Round 3: Tossup 14

The Agnishvattas (“UG-nee-SHVAH-tuhs”) are born from Brahma’s sweat after this god distresses the maiden Sandhya soon after his birth from Brahma’s mind. It’s not Krishna, but most depictions of the self-decapitated goddess Chhinnamasta show her standing on this god as he couples with his wife. This god is reborn as the bodiless Ananga after he disrupts the meditation (-5[1])of another deity using (10[1])blooming flowers, a gentle breeze, and buzzing bees as part of a plan to defeat the asura, Taraka. A treatise by Vatsyayana named for this god advises that men should acquire dharma (10[1])in their old age, and attend to both artha and the treatise’s titular concept in their youth. A parrot serves as the mount of this god, (10[1])who is incinerated by the third eye of Shiva after he fires his sugarcane bow. For 10 points, what Hindu god of love lends his name to an erotic (-5[1])Sanskrit (10[2])sutra? ■END■ (10[3])

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