Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c7.65

c7.65

We may add here a few words with regard to the institution of Āśrama which, as we have already seen, Vātsyāyana speaks of as forming beside Varṇa, the other great foundation of Indian society¹. He makes it clearer in his introductory chapter on the realisation of the threefold goal of human life (*Trirarga*). Thus he says, "Man, whose term of life, is a hundred years, should divide the whole of this period and practise the *trivarga*, that is *Dharma*, *Artha* and *Kāma*, in such a manner that they may harmonize together and not clash in any way." ² He explicitly lays down also directions for making this division. Thus he advises that in the first part of life (*Bālya*) which appears to include both boyhood and adolescence, one should devote oneself to such objects as the acquisition of learning, and in youth—*Yauvana*—to enjoyment (*Kāma*). In old age one should practise *Dharma* and further, seek the realisation of the ultimate goal of man's life viz. *Mokṣa* or the final emancipation from the bonds of life and death; but, he goes on, as life is uncertain, these objects should be pursued just as they come to hand. However, he enjoins strictly that until a man finishes his education, he should practise *b r a h m a c a r y a*, or lead a life of perfect chastity,³ that is, as both Manu and Yājñavalkya affirm, so long as he is a student, he must not swerve from the vow of chastity (*avipluta-brahmacarya*).⁴ This is the *B r a h m a c a r y ā ś r a m a* or the first stage of life of the *Dharmaśāstras*. The Brahmacārin is also referred to in the Vaiśika section of the *Kāmasūtra*.⁵