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Part 1 |
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.
Kama is to be learnt from the Kama Sutra (aphorisms on love) and from the practice of citizens.
When all the three, viz. Dharma, Artha and Kama, come together, the former is better than the one
which follows it, i.e. Dharma is better than Artha, and Artha is better than Kama. But Artha should
always be first practised by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only. Again,
Kama being the occupation of public women, they should prefer it to the other two, and these are
exceptions to the general rule.
Objection 1
Some learned men say that as Dharma is connected with things not belonging to this world, it is
appropriately treated of in a book; and so also is Artha, because it is practised only by the
application of proper means, and a knowledge of those means can only be obtained by study and
from books. But Kama being a thing which is practised even by the brute creation, and which is to
be found everywhere, does not want any work on the subject.
Answer
This is not so. Sexual intercourse being a thing dependent on man and woman requires the
application of proper means by them, and those means are to be learnt from the Kama Shastra. |
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