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Thus Vāch or Sarasvatī, the goddess of speech and learning, came to be regarded as the śakti, or consort of Brahmā; Śrī or Lakshmī, “beauty, fortune,” as that of Vishṇu; and Umā or �����������ī, the daughter of Himavat, the god of the Himālaya mountain, as that of Śiva.

The interesting office of the god of love is held by Kāmadeva, also called Ananga, the bodyless, because, as the myth relates, having once tried by the power of his mischievous arrow to make Śiva fall in love with �����������ī, whilst he was engaged in devotional practices, the urchin was reduced to ashes by a glance of the angry god.

Two other mythological figures of some importance are considered as sons of Śiva and �����������ī, viz.

At the temple built on the top of a conical hill at Bherāghāt, overlooking the river, is a statue of a bull carrying Siva, the god of destruction, and his wife �����������ī seated behind him; they have both snakes in their hands, and Siva has a large one round his loins as a waistband.

The popular belief is that in a dispute between him and his wife, �����������ī, alias Kālī, she cursed the person that should thenceforward dare to drink of the water that flowed over his images on earth.