Introduction
Rati, "pleasure" or "passion", is the goddess of love and sensual delight, and the wife of Kama, the god of love. She is the companion of Kama, and is often shown beside him.
Family
- Husband: Kama
The word rati
In Sanskrit, rati means delight, enjoyment and especially sexual pleasure, and is one of the basic emotions (sthayibhava) in Indian aesthetics. In the Sanskrit theory of rasa, rati, love, is the basis of the erotic sentiment (shringara rasa). Ratirahasya ("secrets of love") is the name of a medieval Sanskrit treatise by Kokkoka.
Origin
In several Puranas, Rati is a daughter of Daksha, said in some accounts to have been born from his sweat. She married Kama, and is his constant companion.
The lament
When Shiva burned Kama to ashes, Rati was overcome with grief. Kalidasa's poem Kumarasambhava has a long lament of Rati (Canto 4), which is a famous example of poetry of sorrow (karuna rasa). Shiva, moved by her pleading, promised that Kama would return, but without a body.
Mayavati
The Bhagavata Purana and Harivamsha tell that Rati took the name Mayavati and lived in the house of the demon Shambara, as his cook. When the infant Pradyumna, the reborn Kama, was thrown into the sea by Shambara, and swallowed by a fish, the fish was caught and brought to Mayavati. Recognising the child, she raised him, told him who he was, and taught him the arts of illusion. After he killed Shambara, they were reunited.
Meaning
Rati is the fulfillment of desire. The story of Kama and Rati is one of loss and return, in which love survives even the destruction of its object.