṛta, a large Ayurvedic compilation dealing with the practice of medicine and therapeutics authored by Gopāla Sena, Kavirāja, of Dvārandhā. It is dated to the 18th century and contains 11,700 ślokas.—The complete entry reads: kāmadevaghṛtaṃ.
Unclassified Ayurveda definitions
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) is the father of Hemādri: the author of the Āyurvedarasāyana: a commentary on the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā: one of the three great works of Vāgbhaṭa.—Hemādri was the son of Kāmadeva, grandson of Vāsudeva, and great-grandson of Vāmana. Besides the Caturvargacintāmaṇi and Āyurvedarasāyana, he wrote several other works (Śrāddhapaddhati, Hemādriprayoga, Nānāśāntayaḥ, Tristhalīvidhi) and commentaries (on Vopadeva’s Muktāphala and Śaunaka’s Pravaṇakalpa); but he is different from Bhaṭṭa Hemādri, the son of Īśvarasūri and author of the Raghuvaṃśadarpaṇa.
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Kamadeva is the Hindu god of human love or desire. He is the son of the Hindu goddess Sri.
Puranas: In some Kamadeva arises from the mind of the creator god, Brahma: in others he is the son of Sri. Kamadeva is sometimes portrayed as being at the service of Indra: one of his names is "obedient to Indra".
One of the principal myths regarding Kama is that of his incineration by Shiva. It occurs in its most developed form in the Matsya Purana (verses 227-255) but is also repeated with variants in the Shaiva Purana and other Puranas.
According to the text Shiva Purana, Kamadeva is a son or a creation of Brahma, while according to other sources including the Skanda Purana, Kamadeva is a brother of Prasuti; they are both the children of Shatarupa, a creation of Brahma. Later interpolations consider him the son of Vishnu Kamadeva is wed to Ratī, the daughter of Daksha, created from his sweat.
Iconography: Kāmadeva is represented as a young, handsome winged man with green skin who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugarcane with a string of honeybees, and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers.
Etymology: Kāmadeva (Sanskrit in Devanagari: कामदेव), (Bengali: কামদেব), also called Māra. The name Kama-deva (IAST kāma-deva) can be translated as 'god of love'. Deva means heavenly or divine. Kama (IAST kāma) meaning "desire" or "longing", especially as in sensual or sexual love.
Other names for him include;
- Manmathudu (Telugu: మన్మథుడు)
- Atanu (Telugu: అతను) (one without a body),
- Ragavrinta (stalk of passion),
- Ananga (incorporeal),
- Kandarpa (inflamer even of a god),
- Madan "Manmatha" मन्मथ
- Manmadha (churner of hearts),
- Manasija {he who is born of mind}, a contraction of the Sanskrit phrase Sah Manasah jāta),
- Madana (intoxicating),
- Ratikānta (lord of Rati),
- Pushpavān,
- Pushpadhanva,
- Kusumashara कुसुमशर (one with arrow of flowers)
- or just Kāma (longing).
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) is the name of a Buddha under whom Śākyamuni (or Gautama, ‘the historical Buddha’) acquired merit along the first through nine bhūmis, according to the Mahāvastu. There are in total ten bhūmis representing the ten stages of the Bodhisattva’s path towards enlightenment.
Kāmadeva is but one among the 500 Buddhas enumerated in the Mahāvastu during a conversation between Mahākātyāyana and Mahākāśyapa, both principle disciples of Gautama Buddha. The Mahāvastu is an important text of the Lokottaravāda school of buddhism, dating from the 2nd century BCE.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) or the Cupid was an object of worship and temples of Kāmadevas existed in ancient India. The Jainas, too evolved a list of Kāmadevas, but their role was different. Behind the Jaina concept of a Kāmadeva, it is his extremely beautiful person that was emphasised and he had not the powers of shooting arrows on young men and women. Bāhubali, the great sage, was the first Kāmadeva.
