Editing Rati (section)

==Legend==

=== Birth and marriage ===
[[File:Rati on composite horse.jpg|thumb|left|Rati on a composite horse]]
The ''[[Kalika Purana]]'' narrates the following tale about Rati's birth. After the creation of the 10 ''[[Prajapati|Prajapatis]]'', [[Brahma]] – the creator-god – creates Kama (Kamadeva), the god of love, from his mind. Kama is ordered to spread love in the world by shooting his flower-arrows. ''Prajapati'' [[Daksha]] is requested to present a wife to Kama. Kama first uses his arrows against Brahma and the ''Prajapatis'', who are all incestuously attracted to Brahma's daughter Sandhya ("Twilight-dawn/dusk"). The god [[Shiva]], gets enraged by the heinous act of Brahma and shows his condemnation. Embarrassed, Brahma and the ''Prajapatis'' tremble and perspire. From the sweat of Daksha rises a beautiful woman named Rati, who Daksha presents to Kama as his wife. At the same time, the agitated Brahma curses Kama to be burnt to ashes by Shiva in the future. However, on Kama's pleading, Brahma assures him that he would be reborn.<ref name = "Mani">''Rati'': Mani pp. 644–5</ref> The ''[[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]]'' narrates that Sandhya committed suicide, after Brahma lusts for her. The god [[Vishnu]] resurrects her and names her Rati, and marries her to Kama. The ''[[Shiva Purana]]'' mentions that after her suicide, Sandhya is reborn from the sweat of Daksha as Rati.<ref name = "K253ff">Kramrisch pp. 253–4</ref> In some texts, Shiva is described as the father of Rati.<ref name="suresh"/>

The ''[[Harivamsa]]'', an appendix to the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'', mentions that Kama and Rati have two children, Harsha ("Joy") and Yashas ("Grace"). However, the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' mentions that Rati, as ''Nandi'', only has one son – Harsha.<ref name = "H165">Hopkins p. 165</ref> The epics ''Mahabharata'' as well as the ''[[Ramayana]]'', also attest to Rati being the consort of Kama.<ref>Hopkins p. 199</ref>

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=== Rebirth as Mayavati ===
{{redirect|Mayavati|the Uttar Pradesh politician|Mayawati}}
The demon [[Tarakasura]] had created havoc in the universe, and only the son of god [[Shiva]] could slay him, but Shiva had turned to ascetic ways after the death of his first wife, [[Dakshayani|Sati]]. Kama was thus instructed by the gods to make Shiva fall in love again. Kama went to [[Mount Kailash]] with Rati and Madhu or Vasanta ("Spring"), and shot his love-arrows at Shiva (in another version of the legend, Kama entered Shiva's mind) and invoked desire. Wounded by Kama's arrows, Shiva becomes attracted to [[Parvati]], the reincarnation of Sati, but agitated, burns Kama by a glance of his third eye.<ref name = "wilkins">{{cite book|last= W.J. Wilkins|title=Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/hmvp/hmvp32.htm|year=1900|publisher=Sacred Texts Archive|chapter=Kamadeva|isbn= 1-4021-9308-4}}</ref><ref name = "Kama">''Kama'': Mani pp. 378–9</ref><ref name = "B41"/>

[[File:Pradyuman.jpg|thumb|left|Kama as Pradyumna with Rati as Mayavati, return to [[Dvārakā|Dvaraka]]]]
The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' narrates further that the grief-stricken Rati goes mad by Kama's death<ref name = "wilkins"/> and in the ''[[Matsya Purana]]'' and the ''[[Padma Purana]]'' versions, she smears herself with her husband's ashes.<ref name = "B41"/> Further in ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', Rati undergoes severe penance and pleads with Parvati to intercede with Shiva to restore her husband. Parvati reassures her that Kama would be reborn as [[Pradyumna]], the son of [[Krishna]], the [[avatar]] of the god [[Vishnu]] on earth, and Rati should wait for him in the demon ([[asura]]) Sambara's house.<ref name = "wilkins"/> In other versions of the narrative like the ''Matsya Purana'', the ''Padma Purana'', the ''[[Shiva Purana]]'', the ''[[Linga Purana]]'' and the ''[[Kathasaritsagara]]'', it is Shiva who blesses Rati with the boon of Kama's resurrection.<ref name = "Kama"/><ref name = "B41">Benton p. 41</ref><ref>Benton p. 66</ref> 

