Kamashastra Discourse (Life in Ancient India)
by Nidheesh Kannan B. | 2018 | 52,434 words
This page relates ‘Conclusion and Findings� of the study on Kamashastra representing the discipline of Kama (i.e., ‘sensual pleasure�). The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana from the 4th century is one of the most authoratitive Sanskrit texts belonging this genre. This study focusses on the vision of life of ancient India reflected in Kamashastra.
Chapter 6 - Conclusion and Findings
An attempt has been made in the aforesaid chapters to discuss the various aspects of the 峾śٰ discourse across the country the gleanings of which, evident in literary and other sources, have been subjected to detailed analysis. It gives a clear picture on the life of a society where the people tried to explore the extreme level of material resources increased by the facets of history. Many socio-political upheavals are developed as the turning points of several phases disclosed by the history of the process of urbanization in Indian sub-continent. The economic foundation of certain society determines its cultural prosperity. So, it can be undoubtedly said that the background which developed a branch of knowledge like 峾śٰ is the material prosperity of the historical phase. A new fortified stage in the trade relation with outlying societies, especially Roman trade relations is one of the major peculiarities of this time. Leading growth in the fields of agriculture, handicrafts, production of goods etc. reflected in the luxurious lifestyle of the upper stratum of the social structure. Sexuality got more social importance at this time as a fundamental way of pleasure consumption; erotic science also placed there as an elegant symbol of art, beauty and aesthetics.
In such a condition, sexuality finds wide expansion according to the improvement of material resources. It is a fact that the existence of the primary unit of the society, the family, is under the strong basement of sexuality and sexual choices; and it also closely connected to the system of inheritance. In short, the act for producing a new generation or the process to give birth to an inheritor and the act for the attainment of pleasure are forced to define separately.
The rules and regulations molded by the law treatises like ٳśٰ pertain to the necessity of the particular period and their manifestation can be traced in the works on 峾śٰ.
Certainly, 峾śٰ reveals the standpoints of an elite male who was developed in the upper stratum of the patriarchal society where the material resources have been increased due to the influence of a mercantile upliftment. The hierarchy reflected in this culture undoubtedly incumbent upon the system of four castes. It is a male dominated vision and he is only the doer and consumer. But on the contrary, by considering the general status of woman as seen in most of the works produced at that time, 峾śٰ works provide a better position to woman. It does not mean that the 峾śٰ is not anti-women.
Woman in 峾śٰ is mainly categorized under two broad divisions as ideal wife and courtesan. Of them, the ideal wife is an authorized slave installed upon the moral building of the private institution called family. On the other hand, the courtesan is a personification of delight roaming freely in the society without the burden of moral values as compared to the ideal wife and there is no doubt that in the case of a courtesan, she enjoyed independence as well as social status than an ideal wife.
It can be said that one of the aims of the text like 峾ūٰ is to give more space to rethink about the futility of the deliberations on renunciation promoted by the priest craft. 峾ūٰ is the earliest available reference manual in the 峾śٰ genre which extremely explores the importance of material pleasure. Though the texts like 峾ūٰ are entirely dedicated to the search for ultimate pleasure through the endless exploration of material body, the tendencies of spirituality shadow it as a veil at times in the text. 峾śٰ revives the material thoughts from its beginning and at the end, the text turned to the controversial conclusion that all the matters explained in this work is aimed at the attainment of Ѵǰṣa or it is a forwarding footstep towards beyond empirical level.
The social condition is the reason for the degradation as well as limiting the branch of knowledge. Otherwise, it is possible to infer that ٲⲹԲ峾ūٰ is not a single text written by an individual Vāstyāyana, because ٲⲹԲ has marked as the name of a community and then, most of the texts in Sanskrit were compilations by different authors in different periods. So, the controversial portions mentioned above may consider as later additions or mere interpolations.
