9. Kāma among Puruṣārthas

This chapter attempted to conclude by finding the position of Kāma among the Puruṣārthas. Kāma, the third concept, stands for the instinctive principle of human personality. It signifies all those desires and their satisfaction that are sought to make life conform to the biological needs of the orgasm, for instance, sex-gratification. In their sublimated forms they are channeled through aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation, music, dance etc. Though Kāma means desire, in the theory of Puruṣārthas it denotes the satisfaction of desires.

That is, agreeable feelings are denoted by Kāma (George V. C., 1995: 53).

“The Kāmapuruṣārtha denotes human wellbeing, feeling well, or happiness, resulting out of the gratification of a desire for an object, external or internal. The Hindu conception of a full life consists in the harmony of Dharma, Artha and Kāma. Although Dharma has primacy, it is equally emphasized that neither Artha nor Kāma is to be neglected by a normal human being. Moreover, the concept that Kāma is the foundation of Dharma and Artha, that it is their essence and womb and the innermost core of the world, is also present in the scriptures. Just like in many other religious traditions, different approaches to sexuality can be identified within Indian religious traditions” (Shaji George Kochuthara, 2009: 70-71).

It is in as much as embodying feeling of desire can be viewed as the base of every intentional human drive. Desire, then, becomes a necessary presupposition to any and every end that is in the purview of human pursuit. In effect, even moral behavior or its consequent liberation cannot manifest without first being preceded by a desire for them. Hindus, therefore, acknowledge Kāma as one of the Trivargas-the triumvirate of the ends of life-whose fulfillment leads one to Mokṣa, the final Puruṣārtha in both a literal and metaphysical sense (Vikas Prabhu (b), 2013: 11).

In short,

“Kāma is a categorical representation or hypostatization of man’s appetitive life or pursuits” (Rajendra Prasad, 1989: 278).

In her work, The Hindus-An Alternative History, Wendy Doniger gives the title of the eighth chapter as:

“The Three (or is it Four?) Aims of Life in the Hindu Imaginary” (2011: 199).

Most of the Indian texts regard the pursuits as triple (trivarga), but sometimes the aims of life are listed not as a trio but as a quartet (caturvarga), in which the fourth aim is Mokṣa. Generally Puruṣārthas are in four in number. Of them, the first three (Dharma, Artha and Kāma) collectively known as trivargas were existed also before caste system.

Mokṣa may be attached only later itself. Because, there are no references about Mokṣa can be seen in the Ṛgveda-the earliest available literary production in the world.

“The texts on each of the aims of life do not, by and large, deal with Mokṣa when they deal with the other three aims, either because they did not take it seriously or, more likely, because they felt it operated in a world beyond the range of their concerns” (Doniger Wendy, 2011: 205-206).

The three aims of worldly life generally resisted the renunciant fourth; significantly, the Sanskrit poet Aśvaghoṣa uses the trio rather than the quartet in a verse of his work Buddhacarita;

“No one enjoyed pleasure just for sexual ecstasy; no one hoarded wealth for the sake of pleasure. No one performed acts of Dharma of the sake of wealth; no one committed act of violence for the sake of Dharma”^[1].

Contextually, Aśvaghoṣa strongly recommended for rejecting all the desires especially sexual pleasures also. The eleventh canto of Buddhacarita named “Kāmavigarhaṇa” entirely deals about what are the negative sides of practicing Kāma and how can restrict or remove such instincts from worldly life for a happy future.

A view that all the Puruṣārthas are forms of Kāma can be referred in the Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata.

According to Bharata, Kāma is of various kinds based on desire.

“Almost all the psychological states proceed from erotic desire (Kāma) and which combined with acts proceeding from desire which is regarded as having many forms such as, desire for virtue (Dharmakāma), desire for wealth (Arthakāma) and desire for liberation (Mokṣakāma)”^[2].

Here the words of John W. Spellman are significant in this context:

“There is a belief among many people that the Indians and especially those of ancient times, spent their lives wrapped in meditation about future lives and spiritual problems. Some even suggest that this “other-worldly” aspect of Indian life was responsible for the political disunity, lack of Industrialization, and general apathy toward life which they felt was an inherent part of Indian civilization. India, for many even today, is a symbol for mysticism, yoga, and snake charmers. The other stereotype is to regard her as a backward land of teeming millions where the poverty-stricken people rise their bony hands for a crust of bread. Both of these beliefs are the result of colossal ignorance” (Burton F. Richard, 2009: 15).

It is clear from this argument that the Indian thought system and culture was too much concerned about and deep-rooted concept of Mokṣa. The people here believed that all the gains of every action are leading to the invisible result called Mokṣa.

Actually the promoters of Mokṣa system aim and offer that Mokṣa is the level of ultimate peace and happiness. It has already been pointed out that Kāma is entirely the system of happiness. The pleasure from the sexual union was considered transient. The ultimate pleasure for a human being is both internal and external, or mental and physical. Mokṣa is the effort for the sustainability of pleasure that attained and experienced from Kāma. Later, in course of time, interpretations and thoughts were interpolated to this basic principle in an elaborate manner. And it led to the misconception that Mokṣa is the stage of spiritual thoughts, detachment as well as a suppression of Kāma.

Deliberations on Puruṣārtha try to confirm that the term Mokṣa is a contradictory concept of Kāma. The state of this type of opposition to Kāma was developed and popularized is the advaitic interpretation of the history of Indian thought where the material reading was held as secondary and the idealistic view-point assumed the central place.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

kaścitsiṣeve rataye na kāmaṃ kāmārthamarthaṃ na jugopa kaścit |
kaściddhanārthaṃ na cacāra dharmaṃ dharmāya kaścinna cakāra hiṃsām || (buddhacaritam, 2. 14)

[2]:

prāyeṇa sarvabhāvānāṃ kāmānniṣpattiriṣyate |
sa cecchāguṇasampanno bahudhā kāma iṣyate ||
dharmakāmo'rthakāmaśca mokṣakāmastathaiva ca |
strī puṃsayostu yogo yaḥ sa kāmaḥ iti smṛtaḥ ||  (nāṭyaśāstram, 24. 94-95)