Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty 
Siva 
The Erotic Ascetic

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.