image credit: Kamadeva wikipedia
In the thirty-third verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda teaches about the deeper meaning of performing the damanakārpaṇapuja (worship of Kāmadeva with the damanaka plant) as follows:
वेद्यराशिदमनेन विश्वतो निर्विकल्पमयवासनोल्बणम् ।
चित्तमेव दमनं शिवे ऽमुकस्यार्पणं दमनकार्पणं परम् ॥ ३३ ॥
vedyarāśidamanena viśvato nirvikalpamayavāsanolbaṇam |
cittam eva damanaṃ śive ‘mukasyārpaṇaṃ damanakārpaṇaṃ param || 33 ||
“Through completely calming (damana) the diverse multitude of objects of awareness, the mind itself, with its layers of mental tendencies free of conceptual distinctions, becomes tranquil in Śiva. Such a ritual offering of that [mind] is the supreme rite of the damanaka offering [in honor of Kāmadeva].” (translation by Ben Williams)
