Eroticism

Although Hindu religious life is often
associated with detachment and
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Eroticism
Stone columns carved into the entrance of a cave in Ellora.
renunciation, Hindu culture has also
fostered considerable eroticism, which
has a recognized place in everyday life.
One example of this is the Kama Sutra,
a well-known “manual” on the art of
love, which is but one example of a literary genre called ratishastra, or “treatises
on [sexual] pleasure.” Other examples of
eroticism in the culture can be seen in
the sculptures carved on the temples
Konarak and Khajuraho, and in the
amount of attention given to poetry on
love. In Hindu culture kama (“desire,”
particularly sexual desire) is one of the
purusharthas, or aims of life, with the
others being artha (wealth), dharma
(religious duty), and moksha (final liberation of the soul). Erotic pleasure
is thus recognized as a legitimate goal,
as long as it is kept in proper perspective. Although renunciation is one of
the great themes in Hindu life, nonrenunciation has been stressed at least
as strongly.
In modern popular Hindu culture,
eroticism is expressed through the esoteric ritual tradition known as tantra, in
which sexual union is a symbol for liberation. Sexual intercourse is sometimes
incorporated as an actual element in
tantric ritual, as the most notorious of
the panchamakara or “Five Forbidden
Things.” Although tantric practice has
strong popular associations with illicit
sexuality, such acts are always performed within a strict ritual context. In
tantric practice, the ultimate aim is not
to satisfy one’s carnal desires, but to
demolish the dualism between sacred
and profane that is ultimately a sign of
ignorance. The act of ritualizing normally
taboo behavior is one way to destroy this
duality, as well as a way to emphasize
the superiority of tantric practice over
other forms of religious life. In such
practice, the adept is also imitating
Shiva, who is himself both the perfect
yogi and the model husband.