In the third cantto of कुमारसंभवं composed by the great poet Kalidas, the burning of cupid by Lord Shiva has been described beautifully. Cupid was assigned responsibility to attract Lord Shiva towards Parvati so that Parvati could marry Lord Shiva.
Gods were being harassed by a demon called Tarkasur. So it was planned that if Lord Shiva and Parvati marry each other, their son would become the chief of god's army and help to assasinate Tarkasur. Thus with this purspose, motivated by Lord Indra cupid alongwith his wife Rati and friend Vasant arrived at the place where Lord Shiva was doing meditation.
With permission from Nandi, Parvati was also present there to seek Lord Shiva's blessing. At that time, aiming at Lord Shiva, cupid touched the string of his bow again and again. Parvati, with her hands glowing like copper offered a lotus seed rosary to Lord Shiva which was obtained from the river Ganga dried by the sun's rays. Due to affection towards devotees, Lord Shiva accepted it gladly. At that moment, cupid took aim at Lord Shiva with an arrow called Sammohan. Lord Shiva developed affection towards Parvati and he took a glance on her red lips. But due to shyness, Parvati could not glance back. She expressed her affection shyly. She stood aside with downcast eyes.