This book is a unique Anthology of classical ribald and sensuous stories. Indian Classical Literature, since ancient times, is vast and varied. It is rich in fictional content. Kama means desire, wish, longing, pleasure, love, sensuality. As a Vedic god, his cult flourished in India. Kama in literature is known as Sringara Rasa, the sentiment of love in all its various forms. Rati means amorous enjoyment, its source. The deity of this Rasa is Vishnu-Kama.
Bharata defines Sringara as `an amorous relationship of male and female' for pleasure. There are eight Rasas or aesthetic emotions; Sringar Ras is called Rasaraj, the king of them all. In this anthology, you will read Sringar or Kama Katha from classical literature starting from the Rig Veda.
Known for his erudition and profound scholarship, M.L. Varadpande is the author of many books on Indian art, literature, and culture. The Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's Central Akademi of Dance, Drama, and Music, has conferred upon him the Tagore Puraskar for his contribution and scholarship. He has been awarded the Mahapurusha Shankardeva Puraskar by the Government of Assam for his eminence in the fields of Arts and Literature.
The Genre Ribald is an integral part of the literary tradition, oral or written, since its inception. It exposed underbelly of human existance generally its erotic, bawdy, funny side, mirthfully or sarcastically, sometimes even seriously. In a way, it portrays an undercurrent of social and cultural norms, customs, moral laws, human frailties, weaknesses, and hypocrisy.
"Ribaldry is a humorous entertainment bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency. It is a genre of sexual entertainment in addition to pornography and eroticism.
Unlike either pornography or erotica, which play sexual intercourse or sexual fetishism 'straight,' rebaldry aims at humour. Sexual situations and titillation are presented in ribald material for the purpose of poking fun at the foibles and weaknesses that manifest themselves in human sexuality, rather than to present sexual stimulation either excitingly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a metaphor to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case, ribaldry may set its verge on the territory of satire.
Like any humour, rebaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribaldry typically depends on a shared background of sexual conventions and values, and its comedy generally depends on seeing those conventions broken. The ritual taboo-breaking that is a usual counterpart of ribaldry underlines the controversial nature and explains why ribaldry is frequently a subject of censorship. Ribaldry, whose usual aim is not merely to be sexually stimulating, often does address larger concerns than merely sexual appetite. However, being presented in the form of comedy, these larger concerns seem to censors to be unserious."
The canvas of genre ribald is extensive enough to accommodate material from frivolous to serious in human sexual situations. This collection conforms to this norm. The title of the book is Kama Katha. It is a unique anthology of classical ribald and sensuous stories taken from Indian literature. Kama means love, longing, sensuality, sexual and material pleasure, and enjoyment.
Rig Veda and Atharva Veda recognise the primacy of Kama and call him 'firstborn.' Atharava Veda says; O Kama, you are firstborn. You are superior, always great. 0 Kama, I pay my humble homage to you. Kama, as a deity in human form, rides a parrot, carries a bow of sugarcane with the string of black bees. He carries five arrows made of fragrant, beautiful flowers. Crocodile is his symbol, which is painted on his flag. Beautiful Rati is his consort, and Vasanta Ritu his friend.
The cult of Kama was once very popular in India. We have been getting his images since the Sunga and Kushana period. His headless terracotta sculpture, made of baked red clay, is housed in the Mathura Museum. It is ascribed to the first century A.D. Temples were built in his honour. He was celebrated in many joyous festivals full of dancing, singing, music, fun, and frolic.
He inspired many works on the art of love, including the famous Kama Sutra of Maharshi Vatsyayana, ascribed to the third century B.C. The erotic sculptures, particularly adorning great temples at Khajuraho, Konark, and Puri, were inspired by positions struck by couples in the act of lovemaking. The stories in the book, taken from classical literature starting from the Vedas, highlight ribald and sensuous aspects of Kama.
Indian ribald and erotic stories, Kama Katha, contain the vital record of social and cultural trends of contemporary times. At the outset, let us take a look at the first two stories of this collection, culled from the most ancient Indian scriptural literature, the Rig Veda. It throws light on the sexual mores of Aryan society.
The Mahabharata in its Adi Parva refers to the dialogue of Uddyalaka Rishi and his son Swetaketu, which speaks of primitive society in the Uttar Kuru region, which practised unbridled free sex without any personal bondage. They observed a social norm called 'Arani Dharma' which means that with the permission of her husband wife could live with another man till she delivers a child by him and then return to her husband again. Such was the free society of Uttar Kuru in primitive times. (Bharatiya Sanskriti Kosha, Vol. 8, p 715) We do not know much about the sexual norms of the society belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization, but the institution of marriage was firmly entrenched in the Aryan society of Vedic times. Even the Vedic gods had their consorts. Most prominent of the Vedic gods, Indra, had a wife, Shachi by name, though he had other affairs also. According to one account, he was enamoured of a Danavi, Asura female, named Valistenga, and went to live among Asuras, assuming the form of a female among females and male among males. (Vedic Mythology, p 57). He is also spoken of as a paramour of Ahalya (p. 65) or Jar of Ahalya. Another famous Rig Vedic pair was of Dyaus and Prithvi, the universal parents.
However numbers of other promiscuous male-female relationships are mentioned in the Vedic literature, including incest, adultery, and prostitution too. Our first story relates to Apsara. Vital information about the Cult of beautiful Apsaras as the ancients visualised it is given by Macdonell in his Vedic Mythology.
Basically, they were considered as celestial water nymphs living in the waters of rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans. This myth, it seems to have percolated to later literature and scriptures, which described them as ones that emerged from the Churning of the Ocean, Samudramanthan, which was done by gods and demons to beget the elixir of life, Amrita.
It even went to the folk level, where these lovely creatures are known as Apsaras who live in water ponds and haunt the men who take a bath there. Such a person loses his mental equilibrium and becomes mad. In the later Samhitas, the sphere of Apsaras, which the ancients confined to water, extended to the earth and particularly to trees. They are spoken of as inhabiting banyans (nyagrodha) and fig trees (Ashvattha) in which their cymbals and lutes resounded. The Gandharvas, their consorts, and the Apsaras in such trees are propitious to a passing wedding procession.
In the Shatapatha Brahmana, Apsaras are described as engaged in dance, song, and play. Much later, Bharata in his Natya Shasta said that Brahma created Apsaras to sing, dance, and act in plays. Post-Vedic texts speak of mountains as the favourite resorts of these two classes of beings. The Atharva Veda adds the traits that the Apsaras are fond of dice and bestow luck at play. But they are feared, especially as ones causing mental derangement; magic, therefore, is employed against them.
The loves of Apsaras, who are of great beauty is enjoyed not only by their consorts, the Gandharvas, but also by men. Indian literature, scriptures, dramas, and poetry are replete with references to these lovely creatures, who mingle with humans and make love to them passionately.
When we look at the story, Female Friendship Does Not Exist, we find yet another dimension of the male-female relationship. It depicts a kind of free love without any bonds, or taking a cue from modern terminology, we may call it a 'live-in' relationship between King Pururava and Nymph Urvashi that ended in tragedy of sorts. If we take into consideration the Rig Vedic dialogue only, we may say that Apsara Urvashi fell in love with Pururava, spent some time with him, and departed at her sweet will. As no material gain was involved, she cannot be called a hetaera. Enjoying the pleasures of love was her only motive. When she got satiated, she broke herself free of the listless relationship and moved on. We do not know if such relationships were common during Vedic times, but they could be. We do not find any name for such a liaison in the Vedic terminology, which describes the man-woman relationship. Maybe this kind of arrangement will finally prove disastrous to one or both partners.
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