Erotic Literature of Ancient India

The quest for sublime bliss has been an enduring phenomenon. As the world increasingly turns to ancient wisdom in its search for peace and happiness, the recurring theme is the need to banish negativity and excesses. All spiritual texts help explore the hidden dimensions of the unity between the human and the divine and acknowledge that any path that leads to understanding and realization of bliss is acceptable, including sexuality. From the erotic works of the Bhakti movement in which extreme devotion seamlessly merges with sensuality, to Tantrics who used maithuna or intercourse as the preferred means to seek supreme consciousness, from the ascetic Shiva to Krishna, the embodiment of the sringara rasa, sex has always been mystical for in it lies the mysteries of the universe. Thus rather than denigrating sexuality, the ancients accepted it as a means to seek the divine. Call it love, worship, selfless devotion, service and compassion or Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, Kama or Tantra, all of them lead to the same divine energy. ‘The truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names.’