The Kama Sutra (/ˈkɑːmə ˈsuːtrə/; Sanskrit: कामसूत्र, pronunciation (help·info), Kāma-sūtra; lit. 'Principles of Love') is an ancient Indian[1][2] Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life.[3][4][5] Attributed to Vātsyāyana,[6] The Kama Sutra is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions,[3] but rather was written as a guide to the art of living well, the nature of love, finding a life partner, maintaining one's love life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life.[3][7][8] It is a sutra-genre text with terse aphoristic verses that have survived into the modern era with different bhāṣyas (exposition and commentaries). The text is a mix of prose and anustubh-meter poetry verses. The text acknowledges the Hindu concept of Purusharthas, and lists desire, sexuality, and emotional fulfillment as one of the proper goals of life. Its chapters discuss methods for courtship, training in the arts to be socially engaging, finding a partner, flirting, maintaining power in a married life, when and how to commit adultery, sexual positions, and other topics.[9] The majority of the book is about the philosophy and theory of love, what triggers desire, what sustains it, and how and when it is good or bad.[10][11]
The text is one of many Indian texts on Kama Shastra.[12] It is a much-translated work in Indian and non-Indian languages. The Kamasutra has influenced many secondary texts that followed after the 4th-century CE, as well as the Indian arts as exemplified by the pervasive presence Kama-related reliefs and sculpture in old Hindu temples. Of these, the Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[13] Among the surviving temples in north India, one in Rajasthan sculpts all the major chapters and sexual positions to illustrate the Kamasutra.[14] According to Wendy Doniger, the Kamasutra became "one of the most pirated books in English language" soon after it was published in 1883 by Richard Burton. This first European edition by Burton does not faithfully reflect much in the Kamasutra because he revised the collaborative translation by Bhagavanlal Indrajit and Shivaram Parashuram Bhide with Forster Arbuthnot to suit 19th-century Victorian tastes.
Vātsyāyana, who was an ancient Indian philosopher, known for authoring the Kama Sutra. He was a brahmin,[1] and lived in India during the second or third century CE, probably in Pataliputra (modern day Patna in Bihar).[2]
He is not to be confused with Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana, the author of Nyāya Sutra Bhāshya, the first preserved commentary on Gotama's Nyāya Sutras.[3][4] His name is sometimes erroneously confused with Mallanaga, the seer of the Asuras, to whom the origin of erotic science is attributed.
Hardly anything is known about Vātsyāyana from sources outside the Kāmasūtra itself. Vātsyāyana's interest in refined human, including sexual, behavior as a means of fulfilment was recorded in his treatise Kama Sutra.
At the close of the Kama Sutra this is what he writes about himself:
After reading and considering the works of Babhravya and other ancient authors, and thinking over the meaning of the rules given by them, this treatise was composed, according to the precepts of the Holy Writ, for the benefit of the world, by Vatsyayana, while leading the life of a religious student at Benares, and wholly engaged in the contemplation of the Deity. This work is not to be used merely as an instrument for satisfying our desires. A person acquainted with the true principles of this science, who preserves his Dharma (virtue or religious merit), his Artha (worldly wealth) and his Kama (pleasure or sensual gratification), and who has regard to the customs of the people, is sure to obtain the mastery over his senses. In short, an intelligent and knowing person attending to Dharma and Artha and also to Kama, without becoming the slave of his passions, will obtain success in everything that he may do.
Some believe that he must have lived between the 1st and 6th century CE, on the following grounds: He mentions that Satakarni Satavahana, a king of Kuntal, killed Malayevati his wife with an instrument called Katari by striking her in the passion of love. Vatsyayana quotes this case to warn people of the danger arising from some old customs of striking women when under the influence of sexual passion. This king of Kuntal is believed to have lived and reigned, consequently Vatsyayana must have lived after him. On the other hand, another author, Varahamihira, in the eighteenth chapter of his "Brihatsanhita", discusses of the science of love, and appears to have borrowed largely from Vatsyayana on the subject. Some believe that Varahamihira lived during the 6th century and therefore Vatsyayana must have written his works before the 6th century.