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Kama (Skt.
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
, Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
; Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???) is pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
. In Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, kama is regarded as one of the four goals of life (purusharthas
Purusharthas

In Hinduism, a is one of the canonical four ends or aims of human life. These goals are, from lowest to highest :* Kama - "sensual pleasure, eros"...
): the others are worldly status (artha
Artha

Artha is a Sanskrit term meaning "purpose, cause, motive, meaning, notion".It refers to the idea of material prosperity. In Hinduism, artha is one of the four goals of life, known as purusharthas....
), duty (dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
) and inner freedom (moksha
Moksha

In Indian religions, Moksha or Mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation and all of the suffering and limitation of worldly existence....
). 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.

the Hindu god of love.






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Kama (Skt.
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
, Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
; Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???) is pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
. In Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, kama is regarded as one of the four goals of life (purusharthas
Purusharthas

In Hinduism, a is one of the canonical four ends or aims of human life. These goals are, from lowest to highest :* Kama - "sensual pleasure, eros"...
): the others are worldly status (artha
Artha

Artha is a Sanskrit term meaning "purpose, cause, motive, meaning, notion".It refers to the idea of material prosperity. In Hinduism, artha is one of the four goals of life, known as purusharthas....
), duty (dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
) and inner freedom (moksha
Moksha

In Indian religions, Moksha or Mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation and all of the suffering and limitation of worldly existence....
). 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.

The Indian god Kama

is the Hindu god of love. He is represented as young and handsome man, sometimes with wings, who wields a bow
Bow (weapon)

A bow is a weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow. Essentially, it is a form of Spring . As the bow is drawn, energy is stored in the limbs of the bow and transformed into rapid motion when the string is released, with the string transferring this force to the arrow....
 and arrows. His bow is made of sugar cane, 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 Jata), Madana (intoxicating), Ratikanta (lord of the seasons), Pushpavan, Pushpadhanva (one with bow of flowers) or just Kama ("desire").

According to the Shiva Purana Kamadeva is a son of Brahma
Brahma

Brahma is the Hinduism god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman....
, creator of the universe. According to the Skanda Purana Kamadeva is a brother of Prasuti
Prasuti

Prasuti is a Hinduism goddess, who is the wife of Daksha and mother of many daughters by him. Her most famous daughters are Rohini Devi and Dakshayani....
; they are both the children of Shatarupa. Later interpolations consider him Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
's son. Kamadeva is wed to Rati
Rati

In Hinduism, Rati is the goddess of passion and lust, and a daughter of Daksha. She married Kamadeva, the god of love....
, a daughter of Prasuti
Prasuti

Prasuti is a Hinduism goddess, who is the wife of Daksha and mother of many daughters by him. Her most famous daughters are Rohini Devi and Dakshayani....
 and Daksha
Daksha

In Hinduism, Daksha, "the skilled one", is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis, the Rishis and the Adityas, and a son of Aditi and Brahma ....
 (another son/creation of Brahma). According to some, Kamadeva was also once reincarnated as Pradyumna, the son of Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
 and Rukmini. The Stala Purana indicates that Kamadeva was reduced to ashes after disturbing the meditation of Shiva at Kameshwara temple, Aragalur
Aragalur

Aragalur is a village in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is about 6 km from Thalaivasal and 70 km from Salem....
. This temple has ashta Bhairava
Bhairava

Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya, is the fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation....
 (8 bhairava) statues.

Kama in Buddhism


In Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
's Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
, the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 renounced (Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
: nekkhamma
Nekkhamma

Nekkhamma is a Pali word generally translated as "renunciation" while also conveying more specifically "giving up the world and leading a holy life" or "freedom from lust, craving and desires." In Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, nekkhamma is the first practice associated with "Right Intention." In the Theravada list of ten Paramita...
) sensuality (kama) en route to his Awakening
Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
. The Buddhist lay practitioner
Householder (Buddhism)

In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch....
 recites daily the Five Precepts, the third of which is a commitment to abstain from "sexual misconduct" (kamesu micchacara). Typical of Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
 discourses, the Dhammika Sutta
Dhammika Sutta

The Dhammika Sutta is part of the Sutta Nipata. In this sutta, the Buddha instructs a lay disciple named Dhammika on rules for monks and on the "layman's rule[s] of conduct" ....
 (Sn
Sutta Nipata

The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose....
 2.14) includes a more explicit correlate to this precept when the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 enjoins a follower to "observe celibacy or at least do not have sex with another's wife ".

