Kama SutraThe Kama Sutra is the most well-known book on lovemaking ever composed. Originally composed by an Indian sage sometime between the 4th century BC and the first century AD, it was not translated into English until the 1880's, and has only been available to the general reader since the 1960's.
Hardly anything is known about the writer of the Kama Sutra. He belonged to the Vatsyayana sept, and his own name was Mallanaga. He embarked on the book as he was nearing the end of his life, and saw the writing of it as part of his religious responsibilities. It is a carefully researched and learned work, objective and semi-scientific, and is itself centred on the writings of past sages. The Kama Sutra was authored in a time when the cultured Hindu was expected to attain 3 principles. Artha, or worldly wealth, Dharma, or religious merit and Kama, the science of pleasure and love. Vatsyayana emphasises that this work isn't to be used merely as an tool for satisfying our desires. However, it became, over the years, an indispensable part of the readings of thousands of Indians, and unlike other writers who wrote exclusively for men, Vatsyayana's timeless book was used to instruct young brides before their weddings. We owe much to the Victorian explorer and scholar Richard Burton and his associate Foster Arbuthnot, who took great pains to decode the primary Sanskrit. Risking prosecution and in the face of opposition, they published the book in 1883 under the fictitious imprint The Kama Shastra Society of London and Benares. It was circulated, with other translations of eastern texts such as The Perfumed Garden, the Ananga Ranga and The Arabian Nights, among a selected group of people who were interested in the behaviour and customs of the orient, although undoubtedly it was also used as a guide for Victorian husbands. Since it was unearthed, the Kama Sutra has revolutionized the western approach to Indian culture, showing as it does how central and natural sex was to Indian thought. The Sanskrit term Kama meant sensual gratification, love, pleasure, while Sutra meant aphorisms, compressed expressions. But Kama is far more than simply erotic pleasure. It encompasses all sensory pleasures. Thus good food, perfumes, music, silken clothes and painting all came within Kama's realm. When Vatsyayana named his treatise Kama Sutra, he intended to lay down values for the enjoyment of all these pleasures. So he explains how the house of the ideal citizen is to be furnished, built and provisioned. Which sweet scented flowers should be grown in the gardens. With which paintings and sculptures the rooms should be decorated, which incenses should perfume the air and which music should be present at the meetings of lovers. Tip! Let the woman lie on her side and stretch out her bottom leg. Crouch down between her thighs, lift her top leg and introduce your lingam. In a very real sense, sex was thought of by the Hindus not only natural and necessary, but virtually sacramental - the human counterpart of the marvel of creation. Erotic carvings and statues all over India confirm to the fact that it was a topic to be approached with objectivity and reverence , rather than as something secret and obscene. The Kama sutra in its entirety is a extensive work and consists not only of specific advice on the sexual act itself - in the part of the book known as the 64 - but also lays down instructions on medicine, courtship, household management, education, marriage, and different accomplishments cultured men and women needed to acquire in order to attract the opposite sex. Article based on text taken from Thorsons First Directions Kama Sutra. Get Free Articles From ArticleBuilder.net
Complete Kama Sutra
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