Yayati: A Classic Tale of Lust (Library of South Asian Literature)

by Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar

In life there are only three abiding realities — wine, women and hunting. Man forgets his unhappiness in their pursuit. Wine stimulates the imagination and frees the inhibiting shackles. All thought of morality, duty and good and evil melt in the tempting warmth of wine. In this life, one who does not want to be a quarry oneself must prey on the others. There is nothing like hunting to bring home to one this ultimate truth of life. The truth jars and smacks of cruelty. But that is the most important, all pervading hymn in the lyric of life. Purity, beauty and innocence are mere words conjured up by the upright and weak. The holy sacrificial fire is nothing more than the funeral pyre of the sacrificial goat. A beautiful woman is no more than a living doll catering to the transient impulse of passion. The carefree harmless deer is just food, provided by creation for the hunter. And in the company of a woman are combined the pleasures of wine and the hunt.