“Her lap is a sacrificial altar; her hairs, the sacrificial grass; her skin, the soma-press. The two labia*(lips) of the vulva are the fire in the middle.” [Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad, 6.4.3]

“This man (ama) am I; that woman (sâ), thou!

That woman, thou; this man am I!

I am the Sâman; thou, the Rig!

I am the heaven; thou, the earth!

Come, let us two together clasp!

Together let us semen mix,

A male, a son for to procure!” [Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad, 6.4.20]1

Whenever the issue of Love, Nudity, Sex and Hinduism comes into picture, we usually get any one of the following reactions-

1] The Westerners in general and Western scholars doing South Asian studies [for example RISA2] in particular, and their Indian counterparts who consider Hinduism to be mix of voodoo and pornography.

2] The Hindu orthodox which thinks sex is a taboo.

Now I will examine, how valid is both of these perspective.

Hindu Purusharthas:

Purusharthas means objectives of a human being. They are the canonical four ends or aims of human life. They serve as pointers in the life. The four Purusharthas from lowest to highest-

? Kama – pleasure or desire3

? Artha – wealth

? Dharma – righteousness or morality

? Moksha – liberation from the cycle of reincarnation

According to Kama Sutra, “IN the beginning, the Lord of Beings created men and women, and in the form of commandments in one hundred thousand chapters laid down rules for regulating their existence with regard to Dharma, Artha, and Kama.” 4 Further it says- “MAN, the period of whose life is one hundred years, should practise Dharma, Artha and Kama at different times and in such a manner that they may harmonize together and not clash in any way. He should acquire learning in his childhood, in his youth and middle age he should attend to Artha and Kama, and in his old age he should perform Dharma, and thus seek to gain Moksha, i.e. release from further transmigration..”5

So, according to Hindu scheme of thing, even though Enlightment is the ultimate goal of life, it encourages people to enjoy everything and fulfill all material desires. Moksha is a long process. It can be achieved only when all material desires are quenched. And hence, Hindu religion prescribes 2 methods, the path of renounciates, the path of householder. There is one more less popular but more maligned path of within “Tantras” which accept everything material, everything condemned as taboo and hence aims to rise above the animalistic desires.

Sex as Yajna:

Yajna or sacrifice is derived from root word “Yaj”. It means Worship or offering an oblation.

Max Muller defines Yajna is an act by which we surrender something for the sake of gods”6.

Sex is worship. It is an act by which the couples surrender their ego, in order to gain pleasure, progeny, eventually even enlightment.

“Her lap is a sacrificial altar; her hairs, the sacrificial grass; her skin, the soma-press. The two labia of the vulva are the fire in the middle. Verily, indeed, as great as is the world of him who sacrifices with the Vâjapeya (“Strength-libation”) sacrifice, so great is the world of him who practises sexual intercourse”7 (Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad)

These verses clearly shows that, sex was treated as a form of worship, an act to not only fulfill one”s desires and gain pleasures, but also as an act of sacredness.

Sex as Meditation:

In Vigyana Bhairava Tantra8, during a conversation between Shiva and Shakti,

Devi Asks:

O Shiva, what is your reality?

What is this wonder-filled universe?

What consttutes seed?

Who centers the universal wheel?

What is this life beyond form pervading forms?

How may we enter it fully,

above space and time,

names and descriptions?

Let my doubts be cleared!

So, Shiva explains her 112 methods of meditation to attain enlightment. He says-

At the start of sexual union

Keep attentive on the fire in the beginning,

And so continuing,

Avoid the embers in the end.

When in such embrace your senses are shaken as leaves,

Enter this shaking.

Even remembering union,

Without the embrace.

These verses clearly indicate how sexual act can be utilized for achieving enlightment. Enlightment is a state, when all egos vanish. As in a sexual act, the couple leaves behind their ego and unites with each other and achieves sexual ecstasy. This very thing can be utilized to achieve spiritual ecstasy.

Kamashastra:

It is the study of “Sixty Four9″ arts like- Singing, Playing on musical instruments, Dancing, Union of dancing, singing, and playing instrumental music, Writing and drawing, Tattooing, etc. “Kamasutra” or the “art of lovemaking” only a part of this Shastra.

Is Hinduism pornography and Tantra a sex manual?

The straight answer is a simple No. It is Victorian mentality which condemns any depiction of sex. Hinduism recognizes the role of sexual desires in human lives. The sexual depictions in some of the temples were mean to not only educate the people, but also to help those who were involved in sexual sadhanas for enlightment. There is a difference between Nudity and expression of beauty and pornography. What appears in Hindu puranas and Itihasas are the expressions of genuine beauty and not pornography.

