The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated from the Sanscrit in Seven Parts with Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks
1964
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated from the Sanscrit in Seven Parts with Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks
1964
Translated by Shivaram Parashuram Bhide
The Kama Sutra is not what popular culture has made it. Yes, it contains detailed guidance on physical intimacy, but reduce it to that and you miss an ancient Indian vision of the good life. Written between the 4th and 7th centuries by the philosopher Vatsyayana, this Sanskrit text addresses desire (kama) as one of life's four legitimate aims, alongside virtue, wealth, and spiritual release. It offers counsel on selecting a partner, the mechanics of courtship, the subtleties of pleasure, and the philosophical underpinnings of sensuality. Far from a mere manual, it examines the interplay of love, wealth, and duty with the seriousness of a classical philosophical treatise. Its cultural significance extends beyond the bedroom into questions of social practice, aesthetic appreciation, and the cultivation of a refined existence.
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“So long as lips shall kiss,and eyes shall see,so long lives this ,and this gives life to thee.””
— Vatsyayana
“Love is necessary to satisfy the mind, ethics to satisfy the conscience, and spiritual seeking for peace of soul. Without food and clothes, the body becomes thin and weak. Without eroticism, the mind becomes restless and unsatisfied. Without virtue (ethics), the conscience goes astray. Without spirituality, the soul is degraded.””
— Vatsyayana
“for it is a universal rule that however bashful or angry a woman may be she never disregards a man's kneeling at her feet.””
— Vatsyayana
“A person who does nothing will enjoy no happiness.””
— Vatsyayana
“IF a woman has manifested her love or desire, either by signs or by motions of the body,and is afterwards rarely or never seen anywhere, or if a woman is met for the first time,the man should get a go-between to approach her.””
— Vatsyayana
“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.””
— Vatsyayana
“When we repress our desires, they do not disappear but stay beneath the surface and continue to exert their influence. Prohibition arouses desire and suggests stratagems for satisfying it.””
— Vatsyayana
“a man loves a girl ever so much, he never succeeds in winning her without a great deal of talking'.””
— Vatsyayana
“It should also be noted that the first encounter may be a failure, if loveplay is not known. The man must be more careful than the woman in the act of copulation, since he does not know how to restrain himself, while the woman is always hesitant. The responsibility lies with both.””
— Vatsyayana
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Vatsyayana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated from the Sanscrit in Seven Parts with Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-kama-sutra-of-vatsyayana-translated-from-the-sanscrit-in-seven-parts-with-pr-f1a695b2-1da6-4921-8df4-9905b735dddc.Vatsyayana (1964). The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated from the Sanscrit in Seven Parts with Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-kama-sutra-of-vatsyayana-translated-from-the-sanscrit-in-seven-parts-with-pr-f1a695b2-1da6-4921-8df4-9905b735dddcVatsyayana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated from the Sanscrit in Seven Parts with Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-kama-sutra-of-vatsyayana-translated-from-the-sanscrit-in-seven-parts-with-pr-f1a695b2-1da6-4921-8df4-9905b735dddc.
