Kama SutraThe Kama Sutra is the most well-known book on lovemaking ever written. Initially composed by an Indian scholar 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 common reader since the 1960's.
Hardly anything is known about the author 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 duties. It is a learned and carefully researched work, objective and semi-scientific, and is itself founded on the writings of prior sages. The Kama Sutra was created at a time when the cultured Hindu was expected to obtain three values. Artha, or worldly wealth, Dharma, or religious merit and Kama, the science of pleasure and love. Vatsyayana stresses that this work isn't to be used merely as an mechanism for fulfilling our desires. However, it became, over the years, an essential part of the readings of thousands of Indians, and unlike other authors who wrote exclusively for men, Vatsyayana's classic book was used to coach young brides before their weddings. We owe a great deal to the Victorian explorer and scholar Richard Burton and his associate Foster Arbuthnot, who took great pains to decipher the original Sanskrit. Risking prosecution and in the face of opposition, they published it 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 Ananha Ranga, The Perfumed Garden and The Arabian Nights, among an elite group of people who were interested in the customs and behaviour of the orient, although undoubtedly it was also used as a manual for Victorian husbands. Since it was discovered, the Kama Sutra has revolutionized the western approach to Indian culture, showing as it does how central and natural sex was to Indian thought. Tip! Lay the woman on her back and raise her thighs, then, getting between her legs, introduce your lingam. The Sanskrit term Kama means pleasure, love, sensual gratification, while Sutra means aphorisms, compressed expressions. But Kama is far more than just erotic pleasure. It takes in all sensory pleasures. Thus perfumes, silken clothes, good food, music and painting all came within Kama's realm. When Vatsyayana named his treatise Kama Sutra, he meant to lay down standards for the enjoyment of all these pleasures. So he describes how the house of the ideal citizen is to be furnished, built and provisioned. Which sweet smelling 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 rest on her knees and elbows in the position for prayer. In this position the yoni stands out behind. In a very real sense, sex was regarded by the Hindus not only necessary and natural, but nearly sacramental - the human counterpart of the miracle of creation. Erotic carvings and statues all over India testify to the fact that it was a matter to be approached with reverence and objectivity, rather than as something secret and obscene. The Kama sutra in its entirety is a long work and consists not only of precise advice on the sexual act itself - in the part of the book known as the sixty four - but also lays down instructions on marriage, household management, education, medicine, courtship, and a variety of accomplishments cultured women and men needed to acquire in order to catch the attention of the opposite sex. Article based on text taken from Thorsons First Directions Kama Sutra. Get Free Articles From ArticleBuilder.net
Kama Product Sutra
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