The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana

Book excerpt: The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses. "Kāma" which is one of the four goals of Hindu life, means desire including sexual desire the latter being the subject of the textbook, and "sūtra" literally means a thread or line that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Contrary to popular perception, especially in the western world, the Kama Sutra is not exclusively a sex manual; it presents itself as a guide to a virtuous and gracious living that discusses the nature of love, family life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life. The Kama Sutra does reveal that Vatsyayana lived the life of a religious student, likely in Benares, and spent his time engaged in the contemplation of the highest Deity. Scholars believe that the tone Vatsyayana takes towards youth in the Kama Sutra suggests that he likely spent many years studying religion before beginning his life's work compiling the wisdom of the sages. Indeed, Vatsyayana was less of a groundbreaking philosopher and apparently more of a diligent academician. Besides transcribing the Kama Sutra more than 300 years after the Shastras had already been passed down, he also transcribed the Nyaya Sutras, an ancient Indian text of philosophy that was composed by the buddha Gotama in the 2nd century B.C. Whereas the Kama Sutra tackles kama (or sensual pleasures), the Nyaya Sutra delineates paths for achieving moksha, or spiritual liberation from the cycle of birth and death.