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) refers to one of the ten householders mentioned in the Upāsaka Daśā, one of the Dvādaśāṅgī (twelve Aṅgas) of Jainism.—As the name suggests 'uvāsagadasāo', the seventh Aṃga describes about the ten devotees (layman - householders). Its chapters are also ten, and so the name is appropriate. It has 1 Śruta skaṇdha, 10 chapters, 10 topics and 10 sub topics. It comprises of thousands of verses. Presently the quantity of this Āgama is 812 verses (ślokas). Its ten chapters describe the life of individual votaries like Anand et al. pertaining to different castes and professions [i.e., Kāmadeva].
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) or Kāmadevakathā refers to one of the 157 stories embedded in the Kathāmahodadhi by Somacandra (narrating stories from Jain literature, based on the Karpūraprakara), which is included in the collection of manuscripts at the ‘Vincenzo Joppi’ library, collected by Luigi Pio Tessitori during his visit to Rajasthan between 1914 and 1919.—The Kathāmahodadhi represents a repository of 157 stories [e.g., Kāmadeva-kathā] written in prose Sanskrit, although each of them is preceded by a verse. Together, they stage a large number of Jain characters (including early teachers). [...]
Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.
India history and geography
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) is the name of a Poet mentioned in the 13th century Saduktikarṇāmrita by Śrīdhara Dāsa (son of Vaṭu Dāsa) who was a chief over several districts (called a mahāmaṇḍalika).—The Sadukti-Karnamrita is a collection of miscellaneous verses by different authors and on various subjects, five verses being devoted to each subject. There are 446 poets identified (for example, Kāmadeva) some of which in the feminine gender (intended for females) while others are of Buddhist monks etc.
The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—
1) the god of love.
2) Name of Śiva.
3) Name of Viṣṇu.
Kāmadeva is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms kāma and deva (देव).
Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—name of a former Buddha: Mahāvastu i.140.14.
Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—m. the god of love, [Harivaṃśa, (ed. Calc.)] 270. Kāvya-devī, f. a proper name.
Kāmadeva is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms kāma and deva (देव).
Kāmadeva (कामदेव).—[masculine] the god of love.
1) Kāmadeva (कामदेव) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—king of Jayantīpurī, patron of Kavirāja (Rāghavapāṇḍavīya). Oxf. 121^a.
2) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—king, patron of Raghunātha (Satkṛtyamuktāvalī). L. 1664.
3) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—son of Vāsudeva, grandson of Vāmana, father of Hemādri (Caturvargacintāmaṇi).
4) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—poet. [Sūktikarṇāmṛta by Śrīdharadāsa] Mentioned in Bhojaprabandha Oxf. 150^b.
5) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—astronomer. Rice. 28.
6) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—son of Gopāla: Karmapradīpikā Pāraskarasūtrapaddhati. W. p. 65. Pāraskaragṛhyapariśiṣṭapaddhati. Proceed. Asb. 1869, 137.
7) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—Dāyabhāganirṇaya.
8) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—(?): Kāmasāra.
1) Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—[=kāma-deva] [from kāma] m. the god of love (See kāma above; according to some, son of Sahiṣṇu and Yaśo-dharā, [Viṣṇu-purāṇa])
2) [v.s. ...] Name of Viṣṇu (as the god who creates, preserves, or destroys at will), [Viṣṇu-smṛti, viṣṇu-sūtra, vaiṣṇava-dharma-śāstra xcviii, 10] (cf. [Bhāgavata-purāṇa v, 18, 15])
3) [v.s. ...] of Śiva, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] of a poet
5) [v.s. ...] of a king of Jayantī-purī
6) [v.s. ...] Name of the author of the Prāyaścitta-paddhati
Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—(kāma + deva) m.
1) der Liebesgott [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 3, 3, 199.] gandharvāpsarasāṃ caiva kāmadevaṃ tathā prabhum [Harivaṃśa 270.] sarvāpsarogaṇānāṃ ca kāmadevaḥ kṛtaḥ prabhuḥ [12499.] [Viṣṇupurāṇa 153, Nalopākhyāna 1.] Sohn des Sahiṣṇu und der Yaśodharā [83, Nalopākhyāna 6.] kāmadevāvatāra [Kathāsaritsāgara 11, 78.] Auf Śiva übertragen [Śivanāmasahasra] —
2) Nomen proprium eines Mannes [Weber’s Verzeichniss No. 266.] [Rājataraṅgiṇī 5, 468.]
