Locating Pleasure in Indian History

Prescribed and Proscribed Desires in Visual and Literary Cultures

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• Publisher: Bloomsbury India
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9789390513888
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Indian & South Asian History
• Index: History

Locating Pleasure in Indian History is one of the first works on the subject of the 'discourse of pleasure' in Indian history and culture. A rigorous, source-based work, it examines the cultural practices and the underlying philosophic matrix of pleasures, big or small. It recovers the production and consumption of beauty, desire and gratification in the world of pleasure, pleasurable pursuits and pleasant experiences of viewing, performing, thinking, debating, cooking, eating, listening, writing, creating and procreating. The contributions retrieve the discourse of pleasure in visual and literary cultures-in elite and popular spheres, including the public and private domains of the bazaar, the temple, the household, the court and the garden. Further, it is examined in the urbane art of Mathura, Ravana's palace in the art of 7th CE western Deccan, the suratkhana of Rajput royalty or domestic pleasures of women in the labyrinths of the Puranas. With over 40 photographs, it historicises ideological and experiential conundrums thrown up by the idea of pursuing alimentary, carnal and even pious desires in visual and literary cultures. The reflexivity inherent in the work of artists, poets, dramatists and even shastrins is brought out through moments of pleasure and counter-pleasure as revealed through anecdotes, narratives, artefacts and objects of aesthetic gratification.

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SEEKING PLEASURE: REPRESENTATIONS OF PLEASURE AND DOMESTICITY IN TEXTUAL TRADITIONS

Jaya S. Tyagi

In ancient Indian textual traditions, domestic spaces are often projected as spaces providing not only conjugal pleasure but also that obtained from other relationships—filial ties, paternal, maternal and kinship bonds. This pleasure arises from a sense of attachment, a belongingness, and also from the comfort and cocooning within particular spaces, particularly the mother’s womb and, by extension, the household and its environs. In early textual traditions, the domestic domain is represented as providing relationships that lead to long-lasting bonds that alleviate pain and satiate all the senses, associated as they are with pleasure (sukha) and conviviality along with combined leisure activities, such as eating, praying, playing, socialising, all leading to connubial, commensal, filial and social fulfilment.

Projecting the household as a ‘pleasurable’ space which brought sukha not only to the householder and its members but also to the members of different social categories that depended on the householder’s largesse was essential to the social stability that was envisaged in Brahmanical traditions as it would allow for the control of reproduction and production activities in an organised manner even while allowing the household to emerge as a source of patronage for the Brahmana as well as the śramana categories, providing sustenance (and ‘pleasure’) to these categories too. The Mānava Dharmaśāstra (henceforth, MS) states that the four life stages—student, householder, forest hermit and ascetic—have their origins in the householder, meaning that they all gain sustenance from him. The MS also informs that amongst all of them, according to Vedic scripture, the householder is the most important for he supports the other three. ‘As all rivers and rivulets ultimately end up in the ocean, so people of all the orders ultimately end up in the householder’.¹

Pleasure can be associated with a feeling of well-being, contentment and sensory satisfaction, i.e., of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. It can also be derived from raising cognitive abilities and creating cultural sensibilities about what is pleasurable on the basis of socialisation and projection of what can be construed as cultural stimuli. This paper will discuss how pleasure was related to the household in early textual traditions. Moreover, it will explore alternative imagery too—for the conceptualisation of pleasure results from its ‘othering’ from pain, and wherever pleasure is discussed, there is bound to be an awareness of the alternative, pain, even if it is only to avoid it.

Is pleasure gendered? Ideally, it should not be; humans should have similar experiences of pleasure. However, invigoration of the mind should as much qualify as a pleasurable experience as titillation of the senses. Our perceptions on what is pleasurable creates the backdrop for our feelings and perceptions, which are encultured and can be indoctrinated. Thus, one observes that representations of pleasure in textual traditions are gendered, as they tend to underline different aspects of pleasure for women and men. Since the texts are male-centric, they focus on male notions of pleasure and also project those notions on women. In the absence of women’s voices, we get to know mainly the author’s notions on how women may relate to pleasure.

