The Ascetic of Desire
June 8, 2000
A novel of the Kamasutra
By Yi Hai Lai
- He who wishes to obtain virtue, prosperity and sexual love in this world and the next must know this text thoroughly and, at the same time, become a master of his senses.
—Kamasutra 7.2.58
In the Golden Age of Indian history, kings, courtesans and scholars alike pursued the knowledge of kama—the sensual life. It was during this opulent time that the Kamasutra was written. The widely read treatise charted all there was to experience in sexual relationships, although virtually nothing is known about its author. In The Ascetic of Desire, author Sudhir Kakar spins the tale of Vatsyayana, a celibate guru of sensuality, and the path that lead him to the birth of the Kamasutra.
The Ascetic of Desire is a richly structured narrative of stories within a story. Through the sight and sensations of an idealistic Brahmin student, we enter the world of 4th century India. Driven by an internal restlessness, the young narrator encounters the elusive Vatsyayana and his beautiful wife. A shifting relationship develops between the young scholar and the older sage, as Vatsyayana recounts his youth in the city of Kausambi, a flourishing center of wealth, art and culture.
Vatsyayana reveals his unorthodox background as a child born in a brothel, where his mother and his aunt reigned as renowned courtesans. His education of the sensual life begins with his aunt Chandrika, a vivacious and volatile woman brimming with sexual confidence and the secrets of her trade. Vatsyayana quietly worships his aunt’s beauty as he observes the intricate play of sexual politics between her and her lovers.
Under the same roof of his early childhood, there is also the cook Ganadasa, who shares with him a connection to the senses. One passage reads: From Ganadasa , I learnt that sex is like cooking…there is nothing an accomplished man or woman can, like a good cook, do to each other which will not heighten the savor of passion…
It is in Ganadasa’s kitchen that Vatsyayana first understands the concept of differences, in taste and appetite. In him, this fires a desire to experience the larger world.
The appearance of his father marks the beginning of the next period in Vatsyayana’s life. A wealthy merchant constantly on the road, Vatsyayana’s father had been a sporadic and distant presence in his life.
When Vatsyayana turns 11 years old, however, he joins his father in his travels to the far off lands of Bactria and Kashgar, at the foothills of the Himalayas. In the desert landscape and the expatriate world of trading posts, Vatsyayana begins to see the man that his father is, and imagines journeys through unknown landscapes…in which the son gradually came to resemble the father—fearless, self-confident and audacious.
Alas, the physical journey is cut short by tragedy, and Vatsyayana returns to Kausambi to a much-declined level of activity at his mother’s house. The demands of the profession and the heart had begun to wear on the spirit of his beloved Chandrika. Vatsyayana is now under some pressure to support the household financially.
Through an amusing twist of fate, the king Udayana, an enthusiast of the sensual life, befriends Vatsyayana. In Udayana, the would-be sage has found a patron. Thus begins the transformation of the student of life and letters into the controversial scholar of eroticism.
At the point that our young scholar-narrator finds the sage, the old scholar’s notoriety already precedes him, a circumstance that veils the truth of his nature. There is the question of his self-imposed celibacy, and the role of his attractive, intellectual wife. How is the young scholar changed and changed again through his time spent with Vatsyayana?
The revelation of the whole picture runs side by side to Vatsyayana’s telling of tales. The dance of prose and emotional undercurrents culminate into a burst of destiny, where the personal past and future of the young and old man intersect inextricably.
Sudhir Kakar crafts luscious layers of mythology, psychological texture, and historical detail into this rhythmic tale. His characters sometimes read as aspects of the human psyche rather than individuals. This quality complements the book’s ability to span the history of sensuality and culture. The insights into power, sexual love, and social structure find strong echoes in postmodern life. In part a homage to the Kamasutra, in part beautiful story telling, The Ascetic of Desire is a highly enjoyable and thoughtful read.
Sudhir Kakar is a well-known author in the fields of psychoanalysis and eroticism. His non-fiction works includes, Intimate Relations, Tales of Love, and Sex and Danger among others. The Ascetic of Desire is his first novel: 301 pp. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press. $25.95.
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