Moon-fingers move the black, black hair
    Of night into its proper place,
  Who shuts her eyes, the lilies fair,
    As he sets kisses on her face.

Shiva and Parvati then drink wine brought them by the guardian goddess of the grove, and in this lovely spot they dwell happily for many years.

Ninth canto.  The journey to Mount Kailasa.—­One day the god of fire appears as a messenger from the gods before Shiva, to remonstrate with him for not begetting the son upon whom heaven’s welfare depends.  Shiva deposits his seed in Fire, who departs, bent low with the burden.  Shortly afterwards the gods wait upon Shiva and Parvati, who journey with them to Mount Kailasa, the splendid dwelling-place of the god of wealth.  Here also Shiva and Parvati spend happy days.

Tenth canto.  The birth of Kumara.—­To Indra, king of the gods, Fire betakes himself, tells his story, and begs to be relieved of his burden.  Indra advises him to deposit it in the Ganges.  Fire therefore travels to the Ganges, leaves Shiva’s seed in the river, and departs much relieved.  But now it is the turn of Ganges to be distressed, until at dawn the six Pleiades come to bathe in the river.  They find Shiva’s seed and lay it in a nest of reeds, where it becomes a child, Kumara, the future god of war.

Eleventh canto.  The birth of Kumara, continued.—­Ganges suckles the beautiful infant.  But there arises a dispute for the possession of the child between Fire, Ganges, and the Pleiades.  At this point Shiva and Parvati arrive, and Parvati, wondering at the beauty of the infant and at the strange quarrel, asks Shiva to whom the child belongs.  When Shiva tells her that Kumara is their own child, her joy is unbounded.

  Because her eyes with happy tears were dim,
    ’Twas but by snatches that she saw the boy;
  Yet, with her blossom-hand caressing him,
    She felt a strange, an unimagined joy.

  The vision of the infant made her seem
    A flower unfolding in mysterious bliss;
  Or, billowy with her joyful tears, a stream;
    Or pure affection, perfect in a kiss.

Shiva conducts Parvati and the boy back to Mount Kailasa, where gods and fairies welcome them with music and dancing.  Here the divine child spends the days of a happy infancy, not very different from human infancy; for he learns to walk, gets dirty in the courtyard, laughs a good deal, pulls the scanty hair of an old servant, and learns to count:  “One, nine, two, ten, five, seven.”  These evidences of healthy development cause Shiva and Parvati the most exquisite joy.

Twelfth canto.  Kumara is made general.—­Indra, with the other gods, waits upon Shiva, to ask that Kumara, now a youth, may be lent to them as their leader in the campaign against Taraka.  The gods are graciously received by Shiva, who asks their errand.  Indra prefers their request, whereupon Shiva bids his son assume command of the gods, and slay Taraka.  Great is the joy of Kumara himself, of his mother Parvati, and of Indra.