Multiple romantic or sexual partners: the real story

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question: Sir, we are sitting in a lawn and we are surrounded by rabbits all around. Man has made attempts throughout history to transcend its animal nature, and one of the things has been, trying to be stable in its sexual relationships. Such a thing is not found in animals. They do not have any compulsion or pressure to be loyal, not be an infidel.

What is your take on the concept of having multiple partners, or not having any moral or cultural pressure to engage sexually or romantically with any one person throughout life?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Multiple partners is too much. Let’s begin with one partner. Why do you need a partner at all? Now, I am not taking a position; I am asking a question. Why do you need a partner in the first place?

You need a partner because you feel a certain vacancy. You feel a certain urge, a feeling of incompleteness. You are looking for something, and you feel that which you are looking for will be provided by the person you are relating to, the one you are partnering with. Now, do you succeed? If you succeed, then why do you need another partner? And if you don’t succeed, why do you need another partner?

The whole thing does not have so much of a moral angle to it.

Go ahead and have forty thousand partners! Be related to ten, twenty, thirty people in whichever way you want to. Have a platonic relationship, have an active sexual relationship.

Go ahead and try all of that, if any of that gives you contentment.

Does it?

If it gives you contentment, go ahead.

Here is an early warning — it won’t; you would be wasting your time.

Forget about multiple partners,

even those who stick loyalties to just one partner,

find that they are not getting what they wanted out of that one partner.

So the question is not one partner versus multiple partners, the question is: Whether any of these partnerships are any good? Are these any good? And if they really are good, who can stop you from partnering the deity…