“Tantra” is a much maligned word. “Tantra” actually refers to vast body of literatures called “Agamas” which are practical manuals for meditation. There are many Shaiva, Shaktha, Pancharatra Agamas. Using sex for meditation is prescribed in only few of the so many different paths described in Agamas. So, it is very wrong in equating Tantra with Sex.

Some Social Issues:

Sex Education: Sex education had always been present in Hindu history. Vatsayana says, both men and women should learn Kamashastra10.

Pre-Marital Sex and Love Marriages: In Hindu society sex was always considered to be individual choices. There are many instances in our history and scriptures depicting pre-marital sex and love marriages. So, crying out against them as being anti-Hindu is not quite proper. Manusmrithi recognizes 8 kinds of marriages of which “Gandharva Marriage11″ is one of them. It is the voluntary union of a maiden and her lover, which arises from desire and sexual intercourse for its purpose.

The same can be said about extra marital affairs. As they are personal affairs, we should let individuals to decide about it. Hindu society has always given this much freedom to its people.

Conclusion:

In Hindu society sex is neither a taboo nor pornography. Sex is sacred. Sex is recognized as human desire which should be satisfied and which can be used to attain the ultimate goal of enlightment.

References & Notes:

1 Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad forms part of the Satapatha-brâhmana. The verses are taken from chapter titled “Incantations and ceremonies for procreation”

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe15/sbe15098.htm

2 Religions In South Asia (RISA), a department under the American Academy of Religion (AAR), has been sponsoring studies for years now to deride Hinduism. Our gods and goddesses like Ganesha, Shiva, Parvati, Laxmi and Kali, our rituals like Upanayana our saints like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and scriptures, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Gita all have come under such distasteful sexual connotation and nauseating voyeurism that one begins to wonder if it can at all be called academics.

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=195&page=2

3 Kama in general means material desires and pleasures- Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Psychological.

According to Kama Sutra of Vatsayana- “Kama is the enjoyment of appropriate objects by the five senses of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling, assisted by the mind together with the soul. The ingredient in this is a peculiar contact between the organ of sense and its object, and the consciousness of pleasure which arises from that contact is called Kama.”

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/kama/kama102.htm

4 Chapter 1, Preface, The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana, Translated by Sir Richard Burton.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/kama/kama101.htm

5 Chapter 2, Observations on the Three Worldly Attainments of Virtue, Wealth, and Love, The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana, Translated by Sir Richard Burton.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/kama/kama102.htm

6 Max Muller, Sacred Books of East series.

7 Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad

8 Vigyana Bhairava Tantra.

http://www.escapefromwatchtower.com/vigyan.html

9,10 Chapter III. On the Study of the Sixty-Four Arts, The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana, Translated by Sir Richard Burton.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/kama/kama103.htm

11 http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-wed-types.htm

It can be rightfully said that no other work on sex and its correlate is as extensive as the Kamasutra of ancient India. The Kamasutra has been authored by an obscure Indian guru, named Vatsyayana Mallagana as far back as the fourth century. However, nothing else is known about this guru except that he is the author of the Kamasutra. This is a very clear example of how a writer’s work can supersede the writer himself.

The Kamasutra is extensively famous today, even in the advanced western world. Life has changed drastically from those times; but the Kamasutra remains perennially fresh. When you read the seven books of the Kamasutra, you get the impression as though it were written just yesterday keeping the modern youth in mind.

The Kamasutra is a journey of the life of a man through different sexual stages. It beings with boyhood when the first pubertal changes begin to surface in the body of the man right up to old age when the man loses his sexual virility. This range of a man’s entire sexual life is divided into seven stages, and hence there are seven books.

In the first book, Vatsyayana tells how a boy first begins to notice the changes in his own body. This makes him more aware of the world around him, and how he can relate to the correlation between himself and the universe. Not only is this a time of sexual advancement, there is also a social idea ingrained in the boy’s mind at this time. This is generally the stage when the boy decides what his place in society is. Just as the boy becomes more in harmony with society, he also develops a friendlier bond with his own body. He begins to understand how his body, especially the genitals, reacts to various changes around him. Sexual desires make their presence felt at this stage, and the boy learns to satiate himself by masturbation. Different masturbatory techniques for men are described in this book.

The second book is about sexual blooming of the boy into a young man. The young man learns what sex is all about, and goes into the world to seek his satisfaction. Different men get themselves satisfied in different manners. The very extensive section in this book pertaining to sexual positions is what the Kamasuutra is most remembered for even today. The book discusses at length how different sexual positions affect the mental and biological state of a man’s being. The relative merits and demerits of the positions are discussed at length.

Once this stage is past, the young man strives to gain a wife for himself. This is no easy task either, as he will need to woo the wife and perhaps have to pit himself with several competitors. Once he is victorious, he has the right to his wife, and nobody else can lay a claim on her. He has a moral right to fight anybody who trespasses the decency of his wife. This book also tells how a man and his wife can enjoy sexual bliss. It tells about how a woman must help her husband masturbate if he so desires.

The entire Kamasutra is written from the point of view of a man. However, in book four, Vatsyayana directly addresses women. He tells them of the proper mode of conduct in a marriage, of how to remain faithful and dutiful to their husbands and how to protect their modesties from other men. The point that a wife must provide her husband with good sex, and get good sex in return from him, is also emphasized.

The fifth book lays bare the deviant nature in all men as they approach middle age. This is the time when the wife no longer holds the same attraction, and men try to hunt for other men’s wives. Though this is immoral, the Kamasutra maintains that this is also inevitable. So methods of luring other men’s wives are present in this book of the Kamasutra. The Kamasutra goes as far as saying that only if there is extra-marital sex will there be peace within a marriage.

The sixth book makes man seem more adventurous, primarily because of his diminishing sexual drive. This is the time when the man has earned enough money, and he doesn’t mind squandering a bit of it on carnal pleasures. Man would visit prostitutes and such other women in order to get his pleasures.

In the seventh and the last book, the stage of man after he has lost his sex drive is mentioned. This is when man returns fully to his wife, and engrosses himself in spiritual pursuits. In order to keep his body in good health, he may divert to Ayurveda and Yoga and make the best use of his remaining years on earth.

So this is what the Kamasutra is all about. Naturally, people the world over think that the Kamasutra is only a book about sexual positions, though this is as far from the truth as it can be possible. The Kamasutra is a whole treatise on sex.

In today’s world, the basic argument against the Kamasutra – and a very justified one at that – is that it objectifies women. The entire work treats women as nothing more than sex toys for the male. This goes very much against the teaching of almost all cultures of the world. Also, despite its very blatant description of all things sexual, the very popular oral sex has been uncannily kept out. There is no mention – supporting or contradictory – of oral sex at all.

But the book on sexual positions in the Kamasutra is still a very valuable work. This is the inspiration for several of the cave sculptures of India, and they are also quite universal in their approach. Couples can derive much pleasure by trying out the different postures mentioned here.

Read more about Kamasutra in Modern World and other Secret Sexual Issues at http://www.mysecrethealth.com

Sure when we think of positions related to the Kamasutra we tend to think extravagant and incredibly sensual. But did you also know that a lot of the positions outlined in the Kamasutra are very basic? That’s right, in fact the majority of the hundreds of positions in this ancient text, we probably already use!

The Scissors

Now I’m sure you have already tried this one. All it entails is for the woman to lie on her back. The man on his knees then proceeds to hold onto her ankle region and spread her legs wide apart. From this position the man does all the work. This position enables a good passage for the man to enter into and he is able to rotate his pelvis in different directions to help stimulate different parts of the woman’s vagina. Don’t tell me you’ve haven’t tried this one before??

The Scandinavian

The Scandinavian is again very simple Kamasutra position that is often used by couples today. It requires the man to lie on his back to start with. The woman then sits on top facing towards his feet, with her legs rapped over the side of his body. In essence she has her back turned to him. She then does all the work from here, thrusting back and forth, while he holds onto her buttocks and helps to increase the momentum.

This position enables the woman to control the amount sexual pleasure that can be obtained by both participants. If you haven’t tried the Scandinavian than give it a go, it’s incredibly erotic.

The Tigress

The tigress is a Kamasutra position that is a little more complicated to get into. It requires the man to sit down first. From there she should then proceed to sit on top at a perpendicular angle to her partner. Once she has entered on a right angle she should the hold her legs up at a 45 degree angle, placing her left arm around his right shoulder and using her other arm to support herself on the ground. He should the place his hands under her buttocks and ‘do his stuff’ from there. I’m sure you’ll muck this one up at first, but that’s the whole fun of it!

So there are a few Kamasutra positions that are simple yet very erotic at the same time. Make sure you try and have fun with this and don’t take it too seriously. That’s what modern day Kamasutra is all about in the end, making it enjoyable for both people in the relationship!