"maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu" (PART 8)

[Guest guest]

The Power of “kaama” as a Force of Life

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What is “kaama”? Generally speaking, it is Pleasure

aroused through and by the senses and experienced

within the human mind in terms of subjective feelings

of heightened excitement.

 

Defined in such a dry and clinical way might tend to

make one believe “kaama” is perhaps just a harmless

little human indulgence, a tame and temporary moment

of insanity when human weakness occasionally overtakes

good sense. But we must beware of under-estimating the

power of “kaama”. We only need to consider a few

typical examples of how “kaama” works in the world at

large in order to realize the grip of tremendous

influence it wields over the mind of Man.

 

The ‘simple Pleasure’ that mere taste of fermented

grapes affords the palate of men is the reason why

wine-making is a multi-billion dollar industry

worldwide! The ‘simple Pleasure’ that the mere sight

of the Taj Mahal arouses in the minds of men (and

women) is the reason why tourism is a multi-million

dollar industry in India. The ‘simple Pleasure’ that

fills the ears and hearts of millions of the world’s

rap- or rock- music loving teenagers is the chief

reason why “music-piracy” is a multi-billion dollar

black-market industry in the world! The 'simple

Pleasure' there is to be had in a mere sniff of opium

is the main reason why the country called Afghanistan

today still has something of a semblance of an

economy! The ‘simple Pleasure’ that men in their

waning years desperately seek to keep extending by way

of sexual stimulation is the sole reason why the drug

‘Viagra’ earns today for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical

giant, its gigantic revenues!

 

When we reflect deeply on all such contemporary

examples, we see that the "simple Pleasure" of "kaama"

is really not so "simple" after all. The goal of

Pleasure –- the “purushArtha” called “kaama” –- is

undoubtedly the most powerful and all-pervading force

of human motivation in life. The other 3 Vedantic

“purushArthAs” of life --- “mOksha”, “artha” and

“dharma” --- are simply nowhere as all-encompassing as

“kaama”. In fact, even the force that impels men to

seek and pursue the other 3 “purUshArthAs” is said to

be but fuelled by the dynamic engine of life called

“kaama”. It was to such all-enveloping nature of the

great power of “kaama”, the human urge for Pleasure,

that Lord Krishna too in the Bhagavath-gita was

referring in a very famous “shlOka”:

 

"dhoomEnA-vriyatE vahinar-yathA-darshO malEna cha I

yathOl-bEnA-vruthO garbhastathA tEnEdamA vrutam II

 

(B.GitaIII.38)

 

 

“As fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror is covered

by dust, and as an embryo is encased in the membrane,

so is all this world enveloped by its many desires.”

 

***************

 

While those who seek “mOksha”, “dharma” or “artha”,

each as an end in itself, form only a very miniscule

proportion of humanity, those with “kaama” as the

principal purpose in life simply outnumber the latter.

Seeking Pleasure for its own sake, they are willing

even to raise the principle of “kaama” to the status

of a moral ideal or value.

 

The elevation of Pleasure to the pedestal of a

Life-principle –--in other words, the pursuit of

“kaama” for its very own sake, the regarding of

Pleasure as supreme reward in itself and the

conviction that gratification of human desire is a

moral absolute or imperative in its own right –-- such

elevation of Pleasure to the state of a

moral-principle has always been an extremely popular

mode of thinking in all major world systems of

philosophy in all societies, both East and West, and

in all ages.

 

In the West, notably amongst the ancient Greek

philosophers, there was a school of thinkers known as

Hedonists who sincerely believed that pursuit of pure

Pleasure was the only truly worthwhile goal of Man.

The famous story of King Midas, the king whose

insatiable desire (“kaama”) for acquiring gold led him

straight down the path of ruin and tragedy, is a

classic Greek fable portraying, in vivid though

extreme manner, the Way of Life as espoused by the

philosophy of Hedonism.

 

In the even more ancient world of Vedantic mythology,

in the “purANas” or “itihAsas”, we often get to see

the Pleasure-Principle personified in larger-than-life

terms in the character of demigods such as “Indra”,

“Manmatha”, “Mohini”, “Ramba” and “Urvasi” (the last

three of whom were denizens of the world of celestial

nymphs known as “gandharva-sthri” or “apsara-sthri”;

their beauty was both legendary and immortal). The

Pleasure-principle of “kaama” was also the ideological

bedrock of a separate branch of anti-Vedantic

philosophy known as the “chArvaka” tradition. The

“chArvakAs” too encouraged society to embrace a rather

promiscuous life-style:

 

“Seek to live merrily today; seek to the hilt the

Pleasure of the moment without being troubled by

futile thoughts for tomorrow; for what is tomorrow?

