Kama in the Vishnusahasranama

This title was created on the 14th of February - it sounded promising. Perhaps there would be some astounding revelations inside, shaking the very foundations of Hinduism? An exposé of some sort, like, OMG Lord Krishna had this child we never knew about, whose descendants now live in various parts of Bangalore and are part of this super-clandestine organization.

Humph, I wish it was something as exciting as that. But non monsieur, il est tout à fait prosaic. It is merely a listing of all the verses in this poem called the Vishnu Sahasranama which contain the word 'kama'. Sigh. That's all. You see, I wanted to somehow bring in the significance of that day being the 14th of February... (Psst, you know, it's that day that deserves a Statutory Warning for men: Forgetting to physically express your undying love to your sweetheart on the Fourteenth day of February can be injurious to your love life.) So I tried hard. I located all the verses. And found a couple websites that provide their interpretations for these verses. Listed them all down. Then I wanted to make the post sensational. So I took this photo I had taken of me kissing my wife on the windswept peak of the Devarayanadurga hills, and after tweaking it to make it family-friendly, decided to upload it to this article. But then, how would I associate it with the previous scholastic listing of verses from the Vishnu Sahasranama? I couldn't just say, ok folks, that's all for the listing, and now, here's a picture of me and my dearie . No, that wouldn't work.

So until I get some ideas, this article will remain sensation-free. Ok here goes. The Vishnu Sahasranama, as you may already know from here, is poetry in praise of God. Reciting this produces a wonderful feeling inside... a sense of warmth, and peace - a feeling similar to experiencing love. 'Kama', as you may have already seen in titles of certain literary works, translates to 'desire'. It can also take the meanings of love, lust and pleasure. This word occurs a few times in the Vishnu Sahasranamam, in various contexts. These occurrences are noted here, with their possible interpretations. (Sources: 1, 2)

kAmahaa kAmakRut kAntaH kAmaH kAmapradaH prabhuH || (32)

kAmahaa: the Destroyer of material desires.

kAmakRut: One who fulfils the desires. (Note that these desires should obviously be non-material desires, or else they would get destroyed.)

kAmaH: The ultimate Lovable who creates desirable things (This is tricky - can these things can be material? If not, what is a non-material thing made of? Can you have non-material desires for material things?)

kAmapradaH: the Grantor of wishes.

kAmadEvaH kAmapAlaH kAmI kAntaH kRutAgamaH | (70)

kamadEvaH: The One who grants all desires. (Again, these better be desires certified as acceptable to God.)

kamapAlaH: The Protector of the gifts that He bestows, and the Protector of those who desire Him.

kAmI: He who has all things that are desirable, and He who is of fulfilled desires.

bhArabhRut kathitO yOgI yOgIshaH sarvakAmadaH | (91)

sarvakAmadaH: He who bestows all desires.

Yes, that's all folks. No photos here. Sorry, it didn't get past my puritanic editor ;)