The ancient and modern sex cultures of India

Scientific challenges to the beliefs promoted by the Brahma Kumaris so called "World Spiritual University"
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The ancient and modern sex cultures of India

Post28 Sep 2013

The Brahma Kumaris, in their nursery story version of human history and biology, portray life in India 2,500 years ago as a heaven on earth where sexless human beings procreated by the power of mind.

The ancient sex culture of India, as reported in such scriptures as Mahabharat, Rig Vedas and others is somewhat different. Indeed, there is a strong argument to suggest that the puritanical, and hypocritical nature of Indian sexuality these days bears more influence from the Victorian British prudery than the sensual and erotic nature of India's actual recent and past, e.g. in Mahabharat’s Adi Parva (or 'Book of the Beginning'), it is said that if an unmarried woman expresses her desire to have sex, it should be fulfilled and if her wish is not fulfilled, it means death of religion.

Ulupi clearly says to Arjuna that to satisfy a woman, it not against religion to sleep with her for one night.

It appears the Brahma Kumaris, for whatever reason, are painting a false image not only of their own history but also that of India ... but why? It is clear from the actual history that the cult start far more sensually. Perhaps it was the trauma of their community reaction to them, and the British government's reaction that sent them on such a different path?

Whilst denying any impropriety between their founder and the young women of the Om Mandli, in particular his love interest the 19/20 year old Radhi Pokardas Rajwani who he was reported in the Tribunal case sitting on his lap and feeding sweetmeats mouth to mouth, the Brahma Kumaris claim that all Hinduism is a memory of their religion.

Well, the fact remains that the Krishna cult in India (the BKs believe founder Lekhraj Kirpalani was God Krishna reincarnated) is a highly erotic cult and Krishna a god given to sensual indulgences. It gave birth to much of India's finest love poetry, songs and erotic art.

How do they explain that away?

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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

In the Gita Govinda, the "Love Songs of Radhe and Krishna", twelve chapters sub-divided into twenty four divisions evoke Radhe love for Krishna and encourage devotees passion.

These photos taken from the outside of the temple called Khajuharo.
While Krishna was kissing swarms of glowing nubile women,
Radhe became most beloved for his joy - like jasmine for a bee.

Krishna looked longingly, his face turned back,
The border of his garment held by his friend the forest earth -
He recalled Radhe's "No! No! No!" while he loosened her skirt knot,
Her syllables marked by her confusion,
her body wondrous in fear of love, her words barely intelligible.

Falling on her breasts' firm tips, Radhe was like a laden kadamba tree,
As tears were strewn by her endless sighing and trembling gait
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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

In India history there were times, places and rituals where there were no formal social rules for sex between men and women, and others. Having sex with any woman, having open sex anywhere anytime like animals, having sex with young girls and even sex with animals was a common thing even sanctified in Hindu scriptures, e.g. in Adi Parva of the Mahabharat, open sex between the Rishi Parashar and Satyavati Matsyangandha was described as was it mentioned that son of Utthat, the ancient sage Dirghtama, started having sex with a woman, openly, in front of people and this is portrayed in the highly sensual art which shocked the Victorian British.

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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

A strange collusion took place between the Christian Victorian British Raj, an Anglophile Indian elite seeking acceptance by their new rulers and the Brahmin caste to subjugate and suppress India's sensuality, and especially the sexuality of women.

Yet, even in relatively modern history, king Maharaja Ranjit Singh was reported to have sex on top of his elephant in a place where it was tied for everyone to see him. In the 17th Century, sex games used to play amongst elite men and women for others entertainment, men pull the women’s diaphanous dresses and then have sex with them in public until every man would have slept with every woman in emulation of Krishna's exploits.

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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

Incest is commonly mentioned in ancient texts as, indeed, Lekhraj Kirpalani as "the Father of Humanity" marriage ceremony to his "daughter" Om Radhe is considered from a spiritual point of view.

The daughter of one sage Vasishta believed him to be her husband and therefore used to have sex with him. In another story, God Indra had sex with his great grandson’s wife Vapushtma. Other "sages" even married their own daughter.

Even in the Rig Veda, the sexual converse between Brother and Sister Yam and Yami is mentioned, Yami expressing her desire to unite with her own Brother hinting that sexual relationship between Brothers and Sisters were not uncommon.

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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

And sex was neither limited to couples nor only between humans, gods even mating with animas to produce bizarre interspecial creations.

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Re: Ancient sex culture of India

Post28 Sep 2013

The portrayal of love and love making in modern India, through Bollywood, is an entire other subject ... the nature of which led Lekhraj Kirpalani to ban BK adherents from going to watch it after his own experience which led him, regretfully he considered later, to marrying his own real wife Jasoda.

I believe that Westerners new to Hinduism, or Brahma Kumarism, have no real framework to understand Indian sexuality and the Brahma Kumari response to it. To understand Brahma Kumarism, rather than just be sucked along and exploited by it under the guise of it being a "yogic" or Hindu path, one needs to become aware of the dissonant influences of a highly sensual and sexualised past and metaphysical tradition, under the more modern and alien veneer of Protestant morality (first British and more recently American baptist) and the cults own genuine history, one they keep hidden.

In India, one has extreme patriarchal suppression of women's sexuality (daughters of the elite being property increased in value by "purity") ... the valuelessness of poor women with no rights and no access to legal protection or welfare ... the financial constraints on poor men unable to 'afford' a wife, still carrying natural impulses and yet inable to express them, currently creating a dangerous cauldron of male sexual suppression and how it effects women ... the influences of conservative Islam and neo-Hinduism such as the BKs ... of course, the unspoken of sexual abuse of children (in 2007 the Ministry of Women and Child Development did a survey of children and young adults and 53% of children reported having faced sexual abuse) ... the sexual imbalances caused by female infanticide - "the worst in recorded history" (in some regions only 774 girls are registered for every 1,000 boys born and "600,000 Indian girls go 'missing' every year") - which mean many men will never be able to marry ... and so on.

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Re: The ancient and modern sex cultures of India

Post28 Sep 2013

One subtlety the BKs do not bring up in their desire to police their adherents' sexuality and sensual activities, is that celibacy was primarily an upper caste activity and goal and, in essence, the control of the lower castes' sexual activity came about through economic interests rather than spiritual ones. Bear in mind only the upper castes could afford to be celibate and the lower castes need to breed to ensure their future welfare ... the imbalance in society then appearing as a threat to the ruling classes.

In a nation where marriage by kidnap, bride burning, dowry extortion is still widespread, the widespread use of violence to control sexuality might shock Westerners ... especially when love cross caste borders.

In one typical case, a girl running away with a lower caste boy with the help of his friend were all caught, tortured for the whole night, hanged in the morning and then set on fire while two of them were still alive.

The entire village was made to witness the events carried out by male elders.

In other case, girls were shot dead by relatives for the "crime" of having a love affair, the fathers claiming it "soiled their honour and pride" and death was the only punishment, women have been axed, stripped and beaten by their own caste, boys lynched, police generally ignoring events. Invariably it is the girls or women who are made to suffer most.

For more discussion of such like, see, A Question of Silence: The Sexual Economies of Modern India by Janaki Nair and Mary E. John.

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