The invigoration of the sensory stimuli, associated with pleasing sensations when combined with the relentless pursuit of such pleasure is, however, associated with hedonistic pursuits in some conceptualisations. This allows for philosophical debates about the purpose of life and the manner in which human life is to be charted. In an interesting twist, we can see the stark reversals of the representation of pleasure vis-à-vis pain in Buddhist traditions wherein anything that is connected to pleasure is believed to ultimately cause pain, or dukkha. The domestic space is thus identified not just with transient pleasure but also with pain and distress, and the sangha is projected as an alternative to the domestic space, an escape from domestic drudgery, especially for women. In this alternative discourse put forth by Buddhist traditions, human existence and life itself are seen as causes of pain and distress. Here, all that leads to the earlier notions of ‘pleasure’ is circumspect and seen as leading to desire, or māyā, and pain rather than pleasure. The four noble truths work are based on this premise—there is sorrow in this world, this sorrow has a cause, desire is the cause of sorrow and if one removes desire, one can remove sorrow. Thus, notions of pleasure are challenged and revoked, pleasure coming from tantalising and invigorating of the senses is replaced as there is an understanding that this sensory pleasure is accompanied with pain and it is rather spiritual ‘bliss’, ānanda, which comes from controlling these senses and preventing them from becoming too excited or involved is encouraged. Thus the Buddha, sangha and dhamma, the three institutions with whom the believer seeks asylum and solace, are there to shield the believer from pleasure and pain as one is inextricably linked to the other.

Brahmanical ideology was able to project certain notions about the paths that would lead to pleasure and fulfilment in the elaborate premise of the puruṣārtha, literally the purpose of man, which was to be attained through the pursuit of dharma, artha and kāma and would ultimately lead to the escape from the cycle of birth, or mokṣa.² Following dharma was envisaged as essential as it encompasses the moral and ethical code that humans are advised to follow and that helps in maintaining cosmic and social order. A person’s dharma varied according to their identity; thus, a king was expected to uphold rājadharma, a husband, patidharma and a wife, patnīdharma. Kāma, desire, could be for material objects, food or sensual pleasure. It was not the same as but was only one of the aspects influencing the attainment of sukha. The role of the householder was projected as being critical in maintaining the balance between the four stages of the life as well as the four puruṣārthas. The relationship between the three puruṣārthas is summed up by MS 2.24, which states: ‘Some say that dharma and artha are good, others say that kāma and artha are good, and still others say that dharma alone or kāma alone is good, but the correct position is that the three should coexist without hurting each other’.

In ancient Indian thought, differences are seen in the attempts made to separate the ethical, material and sensual as seen in the trivarga ideology—dharma, artha, kāma—but these converge and are all directed towards attaining the ultimate goal, mokṣa. If balanced, all these will lead to the attainment of sukha. The conceptualisation naturally relates to the purpose of a man’s life, and women are by default excluded and do not seem to have the same purpose as men. Sukha is therefore clearly gendered.

The texts chosen for this paper, the Purāṇas (particularly the Matsyamahāpurāṇa, henceforth MMP), perceive pleasure as that which can be attained through power (with its associations with kingship, fame and victory—rajas, yaśa and jaya), status, domestic bliss, carnal satisfaction, health, wealth and overall well-being. All these, however, can be attained only through the performance of rituals, and it is clear that in these texts pleasure is not to be achieved easily or naturally; it is elusive and one needs to constantly work towards it. And that is where rituals and vratas become significant as paths that will lead to pleasure.

In Puranic writings it is clear that one has to strive for attaining pleasure—it has to be worked proactively towards, opportunities have to be seized, resources have to be garnered and all the cosmic energies have to be directed and channelised towards the attainment of pleasure. This is where vratas and myths related to deities performing such vratas become crucial—in these texts, rituals are elaborated upon and myths invoked to give them divine validity as the pursuit of pleasure was portrayed as an active pursuit of the deities themselves, thus giving social legitimacy to humans to unabashedly seek pleasure in their various pursuits.

The proliferation of vratas in the Purāṇas, especially with regard to women, has to be seen in this light. Vratas were projected as a means for achieving specific and cognisable human goals and aspirations. The Agnipurāṇa mentions some of these aspirations—dharma (punya); artha, progeny, wealth, beauty or good fortune, virtues, fame, learning, long life, wealth, purity; kāma, enjoyment of pleasures and mokṣa as well as heaven.³ The single-minded manner in which Puranic ideology promotes the seeking of individual aspirations, however, couches the fact that one person’s pleasure is very often at the expense of others. Myriad resources may be used in this kind of relentless and mindless pursuit of sensory pleasure by the rich and elite, whose notions of pleasure these texts are clearly pandering to.

ELITE ENTITLEMENT TO PLEASURE

In critical passages attributed to Sāvitirī in the MMP, while arguing with Yama, the God of Death, for her husband’s life, Sāvitirī describes how the rich deserve their good fortunes. In doing so she seems to not only vividly convey what construes as ‘pleasurable’ for the rich and wealthy in the Puranic world order but also legitimise a lifestyle of opulence and splendour for the rich and powerful.

