Kama Sutra

(“manual on desire”) By far the most
famous of the ancient erotic manuals,
traditionally attributed to the sage
Vatsyayana. This text is usually associated
with an exhaustive catalog of sexual
positions and pleasures, but in fact it
goes far beyond this stereotype.
Vatsyayana was interested in exploring
desire in all its manifestations. The text
begins with a consideration of the four
aims of life (purushartha): worldly
goods (artha), desire (kama), religious
duty (dharma), and liberation of the
soul (moksha). Vatsyayana argued that
since desire was one of the established
goals of human life, its pursuit was thus
a good thing, as long as this pursuit did
not interfere with the others.
Having established the legitimacy of
desire, Vatsyayana then discussed how
to foster it. The Kama Sutra’s second
book contains the text’s best-known
material, the discussion and categorization of various types of sexual union. It
begins by characterizing types of sexual
endowment, both male and female.
Next it describes different sorts of
embracing, kissing, scratching, and biting as symbols of passion, along with
sexual positions and oral sex. This is followed by chapters on gaining a wife,
attracting other men’s wives (which the
text discourages, except in cases where
one’s passion is “too strong”), courtesans, and general remarks on the nature
of attraction.
The text is a manual for all phases of
erotic life in which sex can be refined
into a vehicle for aesthetic experience as
well as pure carnal pleasure. The Kama
Sutra is also notable for its perspective
342
Kamalakanta
on women, who are seen as having
equal sexual desire and gaining equal
pleasure. The ultimate aim is the sexual
satisfaction of both partners, rather than
one partner simply serving the other.
The Kama Sutra has been translated
many times.