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JULY 2013 -
SEXY X2
MAGAZINE -
67
School of pleasure
ama - is the Hindu god of love. The
word also refers to the pursuit of love or pleas-
ure, one of the four aims of life in Hindu tradi-
tions. Kama is always depicted as a handsome
youth, shooting arrows of love that produce
love. The Kama Sutra, which means Sex Sci-
ence, is the earliest surviving example of a
written Hindu love-manual.
Vatsyayana’s Kama Sutra has 1250 verses,
distributed in 36 chapters, which are further
organized into 7 parts. According to both the
Burton and Doniger translations, the contents of
the book are structured into 7 parts “Dharma
is better than Artha, and Artha is better than
Kama. But Artha should always be first prac-
tised by the king for the livelihood of men is to
be obtained from it only. Again, Kama being
the occupation of public women, they should
prefer it to the other two, and these are excep-
tions to the general rule.” (Kama Sutra)
Of the first three, virtue is the highest goal, a
secure life the second and pleasure the least
important. When motives conflict, the higher
ideal is to be followed. Thus, in making money,
virtue must not be compromised, but earning
a living should take precedence over pleasure,
but there are
exceptions.
In childhood, Vātsyāyana says, a person should
learn how to make a living; youth is the time for
pleasure, and as years pass one should con-
centrate on living virtuously and hope to escape
the cycle of rebirth. The Kama Sutra acknowl-
edges that the senses can be dangerous: ‘Just
as a horse in full
gallop, blinded by the energy of his own speed,
pays no attention to any post or hole or ditch
on the path, so two lovers, blinded by passion,
in the friction of sexual battle, are caught up
in their fierce energy and pay no attention to
danger’.