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What do you know about the Book, Kama Sutra?
While there is widespread recognition of the term, it is also accompanied
with widespread misconceptions.
Here are 21 simple Kama Sutra insights that may
surprise you!
- The full title of the text is "vatsyayana kama sutra"
(translated as "Aphorisms on Love, by Vatsyayana").
Vatsyayana, complied the works of other authors who where considered
experts in their respective fields.
- The Kama Sutra Kama Book was first translated into English by
the 19th Century British explorer Sir Richard F. Burton (1821
- 1890) in 1876.
According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African
languages and countless dialects - Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindustani,
as well as Persian and Arabic [1].
Interestingly, as a scholar - and an inventor of words. he introduced
the words pajamas and safari to the English language.
- He brought other well known erotica literature of the East in
an UNCENSORED form:
- The Perfumed Garden
- The Ananga Ranga
to the dignity and propriety of the Victorian world, shocking
and outraging them. Burton received some measure of acclaim in
his later years
It is quoted that, following a visit to a prostitute, Burton,
who had three Indian mistresses said:
"We British never knew of this kind of love-making. Had
we known, we would not have ruined the lives of so many British
virgins." [2]
- In 1883 Burton risked prosecution and imprisonment under the
Obscene Publications Act after publishing 250 copies of the Book,
Kama Sutra,, privately in Britain. The book did not become legal
until it sold in Britain until 1963.
- Teh Book, Kama Sutra, was written in the ancient Sanskrit language.
In Sanskrit, Kama means desire and Sutra means rules. In the context
of the book "desire" includes singing, reading, poetry
and dancing as well as sex.
- The Book, Kama Sutra,k contains a total of 64 sexual positions.
Vatsyayana believed there were eight ways of making love, multiplied
by eight positions within each of these. In the book, they are
known as the 64 Arts.
- Only about 20 per cent of the book is devoted to sexual positions.
The remainder gives guidance on how to be a good citizen and insights
into men and women in relationships. In his closing remarks Sir
Burton concludes:
"Thus ends, in seven parts, the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana,
which might otherwise be called a treatise on men and women, their
mutual relationship and connection with each other" [3]
- The Kama Sutra describes making love as "divine union".
Vatsyayana believed that sex itself was not wrong, but doing it
badly was sinful.
- Lovers who suffer from medical complaints such as back pain
and arthritis are warned not to attempt some of the Kama Sutra's
positions. Vatsyayana states: "They predispose for rheumatic
pains and sciatica."
- After Burton published the Kama Sutra the prudish British Raj
banned the book in India. At the same time they also stopped temple
prostitutes and child marriages.
- The Kama Sutra Book may have originated in India, but in 1996
the authorities there clamped down on the film "Kama Sutra
- A Tale of Love" and demanded that 14 explicit scenes were
cut before it was fit to be shown to Indian audiences.
- Code breakers also find the Kama Sutra fascinating as it contains
instructions for making messages unreadable - one of the earliest
books to do this. The Kama Sutra included encryption as an art
a woman should study, presumably to help her make secret meetings
with her lovers.
- Kama is the Hindu god of love. The word also refers to the pursuit
of love or pleasure, one of the four aims of life in Hindu traditions.
Kama is always depicted as a handsome youth, shooting arrows of
love that produce love. His wife is Rati.
- According to the book, Kama Sutra, a man becomes irresistible
to women if he ties the bone of a peacock or hyena which has been
covered in gold to his right hand.
- It recommends both biting and scratching as ways of improving
lovemaking, but insists on high standards of cleanliness. It states:
"The qualities of good nails are that they should be bright,
well set, clean, entire, convex, soft, and glossy in appearance.
The defects of teeth on the other hand are that they are blunt,
protruding from the gums, rough, soft, large, or loosely set."
- The Book, Kama Sutra, also gives tips on the best ways to arrange
a house. It suggests that people will be happiest if they have
a pot for spitting in, a lute hanging from an elephant's tooth,
a soft bed and pots of flowers
- A chapter is devoted to methods of seducing and getting away
with sleeping with other men's wives. But at the end Vatsyayana
does admit that men shouldn't make love to married women.
- The book contains an early recipe for Viagra. It suggests that
sparrows' eggs boiled in milk and then mixed with clarified butter
and honey will do wonders for a man's love life
- There are 10 methods of kissing in the Book, Kama Sutra,(including)
- the nominal kiss, the probing kiss, the touching kiss, the straight
kiss, the bent kiss, the turned kiss, the pressed kiss and the
greatly pressed kiss - and four ways to administer the kiss. That
gives a total of 40 different ways to kiss a lover.
- The ever lasting political taboo of the Book, Kama Sutra, was
captured in this comment by South Asian religions scholar, Dr.
Lee Siegel:
"Clinton was in India last year(1999), an Indian diplomat
gave him a book; the President looked at the cover and, seeing
that it was the Kama Sutra, immediately and wisely handed the
dangerous symbol back. "
- And finally... A racehorse owner named his horse Kama Sutra.
The two-year-old colt was sired by Pursuit Of Love and out of
Note Book.
No doubt his owner and trainer celebrate when Kama Sutra comes
first.
The Bare Essentials of the Kama Sutra Book
The Kama Sutra Book contains 35 chapters, organized into 7 parts,
each of which are written by individual experts in the respective
fields.
The following is the organization of the Kama Sutra Book as translated
by Sir Richard Burton:
PART I : Book Kama Sutra
Introduction (4 chapters) - on love in general, its place in a
man's life, and a classification of women.
- CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II. ON THE ACQUISITION OF DHARMA, ARTHA AND KAMA
- CHAPTER III. ON THE ARTS AND SCIENCES TO BE STUDIED
- CHAPTER IV. THE LIFE OF A CITIZEN
- CHAPTER V. ABOUT THE KINDS OF WOMEN RESORTED TO BY THE
CITIZENS, AND OF FRIENDS AND MESSENGERS
PART II: Book Kama Sutra
On Sexual Union (10 chapters) - an in-depth discussion of kissing,
various types of foreplay, orgasm, a list of sex positions, oral sex,
paraphilia, and ménage à trois.
- CHAPTER I. KINDS OF SEXUAL UNION ACCORDING TO DIMENSIONS, FORCE
OF DESIRE OR PASSION, TIME
- CHAPTER II. OF THE EMBRACE
- CHAPTER III. ON KISSING
- CHAPTER IV. ON PRESSING, OR MARKING, OR SCRATCHING WITH THE
NAILS
- CHAPTER V. ON BITING, AND THE MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED WITH REGARD
TO WOMEN OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
- CHAPTER VI. OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF LYING DOWN, AND VARIOUS
KINDS OF CONGRESS
- CHAPTER VII. OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF STRIKING, AND OF THE SOUNDS
APPROPRIATE TO THEM
- CHAPTER VIII. ABOUT WOMEN ACTING THE PART OF A MAN; AND OF THE
WORK OF A MAN
- CHAPTER IX. OF THE AUPARISHTAKA OR MOUTH CONGRESS
- CHAPTER X. OF THE WAY HOW TO BEGIN AND HOW TO END THE CONGRESS.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONGRESS AND LOVE QUARRELS
PART III: Book Kama Sutra
About the Acquisition of a Wife (5 chapters) - courtship and
marriage.
- CHAPTER I. ON MARRIAGE
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- CHAPTER II. OF CREATING CONFIDENCE IN THE GIRL
- CHAPTER III. ON COURTSHIP, AND THE MANIFESTATION OF THE FEELINGS
BY OUTWARD SIGNS AND DEEDS
- CHAPTER IV. ABOUT THINGS TO BE DONE ONLY BY THE MAN, AND THE
ACQUISITION OF THE GIRL THEREBY. ALSO WHAT IS TO BE DONE BY A
GIRL TO GAIN OVER A MAN, AND SUBJECT HIM TO HER
- CHAPTER V. ON CERTAIN FORMS OF MARRIAGE
PART IV: Book Kama Sutra
About a Wife (2 chapters) - proper conduct of a wife.
- CHAPTER I. ON THE MANNER OF LIVING OF A VIRTUOUS WOMAN, AND
OF HER BEHAVIOUR DURING THE ABSENCE OF HER HUSBAND
- CHAPTER II. ON THE CONDUCT OF:
- THE ELDER WIFE TOWARDS THE OTHER WIVES OF HER HUSBAND
- ON THAT OF A YOUNGER WIFE TOWARDS THE ELDER ONES
- ON THE CONDUCT OF A VIRGIN WIDOW RE-MARRIED
- OF A WIFE DISLIKED BY HER HUSBAND
- OF THE WOMEN IN THE KING'S HAREM
- ON THE CONDUCT OF A HUSBAND TOWARDS MANY WIVES
PART V: Kama Sutra Book
About the Wives of Other People (6 chapters) - mainly seduction.
- CHAPTER I. OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MEN AND WOMEN
- THE REASONS WHY WOMEN REJECT THE ADDRESSES OF MEN
- ABOUT MEN WHO HAVE SUCCESS WITH WOMEN
- ABOUT WOMEN WHO ARE EASILY GAINED OVER
- CHAPTER II. ABOUT MAKING ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE WOMAN, AND OF
THE EFFORTS TO GAIN HER OVER
- CHAPTER III. EXAMINATION OF THE STATE OF A WOMAN'S MIND
- CHAPTER IV. ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF A GO-BETWEEN
- CHAPTER V. ABOUT THE LOVE OF PERSONS IN AUTHORITY FOR THE WIVES
OF OTHER MEN
- CHAPTER VI. ABOUT THE WOMEN OF THE ROYAL HAREM; AND OF THE KEEPING
OF ONE'S OWN WIFE
PART VI: Kama Sutra Book
About Courtesans (6 chapters).
- CHAPTER I:
- OF THE CAUSES OF A COURTESAN RESORTING TO MEN
- OF THE MEANS OF ATTACHING TO HERSELF THE MAN DESIRED
- AND OF THE KIND OF MAN THAT IT IS DESIRABLE TO BE ACQUAINTED
WITH
- CHAPTER II. OF LIVING LIKE A WIFE
- CHAPTER III.:
- OF THE MEANS OF GETTING MONEY
- OF THE SIGNS OF THE CHANGE OF A LOVER'S FEELINGS
- OF THE WAY TO GET RID OF HIM
- CHAPTER IV. ABOUT RE-UNION WITH A FORMER LOVER
- CHAPTER V. OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF GAIN
- CHAPTER VI. OF GAINS AND LOSSES;
- ATTENDANT GAINS AND LOSSES; AND DOUBTS
- OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF COURTESANS
PART VII: Kama Sutra Book
On the Means of Attracting Others to Oneself (2 chapters).
- CHAPTER I.
- ON PERSONAL ADORNMENT
- ON SUBJUGATING THE HEARTS OF OTHERS
- ON TONIC MEDICINES
- CHAPTER II. OF THE WAYS OF EXCITING DESIRE, AND MISCELLANEOUS
EXPERIMENTS, AND RECIPES
[Top]
References:
- Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton
- Leather, T., The Rules of Desire, http://www.lovingyourcurves.com/TheRulesOfDesire.html,
accessed Jan 21, 2005
- Burton, R.(translation by), The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana
- Siegle, L., http://www.asiasource.org/arts/siegel.cfm accessed
Feb 21/05
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