BALANCE: "NOT SEEKING ONLY PLEASURE WITH A PASSION EXCESSIVE"

Vatsyayana, Kama Sutra: A Guide to the Art of Pleasure, translated from the Sanskrit by A. N. D. Haksar (New York: Penguin Books, 2011) (From the translator's "Introduction": "The Kama Sutra was written during a period of economic growth with greater scope for elegant living, and of increased cultural activity, in a society which recognized the legitimacy of pleasure as a basic human pursuit, along with that of virtue and wealth. It expounded on the first, but also urged a balance with the other two, as is evident from the final verse of its epilogue. Its detailed expositions on the lifestyles of cultivated gentlemen and fashionable courtesans gives some idea of the audience to which it was addressed. Later literary evidence would indicate that both used it as a guide for recreational and professional purposes. But it also dwells on other matters, specially of marital import: the aesthetic education of girls; the wooing of a prospective bride; the role of partners in matrimony, monogamous as well as polygamous; and also on romantic relationships outside marriage, apart from erotic techniques for the enhancement of sensual pleasure. It is thus a fairly comprehensive manual on loving and living, and deals both with contemporary issues and others which are timeless." Id. at xxiv-xxv. From the "Epilogue": "One who understands the essence of these precepts and safeguards the state of Dharma, Artha, Kama in himself and in the world, will his senses truly conquer. // Learned and adept in these, looking to virtue, also wealth and not seeking only pleasure with a passion excessive, he will succeed in what he does." Id. at 186.).