Deliberations on ʳܰṣārٳ try to confirm that the term Ѵǰṣa is a contradictory to the concept of 峾. The state of this type of opposition of both of the concepts was increased and popularized among the advaitic context of the history of Indian thought where the material reading is always handled as secondary.
The oriental inclinations developed in the colonial period certainly prop up the Victorian moral concepts. Therefore, serious academic and indological studies discard the 峾śٰ branch and it is considered as one of the reasons for the stuntedness of this knowledge stream. Academic community also disgusts this subject and keeping away from the learning system. Except 峾śٰ, curriculum of Indian universities accepts ٳśٰ, ٳśٰ and the 貹Ծṣa for studying. Concepts of morality in Indian society as well as the imported Victorian moral codes make 峾śٰ unapproachable to the people and it created an inverted concept on sexuality also.
The intervention of the apparatus of the state in the personal affairs can also be treated as a reason for the degradation of materialism and sexuality. The ideological apparatus always tries to glorify the spirituality which is considered one of the main weapons of ruling class. The proclamations like �back to Vedas�, ‘貹Ծṣa� and ‘back to the eternal values of sacred India� constitute a virtual invitation to slavery by the state.
The influence of 峾śٰ discourse is obvious on Sanskrit 屹ⲹ literature without which, perhaps, great poets like , , 岵, Śīṣa and a host of other minor poets including 鲹ٲ첹’s Haravijaya would not have dared to incorporate glaring descriptions of love and love sports. creatively overcomes the extreme religiosity of such moral codes by depicting and weaving up stories that breathe irresistible love for life which is undoubtedly a contribution of the 峾śٰ discourse. The predominance of erotics in ṇa is another noteworthy point. The description of easy and frank expressions of physical affection, without losing the sense of art, on the part of the heroes in dramas and poems in Sanskrit is another significant point of the influence of the 峾śٰ discourse on playwrights and poets.
Findings
The major findings emerged out from the study is summarized as follows:
1. It is the economic development of a society that serves as the base from which its cultural superstructure is formed. ٲⲹԲ’s 峾ūٰ is the product of a society marked by the gleanings of the beginning of urbanization. Such a work cannot emerge from an underdeveloped society. The thematic structure of the work gives ample proof that some sections of the sorcery were having an affluent life symbolized by the presence of the wealthy citizen called 岵첹. In such a society sexuality also attains great development leading to the emergence of a life of luxury to a section of the society while large sections of society lie beyond the borderline of such a society of affluence glimpses of which are seen in 峾ūٰ.
2. In a society where the surplus is centralized into a minor group, the dominant community of the social structure always tries to protect their class interests by enforcing the canons and scriptures. The state created and developed by the dominant class of the society uses its apparatus to save the mode of inheritance prevalent in the society. As a part of the ideological state apparatus, the cultural productions like the works on 峾śٰ also function its duty in the stratified social condition. They have to define the inheritor of property and to discriminate the sexual relations based on the mode of inheritance according to the institution of family. That is why the works in 峾śٰ try to distinguish the space of the wife and the prostitute in social life.
3. It is important to note that the concept of sexuality reflected in the works of 峾śٰ is not an exhaustive analysis on the views and tastes of the people belonged in the Indian peninsula. It emphasis on the life of upper and middle class people, especially the members of the twice-born group, who were able to access the ultimate level of material consumption during the period.
4. The division of duties of the four castes and the priority of the ٰṇi첹 is conspicuously present in 峾ūٰ like any other text composed during that time.
5. The 峾ūٰ of ٲⲹԲ makes a distinct demarcation of wife and prostitute in social life. The picture of a wife that emerges from the pages of 峾ūٰ is that of a glorified and authorized slave bound by infinite moral codes and obligations while the image of a harlot is one of apparent freedom and love for life Since they were the means of enjoyment of the wealthy they were sometimes assured of apparent social status.