In other variants, she curses the gods who sent Kama for this doomed mission and the gods, as a group or Brahma, seeks relief for the grieving Rati from Shiva or [[Mahadevi|the Supreme Goddess]], Parvati being one of her many manifestations. In some legends, like the one in the ''[[Brahmanda Purana]]'', the Goddess revives Kama immediately, hearing the pleading of the wailing Rati and the gods.<ref>Benton pp. 52, 61</ref> The renowned Sanskrit poet [[Kalidasa]] dedicates canto IV discussing the plight of Rati in his ''[[Kumarasambhava]]'', which focuses on the story of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati and the birth of their son [[Kartikeya]], who kills Tarakasura. Canto IV narrates that Rati witnesses the death of her husband and laments his death, and then tries to immolate herself on a funeral pyre. A heavenly voice stops her on time, stating that after the marriage of Shiva, he will revive her husband.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kale |first1=M R|last2=Kālidāsa|title=Kumārasambhava of Kālidāsa|edition=7|date=1999 |orig-year=1923|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=81-208-0161-X|page=xxiv }} See also the English translation and Sanskrit original of canto IV</ref>

The ''Kedara Khanda'' chapter of the ''[[Skanda Purana]]'' presents a very different version. In this version, after the burning of Kama, Parvati is worried that she could not achieve Shiva in absence of Kama. Parvati is consoled by Rati, who asserts that she will revive Kama and starts severe austerities to achieve her goal. Once, the divine sage [[Narada]] asks her "whose she was". Agitated, Rati insults Narada. The spiteful Narada provokes the demon Sambara to kidnap Rati. Sambara takes her to his house, but is unable to touch her as the goddess decreed that he would be reduced to ashes if he touches her. There, Rati becomes the "kitchen in-charge" and is known as Mayavati ("mistress of illusion – ''[[Maya (Hinduism)|Maya]]''").<ref name="wendy"/>

[[File:Kama sur le temple de Parshvanath (Khajuraho) (8638392628).jpg|thumb|Sculpture of Kama and Rati at [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho]]]]

The ''Bhagavata Purana'' and the ''Kathasaritsagara'' continue, that on advice of Shiva, Rati assumes the form of Sambara's kitchen-maid Mayavati and awaits her husband's arrival in Sambara's house. Sambara is foretold that the reborn Kama would be his destroyer. Sambara finds out that Kama was born as Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and his chief wife, [[Rukmini]]. He steals the child and throws him in the ocean, where the child is swallowed by a fish. This fish is caught by fishermen and sent to Sambara's kitchen. When the fish is cut, the child is found by Mayavati, who decides to nurture him. The divine sage [[Narada]] reveals to Mayavati that she was Rati and the child was Kama, and that she was to rear him. As the child grew up, the motherly love of Mayavati changes to the passionate love of a wife. The reborn Kama resents her advances, as he considers her his mother. Mayavati tells him the secret of their previous births as narrated by Narada and that he was not her son, but that of Krishna and Rukmini. Mayavati trains Pradyumna in magic and war and advises him to kill Sambara. Pradyumna defeats Sambara and slays him. He returns to [[Dvārakā|Dvaraka]], Krishna's capital with Mayavati as his wife, where they are welcomed.<ref name = "wilkins"/>

The ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' and the ''[[Harivamsa]]'' also have a similar account, though the reincarnation of Rati is called Mayadevi and described as Sambara's wife, rather than his maid. Both these scriptures safeguard her chastity saying that Rati donned an illusionary form to enchant Sambara. The ''[[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]]'' explicitly states that Rati does not sleep with Sambara, but gave him the illusionary form of Mayavati.<ref name = "wilkins"/><ref>Hopkins p. 214</ref><ref name = "B71ff">Benton pp. 71–3</ref> Rati-Mayavati takes a critical role in all narratives of this story where she seduces – by her ''Maya'' – both Sambara and Kama-Pradyumna, her "son" who she convinces to be her lover. All texts at the end stress on her purity, untouched by another man.<ref name = "B71ff"/>

The ''Harivamsa'' describes [[Aniruddha]], the son of Pradyumna, as "the son of Rati".<ref>Hopkins p. 164</ref>