They have a golden complexion, riches, stature and wealth, superior seats, golden vases, good food and drink, music, servants, good smell, grain, jewels, fine garments, handsome form, generosity, high attributes, beautiful wives—these are all attained by virtuous persons. The virtuous are blessed with palatial mansions that are decorated with the perforated work with gold because of their virtues. These virtues are asceticism, sacrifices, charities, control of passions, forgiveness, celibacy, travelling to sacred places, reading of the Vedas, service of the good, worship of God, devotion and service of the Guru, veneration of the Brāhmanas, humility—these are all the signs of virtue.⁴

Puranic imagery interlinks pleasure with wealth and resources. It is the rich and wealthy men who seem to seek and gain pleasure; however, it seems to be a vicious circle, as only through lavish donations of what can be construed as wealth (gold, silver, semi-precious stones, vessels and such) can they get access to such pleasures (which are mentioned in the above passage). Further, it is understood that all this wealth comes with high standards of propriety, although there is a hint of entitlement among the elite and the underlying assumption that wealth begets wealth. It will be safe to say that the Puranic texts are catering mainly to a class of patrons, both men and women, who are being encouraged to conduct rituals and lead lives in accordance with the Puranic standards of propriety while pandering to Brahmanical expectations of donations in order to make sure that the lavish gains (which will then lead to worldly pleasure) will accrue.

CONJUGAL PLEASURE

The references to vratas in the Purāṇas are juxtaposed with vivid images of conjugality and intimacy, indicating that the aim of worldly life is gaining pleasure within the institution of marriage rather than outside it, setting standards of moral propriety for both women and men. Conjugal pleasure is not projected as merely physical or carnal but something otherworldly, leading to a deep sense of fulfilment and paving the way for familial pleasures. Thus, even the devas are shown to be ‘enjoying’ with their ‘lotus-eyed consorts’ in their pleasure enclaves—Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī are inseparable.⁵ In the Puranic references to the pleasures of conjugal intimacy, the oblique reference is to women as providers of pleasure. Here, pleasure is envisaged in a male-centric manner wherein it is the man’s pleasure that is the focus of attention. Women provide pleasure through companionship and sexual intimacy, performing the requisite religious observances and being actively involved in activities such as management of food resources (their procurement, cooking and dispensation through appropriate rites), all of which are aimed at satiating the male protagonist. However, even while the texts are clearly projecting male-centric notions of pleasure, in a clever twist which is typical of Brahmanical ideology, they constantly reiterate how a husband is integral to a woman’s existence.

The MMP clearly highlights the role of the husband as the provider of pleasure. Here, the emphasis is not just on the woman’s physical pleasure but her very existence.

It is difficult for a woman to get a good husband. Without virtue, even a tolerable husband is not obtained, because the natural course for women is to enjoy the company of their husbands for all their lives. The husband of a woman, inspite of his being poor, unfortunate, illiterate and void of all fortune, is like a God to her. Dharma without effort, unlimited pleasures and wealth to maintain one’s life are all found in husbands.⁶

Despite the projection of conjugality as a source of pleasure, that...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements: Looking for Hur in History
• Introduction: Pleasures—Proscribed and Prescribed
• 1 Seeking Pleasure: Representations of Pleasure and Domesticity in Textual Traditions: Jaya S. Tyagi
• 2 Idyllic, Intimate, Beautiful Pleasures in Visual Culture at Mathura: Seema Bawa
• 3 Satire and Desire in Ca?u?b?a?i: Ashish Abrol and Janica Paul
• 4 Courting Pleasure in Rava?a’s La?ka: The Aesthetics of Power and Desire in Early Medieval Deccan: Parul Pandya Dhar
• 5 Pleasant and Unpleasant Moments: The Life and Time of a Jain Merchant in Early Modern North India: Shalin Jain
• 6 ‘Aashiq ko tow Allah na Dikhlaai Bhudhapa’: Nazir Akbarabadi and the Celebrations of the Little Pleasures of Life in Urdu Poetry: Raziuddin Aquil
• 7 Painting Pleasure: The Genealogy and Dichotomies of Gender-based Identities: Preeti Sharma
• 8 Celebrating Adversities in the 17th and early 18th Century North India: The Case of Mir Ja’far Zatalli: Saifuddin Ahmad
• 9 Pleasures of Fashion and Sorrows of Production: The Handloom Industry in United Provinces, India, 1860s–1940s: Santosh Kumar Rai
• 10 Devotion and Pleasure: Vantages of Rebellion: Kota Neelima
• About the Editor and Contributors
• Index