Originally published under the title
Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva
, this book traces the development of an Indian approach to an enduring human dilemma: the conflict between spiritual aspirations and human desires. The work examines hundreds of related myths and a wide range of Indian texts—Vedic, Puranic, classical, modern, and tribal—centering on the stories of the great ascetic, Siva, and his erotic
alter ego
, Kama.