--- OR ---
Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—
1) tva n. nom. abstr. [Kathāsaritsāgara 64, 133.] —
2) ein Dichter [Oxforder Handschriften 150,b,25.] Fürst von Jayantīpurī [121,a, No. 212.] Verfasser der Prāyaścittapaddhati [293,a, No. 709.]
--- OR ---
Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—
2) [Hemacandra] [Yogaśāstra 3, 137.]
Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—m. —
1) der Liebesgott. Nom.abstr. tva n. —
2) Beiname — a) Viṣnu’s [Viṣṇusūtra 98,10.] Vgl. [Bhāgavatapurāṇa 5,18,15.] — b) Śiva's. —
3) Nomen proprium verschiedener Männer.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Kāmadeva (कामदेव) [Also spelled kamdev]:—(nm) Cupid-the god of love.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Kāmadēva (ಕಾಮದೇವ):—
1) [noun] Kāma, the Love-God.
2) [noun] Śiva.
3) [noun] Viṣṇu.
4) [noun] name of a musical mode (now obs.).
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Kāmadeva (कामदेव):—n. Mythol. Cupid; Eros; the god of love and sex;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
Pali-English dictionary
kāmadeva (ကာမဒေဝ) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[kāma+deva]
[ကာမ+ဒေဝ]
[Pali to Burmese]
kāmadeva—
(Burmese text): ကာမနတ်၊ ကာမဝစရနတ်။
(Auto-Translation): Kama Natt, Kama Vasara Natt.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Kama, Deva.
Starts with (+0): Kamadeva kavivallabha, Kamadeva maharaja, Kamadeva mimamsakadikshita, Kamadevacurna, Kamadevaghrita, Kamadevaghrita, Kamadevakatha, Kamadevaloka, Kamadevamaya, Kamadevarasa, Kamadevatva, Kamadevavatisarasamgraha.
Full-text (+388): Rati, Kamadevamaya, Kamadevaloka, Kusumaketukamadeva, Devakama, Ratipriya, Samdipana, Minaketana, Kamadevatva, Kandarpa, Shoshana, Shukavaha, Madana, Madanakamadeva, Santapana, Pushpeshu, Shatkamadeva, Suvasanta, Asidamshtra, Hricchaya.
Relevant text
Search found 135 books and stories containing Kamadeva, Kama-deva, Kāma-deva, Kāma-dēva, Kāmadeva, Kāmadēva; (plurals include: Kamadevas, devas, dēvas, Kāmadevas, Kāmadēvas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Krishna Sandarbha of Jiva Goswami (by Kusakratha Prabhu)
Garga Samhita (English) (by Danavir Goswami)
Verse 6.2.24 < [Chapter 2 - Residence in Śrī Dvārakā]
Verse 1.3.39 < [Chapter 3 - Description of the Lord’s Appearance]
Verse 1.4.49 < [Chapter 4 - Description of Questions About the Lord’s Appearance]
Bhajana-Rahasya (by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura Mahasaya)
Text 17 < [Chapter 7 - Saptama-yāma-sādhana (Pradoṣa-kālīya-bhajana–vipralambha-prema)]
Text 12 < [Chapter 7 - Saptama-yāma-sādhana (Pradoṣa-kālīya-bhajana–vipralambha-prema)]
Text 23 < [Chapter 8 - Aṣṭama-yāma-sādhana (Rātri-līlā–prema-bhajana sambhoga)]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 556 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 2]
Page 567 < [Hindi-Bengali-English Volume 2]
Page 367 < [Hindi-Assamese-English Volume 1]
Society as depicted in the Chaturbhani (study) (by Mridusmita Bharadwaj)
Part 3.1 - Temple and worship of Kāmadeva < [Chapter 4 - Critical assessment of the Society as depicted in the Caturbhāṇī]
Part 6.3 - Comparison of Religious Aspects reflected in the Caturbhāṇī < [Chapter 4 - Critical assessment of the Society as depicted in the Caturbhāṇī]
Part 5.3 - Subject-matter of the Pādatāḍitaka < [Chapter 3 - introduction to the Bhāṇas of the Caturbhāṇī]