Maithuna: Difference between revisions

Maithuna intercourse has been traditionally interpreted to be performed with [[semen retention]] by the male practitioner,<ref name=Elia/> although other authors consider it optional, possibly relegated only to late Tantra.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balaban |first1=Oded |last2=Erev |first2=Anan |title=The Bounds of Freedom: About the Eastern and Western Approaches to Freedom |year=1995 |publisher=P. Lang |isbn=978-0820425146}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Kiss/><ref name=Cush>{{cite book |last=Cush |first=Denise |last2=Robinson |first2=Catherine |last3=York |first3=Michael |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1135189785}}</ref> The shedding of semen is also compared to water-offering (''[[tarpana]]'').<ref name=Kiss>{{cite book |last=White |first=David Gordon |author-link=David Gordon White |title=Kiss of the Yogini: 'Tantric Sex' in its South Asian Contexts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RwARVMg2_4C |year=2006 |edition=paperback |orig-year=2003 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-02783-8 |pages=81-85}}</ref> This is related to similar practices like ''rajapana'', the drinking of female discharge found in [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]] Tantra, and the mixing of all five ingredients into nectar (''[[amrita]]'') in the [[Jagannatha]] temple of [[Puri]], as described by [[Frédérique Apffel-Marglin]].<ref name=Kiss/>

Maithuna entails male-female couples and their union in the physical, sexual sense as synonymous with [[kriya]] nishpatti (mature cleansing).<ref name=Devi>{{cite book |last=Devi |first=Kamala |title=The Eastern Way of Love |pages=19-27 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=1977 |isbn=0-671-22448-4}}</ref> 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 [[Ānanda_(Hindu_philosophy)|bliss]] through union. The scriptures warn that unless this spiritual transformation occurs, the union is incomplete.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garrison |first=Omar |title=Tantra: the Yoga of Sex |publisher=Causeway Books |year=1964 |page=103 |isbn=0-88356-015-1}}</ref> However, some writers, sects and schools like [[Yogananda]] consider this to be a purely mental and symbolic act, without actual intercourse.<ref name=Devi/>