Culture of aesthetic fulfillment

nAgarikata — culture, and citizenship as per kAma SAstra

Having seen the individual aspect of aesthetics in 64 fine arts, now let us dwell into the discussion of the make-up of civil society as per vAtsAyana.

As per artha-sAstra, the dwelling places of households are known as janapadas. These janapadas are connected by towns (paTTaNa) and cities (nagara) to enable the distribution of goods and services. All the classes of people choose the suitable livelihood: a brahmana by consulting, a kshtriya by the administration, a vaisya by business, and a sUdra by agriculture.

Having married a suitable partner, one should select the right dwelling place either in a janapada, paTTaNa or a nagara according to the profession selected. By acquiring a house near a good water source and other facilities, build a house.

Each house to have two parts. A social place and a private place used for the couple’s enjoyment. In modern terms, this came to be known as a bedroom. But as per kAma SAstra, this private place of the home is nearly half of the area covering a private garden, and an elaborate description of multiple beds, platforms, decorative items, fragrances, and most importantly a book of kAma SAstra. Not to exclude, the musical instruments, board games, and other art materials are a necessity in this private area.

The garden to have larger trees and flower plants, a swing, a platform to observe birds and enjoy the fragrance of flowers.

A special note on the bed(s) — There is one bed that is used for the couple only for enjoyment; two separate beds for each of them to sleep. At the head side of each sleeping bed, a seat is arranged to perform the japa/meditation after waking up. The purpose of each bed or seat is different, one should not be used for the other purpose!

An ideal daily routine suggested (nitya): Man and Woman of the family wake up before Sunrise and take a cold water bath and perform morning rituals. Dividing the day into 8 divisions one should work for the first 3 units, take a bath in the 4th period, and have the meal together. Spend one unit of time with artistic recreation in training birds, plants, etc., and the rest of the time in working. Again taking a hot water bath in the 8th unit of time, evening rituals to be performed.

naimittikas: Activities performed once a while, like attending conferences / special occasions / dance shows / musical concerts etc., to be attended in the first three units of night time. These programs include having various deliciously prepared drinks in small groups as well. Sometimes these occasions include gambling and other games. Some of these can be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or the beginning of the new season — once a year.

A specific theme-based event is known as ghata. They are organized events with speakers or performs are announced earlier. On the other hand, generic public events where anyone gets a chance to perform are known as gOshTi. In the gOshTis both music and dance are performed by amateur artists. These events serve as a platform for entertainment and demonstration of talents acquired by the people.

There are several types of games / activities listed: 1. yaksharAtri — a night of games based on chance or gambling; 2. kaumudI-jAgaraNam — a night of Sarad Rtu where small groups of individuals come together and spend time in art shows. 3. suvasantakam — this is dedicated to manmatha (cupid) 4. sahakAra bhanjikA — an event focussed on making mango based dishes and serving 5. abhUSha-khAdikA — an event around special dishes made by groundnuts 6. bisa-khAdikA — an event of collecting edible portions of lotus plant and making special dishes with them 7. navapatrikA — is an event celebrating first rain in the public garden 8. udaka-kshEDikA — is an event that is played with water fountains. 9. pAnchAlAnuyAnam — is a game played by five or six boys and girls. 10. eka-Salmali — a bright flowering tree-based event to collect and decorate with the flowers 11. yava-chaturthi — is played on vaiSAkha sukla Chaturthi to mix the flour and fragrance together and making cakes with it. 12. alOla Chaturthi — a game played with swings fixed to the branches of trees on the same day as in 11 (this is known now as atla-tadde) 13. madanOtsavam — performed to worship cupid 14. damana-bhanjikA — decoration with damana (a highly fragrant plant) 15. hOlakA — this is widely known as holi where different color powders from plants are made and mixed with water and sprinkled around 16. ASOkOttansikA — decoration with ASokA plant leaves 17. pushpApacahyam — collecting multiple types of flowers from the garden and using them in decoration 18. chUta-pallava-avatansanam — a special event to collect mango leaflets and using them in hair decoration 19. ikshu-bhanjikA — an event focussed on using sugar cane pieces and playfully eating them and 20. kadamba-yuddham — this is a playful battle using raw kadamba fruit as a sword!

If we carefully observe the theme of all 20 different event/game combinations, they are based on naturally available resources and taking the human near to plant life and connecting with the color / fragrance / taste of changes in the external climate to the human psychological changes.

So, the culture of desire-fulfillment as per kAma-SAstra is natural and aligned to the natural means of artistically indulging in the pleasures in a controlled manner to not to harm the individual or the environment around them without needing overproduction or overconsumption problems of modern society.

All these events can be local and bring the people of similar interests (call them classes) together and develop a taste towards multiple fine arts by individuals and create a social engagement that can be very fulfilling to the communities of the smaller janapadas to larger cities! All the entertainment gives rise to an improved economy in each locality as everything is live and nothing is recorded entertainment of modern-day business model of selling recorded “agenda-driven” entertainment by the “idols” of each art form!

Everyone is included in the process of production, everyone is given an opportunity to show their artistic abilities in a happily aligned society as described by the “culture” portion of kAma-SAstra by vAtsAyana maharshi. May the subject is studied, understood, and practiced by those who seek real fulfillment in life.

The beauty of kAma-SAstra is that while confirming for tradition it gives sufficient variety to adapt to the change, it respects individuality and aligns with common social goals of aesthetics by creating the equity model taking the tastes of classes into account; it creates private spaces and public appeal to the artistic achievements with local and global visibility and specialization.