Premarital Sex and Hinduism

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the Hindus in America today deal with the constant pressures of conforming to American society while keeping strong to their Hindu traditions and morals concerning premarital sex. The paper examines several Hindu sacred texts and looks at myths and stories of premarital pregnancies and sex of many different gods and highly worshipped figures and contends that Hindus in America seem to be more liberal and accept premarital sex as a part of life. They do not see it as taboo based because of the change of lifestyle between ancient times and now, the change of marriage age, the availability of contraceptive, and peer pressure.

From the Paper:

"In the Mahabharata, another well-known Hindu epic exists the story of Kunti. Kunti is the mother of the Pandavas, the five princes of Hastinapura (Narayan). Before marrying her current husband Pandu, fathers of the Pandavas, she had a son Karna from the sun Surya. Kunti worshipped the sun and in return she was given a son. But she kept this son as a secret from her husband Pandu. She suffers for the rest of her life for this sin. Fearing denunciation from her family, she deserts her baby boy Karna. Karna grows up to become a great hero and an enemy of the Pandavas. He is on the opposing team in the Mahabharata that the Pandava brothers are fighting against (http://erasmus-in-india.blogspot.com/2006/02/premarital-sex.html). In this example, the premarital son Karna is kept a secret for years until on the battlefield all is revealed. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Indiafreak. (2006, February 25). In Love With India... Message posted to http://erasmus-in-india.blogspot.com/2006/02/premarital-sex.html.
• Kulshreshtha, Manisha. (2001, November 4). Premarital Sex. Message posted to www.boloji.com/family/00135.htm.
• Madhur, Meenakshi. (2001, October 28). Pre-martial Sex and Indian Culture. Message posted to www.boloji.com/women/02724.htm.
• Manohar, Namita. (2008, September). Sshh...!! Don't Tell My Parents: Dating among Second-Generation Patels in Florida. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 39(4), 571-588.
• Miller, Barbara Stoler. (1986). The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War. New York, New York: Bantam Books.

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