THE KAMA SUTRA OF VATSYAYANA IBD

Sinopsis

TheáKama Sutraá(Sanskrit:áàñòàñ¾àñ«àñ¸àÑéàññàÑìàñ°) is an ancient IndianáSanskritátext on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life.áAttributed toáVÄütsyÄüyana,átheáKama Sutraáis neither exclusively nor predominantly aásex manualáonásex positions,ábut written as a guide to the art of living well, the nature of love, finding a life partner, maintaining oneâÇÖs love life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life.áIt is aásutra-genre text with terse aphoristic verses that have survived into the modern era with differentábhasyaá(exposition and commentaries). The text is a mix of prose andáanustubh-meter poetry verses. The text acknowledges the Hindu concept ofáPurusharthas, 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.áThe 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.The text is one of many Indian texts onáKama Shastra.áIt is a much-translated work in Indian and non-Indian languages. TheáKamasutraáhas 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 oldáHindu temples. Of these, theáKhajurahoáináMadhya Pradesháis a UNESCO world heritage site.áAmong the surviving temples in north India, one ináRajasthanásculpts all the major chapters and sexual positions to illustrate theáKamasutra.áAccording toáWendy Doniger, theáKamasutraábecame 'one of the most pirated books in English language' soon after it was published in 1883 byáRichard Burton. This first European edition by Burton does not faithfully reflect much in theáKamasutraábecause he revised the collaborative translation by Bhagavanlal Indrajit and Shivaram Parashuram Bhide with Forster Arbuthnot to suit 19th-century Victorian tastes.