Kama

Kama (Sanskrit, Pali, Devanagari: काम; IAST: kāma) means “desire, wish, longing” in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain literature.[1] Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual desire, and longing both in religious and secular Hindu and Buddhist literature,[5][6] as well as contemporary Indian literature,[2] but the concept more broadly refers to any desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, desire for, longing to and after, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, enjoyment of love is particularly with or without enjoyment of sexual, sensual and erotic desire, and may be without sexual connotations.[4]

Kama is one of the four goals of human life and is also contemplated as one of the primary needs to fulfill during the stages of life according to the Hindu tradition.[1] It is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing the other three goals: Dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), Artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life) and Moksha (liberation, release, self-actualization).[1][3] Together, these four aims of life are called Puruṣārtha.

 

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References:

[1]. Lang, Karen C. (June 2015). “When the Vindhya Mountains Float in the Ocean: Some Remarks on the Lust and Gluttony of Ascetics and Buddhist Monks”. International Journal of Hindu Studies. Springer Verlag. 19 (1/2): 171–192. doi:10.1007/s11407-015-9176-z. eISSN 1574-9282. ISSN 1022-4556. JSTOR 24631797. S2CID 145662113.

[2]. Macy, Joanna (August 1975). “The Dialectics of Desire”. Numen. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 22 (2): 145–160. doi:10.1163/156852775X00095. eISSN 1568-5276. ISSN 0029-5973. JSTOR 3269765. S2CID 144148663.

[3]. The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8

[4]. Macy, Joanna (August 1975). “The Dialectics of Desire”. Numen. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 22 (2): 145–160. doi:10.1163/156852775X00095. eISSN 1568-5276. ISSN 0029-5973. JSTOR 3269765. S2CID 144148663.