Maithuna

Maithuna(Devanagari:मैथुन) is aSanskritterm forsexual intercoursewithinTantra(Tantric sex), or alternatively for the sexual fluids generated or the couple participating in the ritual.^[1]^[2]It is the most important of thePanchamakaraand constitutes the main part of the grand ritual of Tantra also known as Tattva Chakra.^[3]Maithuna means the union of opposing forces, underlining thenondualitybetween human and divine,^[3]as well as worldly enjoyment (kama) and spiritual liberation (moksha).^[4]Maithuna is a popular icon inancient Hindu art,portrayed as a couple engaged in physical loving.^[5]

Concept

Maithuna entails male-female couples and their union in the physical, sexual sense as synonymous withkriyanishpatti (mature cleansing).^[6]Just as neither spirit nor matter by itself is effective but both working together bring harmony so is maithuna effective only then when the union isconsecrated.The couple become for the time being divine: she isShaktiand he isShiva,and they confront ultimate reality and experiencesblissthrough union. The scriptures warn that unless this spiritual transformation occurs, the union is incomplete.^[7]However, some writers, sects and schools likeYoganandaconsider this to be a purely mental and symbolic act, without actual intercourse.^[6]

Yet it is possible to experience a form of maithuna not solely just through the physical union. The act can exist on a metaphysical plane with sexual energy penetration, in which the shakti and shakta transfer energy through theirsubtle bodiesas well. It is when this transfer of energy occurs that the couple, incarnated as goddess and god via diminishedegos,confronts ultimate reality and experiences bliss through sexual union of the subtle bodies.^[3]

History

Maithuna intercourse has been traditionally interpreted to be performed withsemen retentionby the male practitioner,^[3]although other writers consider it optional, possibly relegated only to late Tantra.^[8]Early maithuna might have insisted on generating sexual fluids (maithunam dravyam,or solelymaithunabymetonymy) in order to be ritually ingested, in a similar way to the other four edible Panchamakara.^[1]^[2]The shedding of semen is also compared to water-offering (tarpana).^[1]

Ascetics of theShaiviteschool ofMantramarga,in order to gain supernatural power, reenacted the penance ofShivaafter cutting off one ofBrahma's heads (Bhikshatana). They worshipped Shiva with impure substances like alcohol, blood and sexual fluids generated in orgiastic rites with their consorts.^[9]As part of tantric inversion of social regulations, sexual yoga often recommends the usage of consorts from the most taboo groups available, such as close relatives or people from the lowest sections of society. They must be young and beautiful, as well as initiates in tantra.^[10]

Jayanta Bhatta,the 9th-century scholar of theNyayaschool ofHindu philosophyand who commented on Tantra literature, stated that the Tantric ideas and spiritual practices are mostly well placed, but it also has "immoral teachings" such as by the so-called "Nilambara" sect where its practitioners "wear simply one blue garment, and then as a group engage in unconstrained public sex" on festivals. He wrote that this practice is unnecessary and it threatens fundamental values of society.^[11]

Later sources likeAbhinavaguptain the tenth century warn that results of maithuna are not meant to be consumed like the rest of Panchamakara, calling those who do so "brutes" (pasus).^{[citation needed]}The 11th centuryToḍala tantraplaces maithuna as the last of itspañcamakāraor "set of 5 M-words", namelymadya(wine),māṃsa(meat),matsya(fish),mudrā(grain), andmaithuna.^[1]

Around the 12th century, practices seemed to turn towards the absorption of sexual fluids into the body of the practitioner, like that ofvajroli mudra.^[1]This is related to similar practices likerajapana,the drinking of female discharge found inKaulaTantra, and the mi xing of all five ingredients into nectar (amrita) in theJagannathatemple ofPuri,as described byFrédérique Apffel-Marglin.^[1]

Douglas Renfrew Brooks states that the antinomian elements such as the use of intoxicating substances and sex were notanimistic,but were adopted in some Kaula traditions to challenge the Tantric devotee to break down the "distinctions between the ultimate reality of Brahman and the mundane physical and mundane world". By combining erotic and ascetic techniques, states Brooks, the Tantric broke down all social and internal assumptions, became Shiva-like.^[12]In Kashmir Shaivism, states David Gray, the antinomian transgressive ideas were internalized, for meditation and reflection, and as a means to "realize a transcendent subjectivity".^[13]

