Kama

Kāma (Skt., Pali; Devanagari: काम) is pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life in Sanskrit. In Hinduism, "kāma" is regarded as one of the four goals of life (purusharthas): the others are worldly status (artha), duty (dharma) and inner freedom (moksha). [cite book | last = Brodd | first = Jefferey | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = World Religions | publisher = Saint Mary's Press | date = 2003 | location = Winona, MN | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0-88489-725-5 ] Kama-deva is the personification of this, a god equivalent to the Greek Eros and the Roman Cupid. Kama-rupa is a subtle body or aura composed of desire, while Kama-loka is the realm this inhabits, particularly in the afterlife.

The Indian god Kama

IAST|Kāmadeva is the Hindu god of love. [The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning By Eva Rudy Jansen p. 93 ] He is represented as young and handsome man, sometimes with wings, who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugar cane, the season of spring, and the gentle breeze. His epithets include Ragavrinta ("Stalk of Passion"), Ananga ("incorporeal"), Kandarpa ("God of amour"), Manmatha ("churner of hearts"), Manosij ("He Who Arises from the Mind"; the contraction of the Sanskrit phrase "Sah Manasah Jāta"), Madana ("intoxicating"), Ratikānta (lord of the seasons), Pushpavān, Pushpadhanva ("one with bow of flowers") or just Kāma ("desire").

According to the "Shiva Purāna" Kāmadeva is a son of Brahma, creator of the universe. According to the "Skanda Purāna" Kāmadeva is a brother of Prasuti; they are both the children of Shatarupa. Later interpolations consider him Vishnu's son. [The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning By Eva Rudy Jansen p. 93 ] Kāmadeva is wed to Ratī, a daughter of Prasuti and Daksha (another son/creation of Brahmā). According to some, Kāmadeva was also once reincarnated as Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukminī. The "Stala Purāna" indicates that Kamadeva was reduced to ashes after disturbing the meditation of Shiva at Kameshwara temple, Aragalur. This temple has ashta Bhairava (8 bhairava) statues.

Kama in Buddhism

In Buddhism's Pali Canon, the Buddha renounced (Pali: "nekkhamma") sensuality ("kāma") en route to his Awakening. [See, for instance, "Dvedhavitakka Sutta" (MN 19) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html (Thanissaro, 1997a).] ] The Buddhist lay practitioner recites daily the Five Precepts, the third of which is a commitment to abstain from "sexual misconduct" ("kāmesu micchācāra"). [See, for instance, [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel206.html#precepts Khantipalo (1995).] ] Typical of Pali Canon discourses, the Dhammika Sutta (Sn 2.14) includes a more explicit correlate to this precept when the Buddha enjoins a follower to "observe celibacy or at least do not have sex with another's wife ". [(Ireland, 1982).]

Theosophy: kama, kamarupa and kamaloka

In the Theosophy of Blavatsky, Kama is the fourth principle of the septenary, associated with emotions and desires, attachment to existence, volition, and lust/ [Farthing 1978 p.210.]

The Kamarupa (desire-form) is a "form" or subtle body created of mental and physical desires and thoughts, a form that survives the death of the body. After death three of the seven "principles" or planes of consciousness, the body, its astral prototype and physical vitality, being of no further use, remain on earth. The three higher principles merge into the state of Devachan, in which state the Higher Ego will remain until reincarnation. The eidolon, the "image", the pale copy of the man that was, persists for a period of time determined by the past life. Bereft as of its higher mind, spirit and physical senses it will gradually fade and disintegrate. But if forcibly drawn back from Kamaloka (desire world) into the terrestrial sphere by the passionate desires and appeals of the surviving friends or by necromantic practices the Kamarupa may become a vampire feeding on the vitality of those anxious for its company. In India these eidola, called Pisachas, are much dreaded. [Theosophical Glossary, 1892]

Kamaloka is a "semi"-material plane, subjective and invisible to humans, where disembodied "personalities", the astral forms, called "Kamarupa" remain until they fade out from it by the complete exhaustion of the effects of the mental impulses that created these eidolons of human and animal passions and desires. It is associated with Hades of ancient Greeks and the Amenti of the Egyptians, the land of Silent Shadows; a division of the first group of the "Trailõkya".

ources

* Ireland, John D. (trans.) (1983). "Dhammika Sutta: Dhammika (excerpt)" (Sn 2.14). Retrieved 5 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.2.14.irel.html.

* Khantipalo, Bhikkhu (1982, 1995). "Lay Buddhist Practice: The Shrine Room, Uposatha Day, Rains Residence" (The Wheel No. 206/207). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 5 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel206.html.

* Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series (n.d.) (SLTP). "IAST|Pañcaṅgikavaggo" (AN 5.1.3.8, in Pali). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "MettaNet-Lanka" at http://mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara3/5-pancakanipata/003-pancangikavaggo-p.html.

* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997a). "Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html.

* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). "Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration" (AN 5.28). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html.

* H. P. Blavatsky, 1892." The Theosophical Glossary". London: The Theosophical Publishing Society

ee also

*Cupid
*Kama sutra

References

External links

* [http://experts.about.com/e/k/ka/kamadeva.htm/ About.com page]
* [http://www.urday.com/rudra.htm Shiva purānam] dead link|date=January 2008|url=http://www.urday.com/rudra.htm
*http://www.webonautics.com/mythology/kamadeva.html
* [http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/holi-legends/sacrifice-of-kamadeva.html/ Kamadeva's holy sacrifice]
* [http://thattechnicalbookstore.com/b0791465659.htm/ God Of Desire: Tales Of Kamadeva In Sanskrit Story Literature (book)]
* [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Kamadeva/id/108298/ Theosophical dictionary on Kamadeva]
*" [http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/etg-hp.htm ENCYCLOPEDIC THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY: A Resource on Theosophy] ", G. de Purucker
*Theosophical Glossary, 1892
* Geoffrey Farthing, "Exploring the Great Beyond", Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, 1978, p.210.