The Kama Sutra
Chapter II - On the Acquisition of Dharma, Artha and Kama
MAN, the period of whose life is one hundred years, should practise Dharma [right living],
Artha [accumulation of material wealth] and Kama [fulfillment of desire] at different times
and in such a manner that they may harmonize together and not clash in any way.
He should acquire learning in his childhood, in his youth and middle age he should attend to Artha and Kama,
and in his old age he should perform Dharma, and thus seek to gain Moksha,
i.e. release from further transmigration.
Or, on account of the uncertainty of life, he may practise them at times when they are enjoined to be practised.
But one thing is to be noted, he should lead the life of a religious student until he finishes his education.
Dharma is obedience to the command of the Shastra or Holy Writ of the Hindus to do certain things,
such as the performance of sacrifices, which are not generally done, because they do not belong to this world,
and produce no visible effect; and not to do other things, such as eating meat,
which is often done because it belongs to this world, and has visible effects.
Dharma should be learnt from the Shruti (Holy Writ), and from those conversant with it.
Artha is the acquisition of arts, land, gold, cattle, wealth, equipages and friends.
It is, further, the protection of what is acquired, and the increase of what is protected.
Artha should be learnt from the king's officers, and from merchants who may be versed in the ways of commerce.
Kama is the enjoyment of appropriate objects by the five senses of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling,
assisted by the mind together with the soul.
The ingredient in this is a peculiar contact between the organ of sense and its object,
and the consciousness of pleasure which arises from that contact is called Kama.
Kama is to be learnt from the Kama Sutra (aphorisms on love) and from the practice of citizens.
When all the three, viz. Dharma, Artha and Kama, come together, the former is better than the one which follows it,
i.e. Dharma is better than Artha, and Artha is better than Kama.
But Artha should always be first practised by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only.
Again, Kama being the occupation of public women, they should prefer it to the other two,
and these are exceptions to the general rule.
Objection 1
Some learned men say that as Dharma is connected with things not belonging to this world,
it is appropriately treated of in a book; and so also is Artha,
because it is practised only by the application of proper means,
and a knowledge of those means can only be obtained by study and from books.
But Kama being a thing which is practised even by the brute creation [animal kingdom],
and which is to be found everywhere, does not want any work on the subject.
Answer
This is not so. Sexual intercourse being a thing dependent on man and woman
requires the application of proper means by them, and those means are to be learnt from the Kama Shastra.
The non-application of proper means, which we see in the brute creation,
is caused by their being unrestrained,
and by the females among them only being fit for sexual intercourse at certain seasons and no more,
and by their intercourse not being preceded by thought of any kind.
Objection 4
Those who are inclined to think that Artha is the chief object to be obtained argue thus.
Pleasures should not be sought for, because they are obstacles to the practice of Dharma and Artha,
which are both superior to them, and are also disliked by meritorious persons.
Pleasures also bring a man into distress, and into contact with low persons; they cause him to commit unrighteous deeds,
and produce impurity in him; they make him disregardfull of the future, and encourage carelessness and levity.
And lastly, they cause him to be disbelieved by all, received by none, and despised by everybody, including himself....
Answer
This objection cannot be sustained, for pleasures, being as necessary for the existence and well being
of the body as food, are consequently equally required. They are, moreover, the results of Dharma and Artha.
Pleasures are, therefore, to be followed with moderation and caution.
No one refrains from cooking food because there are beggars to ask for it,
or from sowing seed because there are deer to destroy the corn when it is grown up.
Thus a man practising Dharma, Artha and Kama enjoys happiness both in this world and in the world to come.
The good perform those actions in which there is no fear as to what is to result from them in the next world,
and in which there is no danger to their welfare.
Any action which conduces to the practice of Dharma, Artha and Kama together, or of any two, or even one of them,
should be performed, but an action which conduces to the practice of one of them at the expense of the remaining two
should not be performed.
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