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fWhite, David Gordon(2006) [2003].Kiss of the Yogini: 'Tantric Sex' in its South Asian Contexts(paperback ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 81–85.ISBN 978-0-226-02783-8.
^^a ^bCush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (2012).Encyclopedia of Hinduism.Routledge.ISBN 978-1135189785.
^^a ^b ^c ^dEliade, Mircea(1969).Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0691017648.^{[page needed]}
^Thomas, Paul (1960).Kāma Kalpa, Or, The Hindu Ritual of Love.Bombay [Mumbai]: D.B. Taraporevala.OCLC 762156601.^{[page needed]}
^Menzies, Jackie (2006).Goddess: Divine Energy.Art Gallery of New South Wales.ISBN 978-0734763969.
^^a ^bDevi, Kamala (1977).The Eastern Way of Love.Simon & Schuster.pp. 19–27.ISBN 0-671-22448-4.
^Garrison, Omar (1964).Tantra: the Yoga of Sex.Causeway Books. p. 103.ISBN 0-88356-015-1.
^Balaban, Oded; Erev, Anan (1995).The Bounds of Freedom: About the Eastern and Western Approaches to Freedom.P. Lang.ISBN 978-0820425146.
^English 2013,p. 40.
^English 2013,p. 41.
^Flood 2006,pp. 48–49.
^Brooks 1990,pp. 69–71.
^Gray 2016,p. 11.

Works cited

Brooks, Douglas Renfrew (1990).The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantrism.University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0-226-07569-3.
English, Elizabeth (2013).Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms.Simon and Schuster.ISBN 978-0-861-71657-9.
Flood, Gavin D.(2006).The Tantric Body, The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion.I.B Taurus.ISBN 978-1-84511-011-6.
Gray, David B. (2016). "Tantra and the Tantric Traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism".Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.59.ISBN 9780199340378.

External links

Media related toMithunaat Wikimedia Commons

[Kiss-1] White, David Gordon(2006) [2003].Kiss of the Yogini: 'Tantric Sex' in its South Asian Contexts(paperback ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 81–85.ISBN 978-0-226-02783-8.

[Cush-2] Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (2012).Encyclopedia of Hinduism.Routledge.ISBN 978-1135189785.

[Elia-3] Eliade, Mircea(1969).Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0691017648.^{[page needed]}

[4] Thomas, Paul (1960).Kāma Kalpa, Or, The Hindu Ritual of Love.Bombay [Mumbai]: D.B. Taraporevala.OCLC 762156601.^{[page needed]}

[5] Menzies, Jackie (2006).Goddess: Divine Energy.Art Gallery of New South Wales.ISBN 978-0734763969.

[Devi-6] Devi, Kamala (1977).The Eastern Way of Love.Simon & Schuster.pp. 19–27.ISBN 0-671-22448-4.

[7] Garrison, Omar (1964).Tantra: the Yoga of Sex.Causeway Books. p. 103.ISBN 0-88356-015-1.

[8] Balaban, Oded; Erev, Anan (1995).The Bounds of Freedom: About the Eastern and Western Approaches to Freedom.P. Lang.ISBN 978-0820425146.

[FOOTNOTEEnglish201340-9] English 2013,p. 40.

[FOOTNOTEEnglish201341-10] English 2013,p. 41.

[FOOTNOTEFlood200648–49-11] Flood 2006,pp. 48–49.

[FOOTNOTEBrooks199069–71-12] Brooks 1990,pp. 69–71.

[FOOTNOTEGray201611-13] Gray 2016,p. 11.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

v t e Yoginis
Entities	Apsara Bhairavi Dakini Matrika Vajrayogini Yakshini
Yogini temples	Badoh Bhedaghat Hirapur Ranipur Jharial Khajuraho Mitaoli
Related	Maithuna Women in Hinduism Yoga for women
Category