6. 峾śٰ puts forward a philosophy of the beauty of human body and underlines the significance of material life contrary to an overdose of a life of spirituality. The possibilities of exploring the endless beauties of human body as a tool of material pleasure is a chief feature of 峾ūٰ. ٲⲹԲ also chooses to underline the primacy of human effort contrary to the notion that everything in human life is pre-determined making humans like puppets in hands of fate. The message of 峾ūٰ is not in favour of the supremacy of priesthood and the philosophy of renunciation.
7. The manifestations reflected in 峾śٰ are mainly centred upon the multitudes of life possibilities. It is clearly an alternative way to the existing system of thought and social condition which strengthens the importance of materialism and is clearly laid upon sensual fulfilment of pleasure. As supplementary to the material enjoyment of sexual pleasure, preliminary factors of fulfilment like importance of body, adornments, entertainments etc. and the tumult beauty and celebration of life derived from all of these are considerable.
8. Body is one of the most important among the factors that make life meaningful. 峾śٰ explores various aspects of the body and accepts it as a reality other than rejecting its existence. For strengthening this fact various modes of consideration of body in different ways can be seen throughout in 峾śٰ. It should be viewed as a looking for the ultimate value of bodily existence. The attainment of the ultimate pleasure is not at all by rejecting the body, but in a great extent body is the basis of contentment and the endless happy is explored within the body itself. So, according to 峾śٰ, body is not an illusionary creation and the consideration of body means the acceptance as well as the understanding the existence of the empirical world.
9. The 峾śٰ discourse has sometimes been detested as an enemy of the attainment of knowledge and texts on this branch of the ʳܰṣārٳs are never taken up for learning in the academic world.
10. The 峾śٰ works are of prime value in an inquiry into the complexities of sexuality in ancient India.
11. The concept of the ʳܰṣārٳs virtually implies the four impulses in human life namely the Dharma impulse, the Artha impulse, the 峾 impulse and the Ѵǰṣa impulse. From a period when the meaning of Dharma was confined to the duties of the four castes and four stages of life, the word, during the course of time, evolved to assume wider, positive meanings in human life like self-control, high moral ideals, purity in personal and social life, control of passions etc. Perhaps, as a result of the stringent moral codes of the writers of ٳśٰ the meaning of Dharma was slowly evolving and culminating and giving way to the primacy of Ѵǰṣa, which, later, assumed religious and spiritual implications couched in a concept of total liberation from the cycle of endless births and deaths. In the larger sense, from the point of view of 峾śٰ, such a view has been detrimental to the concept of a liberal, positive, natural way of life rooted in the pleasures of body and mind equally which include the infinite joys of domestic life. This idea seems to be immanent in the 峾śٰ discourse of our country.
12. The codes of conduct propounded by ٳśٰ are full of utilitarian precepts regarding several significant aspects of material life like marriage, family love and domestic happiness. Marriage according to it is solely for the birth of male child and the perpetuation of the race. The stress was on the loyalty of a truthful wife for the birth of a progeny. The system of polygamy further worsened the plight of women.
13. One of the major drawbacks of ٲⲹԲ’s 峾ūٰ is that while recognizing wholeheartedly the institution of harlotry in society for the affluent life of the 岵첹s, the urban middle and upper class citizens, he failed to recognize the predicament of these hapless women. ٲⲹԲ fails to have a sense of reality to make out that they were, after all, the playthings of the operation of power and gender discrimination. The work is conspicuous by its near total absence of any mention to the fact that the thriving of prostitution is the symptom of a decadent society.
14. The deliberations in 峾śٰ clearly show that the sexual relation of human beings is not only intended to the reproduction but it is also believed as one of the important means to the supreme pleasure in the material world. Though 峾śٰ gave more importance to the heterosexual relations, the provided a little space to the sexual minorities also.
15. The concept of sexuality in the mortal life is one of the main problems faced by the authors of 峾śٰ. They considered the life as an attempt to the endless exploration of pleasure. The urbanized group reflected in the works of 峾śٰ reveals an alternative of life which is widely treated as ephemeral, impure and painful by the orthodox spiritual thoughts.