Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c5.19

v1.c5.19

When, therefore, there are already so many contradictions found side by side, it is seen at once that, on the subject of that great bundle of contradictions, Woman and all belonging to her, or to speak more exactly, on the subject of the reflection of this object in the brain and heart of Man, the two great Epics, especially the Mahābhārata, contain very contradictory utterances, and that often one saying will flatly contradict another. This lies first of all in the nature of the Indian. In other lands, too, the attitude of the feelings and thoughts of man towards woman very often undergoes changes according to the state of mind and experience of life, and above all according to personal experience of the fairer half of mankind, not to speak of the more or less dominating deeper character of the individual, or other influences. And thus even in the cooler West the proverbs, the songs, the tales, and so forth about women make up the most twisted bundle in the world. In the soul of the Indian there dwells that twin pair, burning sensuality and stark renunciation of the world and the flesh. What a delight and torment then must woman be to him! And