Maithuna

(“copulation”) In the secret rituallybased religious practice known as
tantra, sexual intercourse is the fifth
and last of the Five Forbidden Things
(panchamakara); the panchamakara
are used in their actual forms in “left
hand” (vamachara) tantric ritual,
whereas they are represented by symbolic substitutes in “right hand” (dakshinachara) tantric ritual. Many
traditions in Hindu tantra describe ritualized sexual intercourse as a symbol of
the ultimate union of the god Shiva and
his wife Shakti. Ritual sexuality must be
seen in the larger tantric context. One of
the most pervasive tantric assumptions
is the ultimate unity of everything that
exists. From a tantric perspective, to
affirm that the entire universe is one
principle means that the adept must
reject all concepts based on dualistic
thinking. The “Five Forbidden Things”
provide a ritual means for breaking
down duality; in this ritual the adept
breaks societal norms forbidding consumption of intoxicants, nonvegetarian food, and illicit sexuality in a
conscious effort to sacralize what is
normally forbidden. Tantric adepts cite
such ritual use of forbidden things as
proof that their practice involves a
more exclusive qualification (adhikara),
and is thus superior to common practice. In some forms of this ritual the
woman is the initiate’s wife, who is
worshiped before intercourse as a
manifestation of the Goddess. In other
cases this ritual intercourse is portrayed as adulterous, usually with a
woman of very low status, to magnify
the social boundaries being transgressed. This latter practice is uncommon now, at least in southern India,
where Brooks describes it as virtually
unknown. For further information see
Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Shakti
and Shakta, 1978; Swami Agehananda
Bharati, The Tantric Tradition, 1972; and
Douglas Renfrew Brooks, The Secret of the
Three Cities, 1990.