Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c39.24

v6.c39.24

Youth and beauty as an essential condition for the cultivation and development of arts reached a fuller recognition and a more elaborate treatment in the erotic group of literature. In the *Kāma-śāstra* youth and beauty is the main theme. Whatever is discussed therein is nothing but a reference to the natural inclinations of young hearts of cultured men and women in their æsthetic mood. *Kāma*, or sensual desires, can only arise in the mind of youth in an atmosphere of beauty. A seed cannot germinate in the desert, nor can an artistic idea grow up in the fossilised heart of an old person. This fact has been fully recognized in the mythological and the Buddhist-Jain groups of literature also, for, in spite of their spirit being avowedly religious, it was necessary to train Kṛishṇa and Balarāma on the one hand and Bodhisattva and Mahāvīra on the other in artistic and other matters, not in their advanced age but in their youth and in an atmosphere of beauty. This point can be abundantly developed by a reference to the extant arts of all countries, of all nations and of all sects. But before proceeding further with illustrations it would be convenient first briefly to examine the traditional list of arts. In the *Kāma-sūtra* of Vātsyāyana¹ the sixty-four arts are specified in connexion with the accomplishments to be acquired by men and women: