Kama SutraThe Kama Sutra is the most famous book on lovemaking ever written. Initially written by an Indian sage sometime between the fourth 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. Not much is known about the creator of the Kama Sutra. He belonged to the Vatsyayana sept, and his own name was Mallanaga. He embarked on the book as he was approaching the end of his life, and looked upon the writing of it as part of his religious responsibilities. It is a learned and carefully researched work, semi-scientific and objective, and is itself founded on the writings of former sages.
The Kama Sutra was created in a time when the educated Hindu was expected to attain 3 philosophies. Artha, or worldly wealth, Dharma, or religious merit and Kama, the science of pleasure and love. Vatsyayana points out that this work is not to be used purely as an tool for fulfilling our desires. However, it became, over the years, an essential part of the readings of thousands of Indians, and unlike other writers who wrote solely for men, Vatsyayana's classic book was used to coach 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 translate 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 Perfumed Garden, the Ananga Ranga and The Arabian Nights, among an elite group of people who were interested in the behaviour and customs of the orient, although undoubtedly it was also used as a guidebook 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. The Sanskrit term Kama meant pleasure, love, sensual gratification, while Sutra meant compressed expressions, aphorisms . But Kama is far more than simply erotic pleasure. It takes in all sensory pleasures. Thus perfumes, silken clothes, good food, music and painting all came within Kama's domain. When Vatsyayana named his treatise Kama Sutra, he intended to lay down ideals for the gratification of all these pleasures. So he explains how the house of the ideal citizen is to be built, furnished and provisioned. Which sweet scented flowers should be grown in the gardens. With which paintings and sculptures the rooms should be adorned, what incenses should perfume the air and what music should be present at the meetings of lovers. In a very real sense, sex was considered by the Hindus not only necessary and natural, but almost sacramental - the human counterpart of the marvel of creation. Erotic statues and carvings all over India testify to the fact that it was a topic to be approached with reverence and objectivity, rather than as something secret and obscene. The Kama sutra in its entirety is a extensive work and consists not only of precise advice on the sexual act itself - in the portion of the manuscript known as the sixty four - but also lays down instructions on household management, education, courtship, medicine, marriage, and various accomplishments cultured women and men needed to obtain 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 Sutra Pose
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