Kama
For other meanings, see kama (disambiguation).
Kāma (Skt., Pali; Devanagari: काम) means pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life. In Hinduism, kāma is regarded as one of the four ends of man (purusharthas): the others are worldly status (artha), duty (dharma) and inner freedom (moksha). 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.
Contents
- 1 The Indian god Kama
- 2 Kama in Buddhism
- 3 Theosophy: kama, kamarupa and kamaloka
- 4 Sources
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 External links
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The Indian god Kama
Main article: Kamadeva
Kāmadeva is the Hindu god of love. He is represented as young and handsome man, sometimes with wings, who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugarcane with a string of honeybees, and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. His companions are a cuckoo, a parrot, hummingbees, 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. 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.
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/
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.
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.
Sources
- 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). 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
See also
- Cupid
- Kama sutra
References
- ^ The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning By Eva Rudy Jansen p. 93
- ^ The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning By Eva Rudy Jansen p. 93
- ^ See, for instance, Dvedhavitakka Sutta (MN 19) (Thanissaro, 1997a).
- ^ See, for instance, Khantipalo (1995).
- ^ (Ireland, 1982).
- ^ Farthing 1978 p.210.
- ^ Theosophical Glossary, 1892
External links
- About.com page
- Shiva purānam
- http://www.webonautics.com/mythology/kamadeva.html
- Kamadeva’s holy sacrifice
- God Of Desire: Tales Of Kamadeva In Sanskrit Story Literature (book)
- Theosophical dictionary on Kamadeva
- 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.
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