SEX, SCIENCE & HINDUISM

Sexual speech—and by extension, writing—has been subject to varying standards of decorum since the beginning of history.

Why are we so dependent on the west for such topics???Why is it considered a taboo even between two mutually consenting people celebrating their love their way??

When did the west become the masters of human-sexuality and are they really so??What does our religion,our values,our culture and our society perceive and why is it so?….were we intrinsically this way???

The seeming contradictions of Hindu attitudes towards sex can be best explained through the context of history. Hinduism played a significant role in the history of sex, from writing the first literature that treated sexual intercourse as a science, to in modern times being the origin of the philosophical focus of new-age groups’ attitudes on sex. It may be argued that Hindus pioneered the use of sexual education through art and literature.

As in all societies, there was a difference in sexual practices in Hinduism between common people and powerful rulers, with people in power often indulging in hedonistic lifestyles that were not representative of common moral attitudes.

Hindu culture can be considered amongst the most ancient, with the ancient Indus Valley civilization being contemporary to ancient Egypt and Sumer, spreading across modern India and Pakistan at its peak, 5500 years ago. During this period, not much is known about social attitudes toward sex. One thing that has been observed about sexuality in the Indus Valley civilization is the practice of fertility rituals.

The first evidence of attitudes towards sex comes from the ancient texts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the first of which are perhaps the oldest surviving literature in the world. These most ancient texts, the Vedas, reveal moral perspectives on sexuality, marriage and fertility prayers. The epics of ancient India, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, which may have been first composed as early as 1500 BCE, had a huge effect on the culture of Asia, influencing later Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan and South East Asian culture. These texts support the view that in ancient Vedic people, sex was considered a mutual duty between a married couple, where husband and wife pleasured each other equally, but where sex was considered a private affair, at least by followers of the aforementioned Indian religions. It seems that polygamy was allowed during ancient times. In practice, this seems to have only been practiced by rulers, with common people maintaining a monogamous marriage.It is common in many cultures for a ruling class to practice both polyandry and polygamy as a way of preserving dynastic succession.

Nudity in art, was considered acceptable in southern India, as shown by the paintings at Ajanta and the sculptures of the time. It is likely that as in most countries with tropical climates, Indians from some regions did not need to wear clothes, and other than for fashion, there was no practical need to cover the upper half of the body.

This is supported by historical evidence, which shows that men in many parts of ancient India mostly dressed only the lower half of their bodies with clothes and upper part of body was covered by gold and precious stones, jewellery, while women used to wear traditional sarees made of silk and expensive clothes as a symbol of their wealth. As Indian civilization further developed over the 1500 years after the births of Mahavira, and the writing of the Upanishads around 500 BCE, it was somewhere between the 1st and 6th centuries that the Kama Sutra, originally known as Vatsyayana Kamasutram (‘Vatsyayana’s Aphorisms on Love’), was written. This philosophical work on kama shastra, or ‘science of love’, was intended as both an exploration of human desire, including infidelity, and a technical guide to pleasing a sexual partner within a marriage. This is not the only example of such a work in ancient India, but is the most widely known in modern times.

It is probably during this period that the text spread to ancient China, along with Buddhist scriptures, where Chinese versions were written. It is also during 10th century to 12th century that some of India’s most famous ancient works of art were produced, often freely depicting romantic themes and situations. Examples of this include the depiction of Apsarasas, roughly equivalent to nymphs or sirens in European and Arabic mythology, on some ancient temples, .The best and most famous example of this can be seen at the Khajuraho complex in central India built around 9th to 12th century