Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c5.22

v1.c5.22

But I think that there is one thing that can be picked out, from the nature of the Indian we have just been describing, as a specific attribute : among other peoples, or among the Western civilized nations, we find a more delicate colouring, more individuality, a greater variety and richness in the variations on the inexhaustible theme of woman. In India, on the other hand, two personalities, above all, though by no means exclusively, are heard : the voluptuary and the renouncer. This, of course, does not at all necessarily mean that the former will only praise woman and the latter only condemn her, for we know that it is very often those who run after women who despise them most heartily, and any true regard for them must be quite lacking in such men ; and whether we are friendly inclined or otherwise towards the sex, it offers the keen observer so rich and varied a material that in this case a wholly one-sided view or even a feeling of boredom is only possible to a narrow head and heart. The Hindu shows, indeed, a keen observation at all times when he has to do with the way of the world; that is why hardly any other people has so great a proverbial wisdom; and there has been no want in India of moderate men, standing rather between the extremes.