Maithuna or Mithuna (Devanagari: मैथुन) is a Sanskrit term for the union of sexual intercourse within tantric sex, in Indian art it portrays "celestial lovers", which are displayed at Buddhist, Jainist or Hindu (cave) temples or torana gateways.[1][2]
It is the most important of the five makara and constitutes the main part of the grand ritual of Tantra variously known as Panchamakara, Panchatattva, and Tattva Chakra.[3] Maithuna means the union of opposing forces, underlining the nonduality between human and divine,[3] as well as worldly enjoyment (kama) and spiritual liberation (moksha).[4]
Mithuna is a popular icon in ancient Hindu art, portrayed as celestial lovers engaged in the physical joining of bodies.[5] The sculptures are spread all over India; however, they are more common in northern India than in the south of the country.
History
Maithuna intercourse has been traditionally interpreted to be performed with semen retention by the male practitioner,[3] although other authors consider it optional, possibly relegated only to late Tantra.[6] Early maithuna might have consisted on generating sexual fluids (maithunam dravyam, or solely maithuna by metonymy) in order to be ritually ingested, in a similar way to the edible three first Panchamakara.[1][2] The shedding of semen is also compared to water-offering (tarpana).[1] This is related to similar practices like rajapana, the drinking of female discharge found in Kaula Tantra, and the mixing of all five ingredients into nectar (amrita) in the Jagannatha temple of Puri, as described by Frédérique Apffel-Marglin.[1]
Late sources like Abhinavagupta in 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).
The 11th century Toḍala tantra places maithuna as the last of its pañcamakāra or "set of 5 M-words", namely madya (wine), māṃsa (meat), matsya (fish), mudrā (grain), and maithuna.[7]
Around the 12th century, practices seemed to turn towards the absorption of sexual fluids into the body of the practitioner, like that of vajroli mudra.[1]
Concept
Maithuna entails male-female couples and their union in the physical, sexual sense as synonymous with kriya nishpatti (mature cleansing).[8] 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 is consecrated. The couple become for the time being divine: she is Shakti and he is Shiva, and they confront ultimate reality and experiences bliss through union. The scriptures warn that unless this spiritual transformation occurs, the union is incomplete.[9] However, some writers, sects and schools like Yogananda consider this to be a purely mental and symbolic act, without actual intercourse.[8]
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 their subtle bodies as well. It is when this transfer of energy occurs that the couple, incarnated as goddess and god via diminished egos, confronts ultimate reality and experiences bliss through sexual union of the subtle bodies.[10][3]
Interpretation
An interpretation of the Maithunas can essentially take place on three levels:[11]
Love and religion
In many cultures and cultural practices, the spheres of love (of God), ecstasy, trance, sexuality and religion lie close together; in a state of intoxication, sexual and religious feelings can be increased in equal measure. But only in India has this thinking or feeling found broad artistic expression (cf. Kama Sutra, Tantra, Bhakti).
Maithuna ritual
Maithuna ritual means sexual union in a ritual context (spiritual or sacred sexuality). A Maithuna ritual was celebrated in India in the tantric schools of Kaula (a Shivai school of Hindu tantra) and Shakta (a school of Hindu tantra that emphasizes and worships Shakti) and took place in groups.
Union of opposites
Another set of themes addressed in the Maithunas is the quest for the (re)unification of opposing principles such as that of man and woman. By uniting them, a state of unearthly harmony can and should be achieved in which all – supposed or actual – opposites are abolished. The Maithunas can thus be understood as a pictorial realization of this thought or as a request or suggestion to imitate it.
Ward off evil
Most of the Maithuna pairs are attached to the portal jambs or to the outer walls of the temples; they are rarely to be found inside the temple buildings. This placement makes an anti-evil (apotropaic) function of these figures probable - in the presence of love and eroticism, ominous, i.e. demonic (Asura) or destructive forces no longer have any room to develop.
References
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (2012). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1135189785.
- ^ a b c d Eliade, 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: A Survey of the Customs, Festivals, Rituals and Beliefs Concerning Marriage, Morals, Women, the Art and Science of Life and Sex Symbolism in the Religion of India from Remote Antiquity to the Present Day. Bombay [Mumbai]: D.B. Taraporevala. OCLC 762156601.[page needed]
- ^ Menzies, Jackie (2006). Goddess: Divine Energy. Art Gallery of New South Wales. ISBN 978-0734763969.
- ^ Balaban, Oded; Erev, Anan (1995). The Bounds of Freedom: About the Eastern and Western Approaches to Freedom. P. Lang. ISBN 978-0820425146.
- ^ White, David Gordon (2003). Kiss of the Yogini: "Tantric Sex" in its South Asian Contexts. University of Chicago Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-226-02783-8.
- ^ a b Devi, 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.
- ^ Bajracharya, Ramesh. "Adi Buddha & Principal Buddhist deities: Concept & Practice in Vajrayana Buddhism in Nepal". China Buddhism Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Frost, Gavin; Frost, Yvonne (1996). Tantric Yoga: The Royal Path to Raising Kundalini Power. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 125–126. ISBN 9788120812314.
External links
Media related to Mithuna at Wikimedia Commons