Explorations in the Kama Sutra When the venerable Brahmin Shvetaketu, saw his mother being led away forcibly by another man, even as his father remained indifferent - saying that such unregulated behavior was the order of the day, the son was understandably incensed at the unjustness of it all, and decided to unravel before the world an authoritative scripture channelising man’s animal instincts into a disciplined practice of pleasure. Towards this end he undertook to rearrange the text originally presented by Nandi, the bull of Shiva, in a thousand chapters, which perhaps were too exhaustive for the human mind to comprehend. Shvetaketu abridged it into 500 chapters, and it was only later that Vatsyayana, the celebrated author of the Kama Sutra, condensed it further into the thirty-six chapters that exist today. Thus, the intention of the Kama Sutra is to link pleasure with virtue, and it is all about not being a slave to sensual desire. In fact, it gives a comprehensive definition of the Sanskrit word ‘Kama,’ going much beyond its conventionally accepted translation as mere physical desire: When the five sense organs – the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and the nose – presided over by the mind and the soul, derive pleasure from objects suited to each, such an inclination is called Kama. (1.2.11) A significant observation here is that Kama is to be enjoyed from objects one is naturally inclined to. The Mahabharata also says: The pleasure, the joy, that arises at the time of the physical senses and the mind and the heart enjoying their natural objects, is Kama. (Vana Parva 33.37) Pleasure and the Spiritual Life: The Indian tradition believes that human life is but a spiritual journey, with each and every aspect governed by one or more of the following motives: 1). Dharma: Virtuous living. 2). Artha: Material prosperity. 3). Kama: Gratification of the senses. 4). Moksha: Liberation. While the first three, mutually tied to each other, form a group and represent the aims of life, Moksha - the highest ideal, is independent and beyond them. All our actions are governed by one or more of the three motives, individually, or in combination. Thus says the Kama Sutra: In Dharma, Artha and Kama, the preceding one is better than the succeeding one, i.e. Dharma is superior to Artha, which in its turn is higher than Kama. (1.2.14) There are exceptions to this rule however: Both for a king and the prostitute, material prosperity is the highest ideal, since their worldly sojourn is governed by it alone. (1.2.15) This seems particularly applicable to politicians governing our lives today. For those of us who are neither kings nor prostitutes, the golden rule is that whenever one motive is in conflict with one or more of the others, we have to choose that which safeguards the highest ideal. For example, when pursuing money, Dharma is not be compromised, and when Artha and Kama are in discord, the latter needs to be sacrificed. Thus we realize that Vatsyayana has the self-confidence to acknowledge the relative superiority enjoyed by the other ideals over the subject he is expounding. His ambition is not to establish Kama as an ultimate principle, but rather to make us realize its correct and relevant position in the sphere of human existence. Therefore, in the Kama Sutra, sensuality is not glorified in its own right, but given its rightful place in our lives.