Theosophy: kama, kamarupa and kamaloka


In the Theosophy
Theosophy

Theosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics originating with Madame Blavatsky . In this context, theosophy holds that all religions are attempts by the "Mahatma" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth....
 of Blavatsky, Kama is the fourth principle of the septenary
Septenary (Theosophy)

The Septenary in H.P. Blavatsky's teachings refers to the seven principles of Human. In The Key to Theosophy, pp.90-93 she presents a synthesis of Eastern and Western ideas, according to which human nature consists of seven principles....
, associated with emotions and desires, attachment to existence, volition, and lust/

The Kamarupa (desire-form) is a "form" or subtle body
Subtle body

According to various esotericism, occultism, and mysticism teachings, living beings are constituted of a series of psycho-spiritual subtle bodies, each corresponding to a subtle plane of existence, in a hierarchy or great chain of being that culminates in the physical form....
 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
Trailőkya

Trailokya has been translated as "three worlds," "three spheres," "three planes of existence," "three realms" and "three regions."These three worlds are identified in Hindu and early Buddhist texts, have counterparts in Brahmanical sources and are elaborated upon by more recent Theosophical theory....
, in which state the Higher Ego will remain until reincarnation. The eidolon
Eidolon (astral double)

In Theosophy, an eidolon is the astral double of a living being; a phantom-double of the human form; a shade or perispirit; the Kamarupa after death, before its disintegration....
, 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
Trailőkya

Trailokya has been translated as "three worlds," "three spheres," "three planes of existence," "three realms" and "three regions."These three worlds are identified in Hindu and early Buddhist texts, have counterparts in Brahmanical sources and are elaborated upon by more recent Theosophical theory....
 (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
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 these eidola
Eidolon (astral double)

In Theosophy, an eidolon is the astral double of a living being; a phantom-double of the human form; a shade or perispirit; the Kamarupa after death, before its disintegration....
, 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
Eidolon (astral double)

In Theosophy, an eidolon is the astral double of a living being; a phantom-double of the human form; a shade or perispirit; the Kamarupa after death, before its disintegration....
 of human and animal passions and desires. It is associated with Hades
Hades

Hades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive case , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"....
 of ancient Greeks and the Amenti of the Egyptians, the land of Silent Shadows; a division of the first group of the Trailőkya
Trailőkya

Trailokya has been translated as "three worlds," "three spheres," "three planes of existence," "three realms" and "three regions."These three worlds are identified in Hindu and early Buddhist texts, have counterparts in Brahmanical sources and are elaborated upon by more recent Theosophical theory....
.

Sources

  • Ireland, John D. (trans.) (1983). Dhammika Sutta: Dhammika (excerpt) (Sn
    Sutta Nipata

    The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose....
     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
    Buddhist Publication Society

    The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the dhamma of the Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S....
    . 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). (AN
    Anguttara Nikaya

    The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     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
    Thanissaro Bhikkhu

    Thanissaro Bhikkhu is an United States Buddhist monk of the Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He was born Geoffrey DeGraff and converted to Buddhism in high school....
     (trans.) (1997a). Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking (MN
    Majjhima Nikaya

    The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     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
    Anguttara Nikaya

    The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     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
    Cupid

    In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of eroticism love and beauty. He is also known by another one of his Latin names, Amor . He is the son of goddess Aphrodite....
  • Kama sutra
    Kama Sutra

    The Kama Sutra , , is an ancient Indian text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by the India scholar Vatsyayana....


External links

  • , G. de Purucker
  • Theosophical Glossary, 1892
  • Geoffrey Farthing, Exploring the Great Beyond, Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, 1978, p.210.