Tomorrow you die!”, they said

 

(“yAvadh jeevathe sukham jeevathe; rNam krutva gritam

pibate; bhasmee bhutasya dEhasya, punarAgamanam

kutah!”).

 

Again too, in ancient Indian society, we observe that

there existed a special class of “society-ladies” -–

renowned for their sensuous charms and artistic

talents -- known as “dEvadAsi-s” who, in the eyes of

the rich but decadent aristocrats of those times, came

to virtually institutionalize “kaama” as a distinctive

(not distinguished!) life-style and as a human end in

itself.

 

*****************

 

The pursuit of Pleasure and Gratification, in the

present age of the 21st century, has clearly become

universal aspiration if not obsession.

 

The Philosophy of “kaama”, the Pleasure-Principle, has

come to constitute the very core of “Consumerism”

which, as we all know, is the driving force behind

economies of all nations in the world today. It is the

living faith of millions of people for whom the

betterment of life, the improvement of “standards of

living” and the enrichment of “quality of life” all

mean just one thing in the world: the ability to

“consume” more and more an ever increasing variety of

desirable goods and services available in the

marketplace. If the entire philosophy of Consumerism

were to be summed in up a single line it would really

be nothing but a contemporary echo of the age-old

“chArvaka” dictum: “yAvadh jeevate, sukham jeevate”

--–“Life is short; Live it up, enjoy yourself any

which way while you can, and be happy!”

 

To be able to recognize that the fundamental message

of “kaama” indeed lies at the very heart of the

Consumerist faith, one does not need to study any

great Book or go seeking out some spiritual guru

perched in the Himalayas. All that you need to do to

attain holy epiphany in this field of philosophical

inquiry is to merely take a leisurely stroll around

the downtown streets and alleys of any great

metropolis in the world, say, New York, London, Tokyo

or Dubai. You will see the credo of “kaama” flashing

at you from all sides in dazzling shapes and colors;

in iridescent, alluring forms emanating out of every

window along a shopping-mall, out of every billboard

along a pedestrian walkway, out of every giant-sized

hoarding illumined and towering over the busy traffic

lanes, all crying out to you their strident, screaming

message in the from of powerful subliminal mantras of

modern advertisement:

 

“Buy this watch and conquer eternity!”, “Wear this

underwear and feel like a king!” “Take this home!”,

“This is the perfect thing to wear this season!” “Gift

this necklace to your wife, and watch her eyes light

up this Diwali!” “Give this toy to your child and

watch his joy!” “Wear this! It will delight your

soul!”, “Come here for the vacation of a lifetime!”

“Enjoy a truly out-of-the-world experience in the

quiet comfort of your bedroom!”, “Take this home for

an unforgettable experience!”, “Buy this now for sheer

pleasure!”, “Own this and discover what true happiness

is!”… And so on and so forth… Ad nauseam, ad

infinitum!

 

One of the most astute of Vedantic thinkers of the

modern age, Sri. Eknath Eswaran had this to say about

the phenomenon of human “kaama”, the orgy of mass

desire in which the modern world quite proudly but

mindlessly indulges in:

 

(Quote): “When I go to a shopping mall, I am astounded

to see how many people do not come to get something

specific that they need; they come to see what is

available that they might want. They walk in to the

super-mall saying, “Well, please tempt me. I’ve got

time on my hands and money inside my pocket; what have

you got for me to spend on?” And the shiny displays

and gleaming store-shelves reply “How about a watch

that plays video games? A bathroom scale that tells

your weight in a simulated human voice? A household

robot to serve you breakfast in bed? How about a

selection of twenty variations on an unnecessary item

which you already have?” Instead of feeling insulted

by this kind of approach, we respond in such numbers

that new malls spring up every year around us.

 

Buying things cannot appease desires. It only feeds

the habit of desiring, until we are chronically unable

to be satisfied with what we have. Eventually, we find

ourselves in a state of free-floating frustration,

always wanting something more, never content with what

we have.” (Unquote)

 

It was precisely to such a human state of

“free-floating frustration”, where “kaama” breeds ever

more “kaama” without ever satiating it, that Lord

Krishna too was referring in the Bhagavath-gita:

 

Aavrutam gnyAnamEtEna gnyAninO nithya vairiNA I

kAmarUpENa kownthEya dushpurENa-nalEna cha II

(B.Gita III.39)

 

“The knowledge of one’s own true Self is enveloped by

this constant enemy, O Arjuna, which is of the nature

of selfish desire (“kaama”), and which is difficult to

gratify and is insatiable.”

 

****************

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

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