The Kama Sutra The Hindu Art of Love Vatsyayana

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Dr. S. C. Upadhyaya is an erudite scholar of Sanskrit whose knowledge of the ancient Indian art of love requires no commendation. In this work he has produced a literal translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra which is, without any doubt, the most important treatise on the subject.

Vatsyayana not only incorporated various schools of thought on the science of love but also arranged his material in such a way that it was handy to poets, artists and above all to those lovers for whom the Kama Sutra was the very life-breath of existence. The entire range of topics on love is set out with a scientific thoroughness unparalleled in Sanskrit literature. Vatsyayana's aphorisms are models of brevity. From his observant eyes nothing seems to have escaped. The art of love-making in various phases, the instruments of love-making, the psychology of sex, the courtesans and their victims, the routine of accomplished lovers - all have been treated with precision and a scientific viewpoint.

In such a treatment of love, courtesans and uninhibited sex, on could imagine the writer soaring to fanciful heights, but this expectation is belied in the face of a scientific work arranged topic-wise which reveals the analytic mind of a great thinker. Vatsyayana no doubt acknowledges the debt of past masters on the science of sex, but his critical mind refuses to accept views with which he could not agree.

The Kama Sutra is not a dry catalogue of love acts. Its wider canvas touches many aspects of social manners and customs-the luxurious life of the city, the sports and pastimes of the elite and the common folk, the sacredness of the home, the cultivated wiles of the courtesans, the goshthis or club houses and other institutions which served as convivial gatherings accompanied by drinking, gambling dancing and music.

To ancient Indian prudery had no meaning. While delighting in spiritual speculation, and forever in the quest of final emancipation, Indian thinkers also realized the value of money as a necessary adjunct for piety and comfortable living. Sex had no vulgar connotation for them. Indian poets sang the charms of love and sex and went into ecstasies over the beauties of the human body. Even dry-as-dust books on religion touched upon love and beauty in the anecdotes they related for the edification of the pious and the god-fearing. This feeling for sex and beauty became a guiding spirit of Indian art and there is little doubt that Vatsyyana played no means part in evolving and sustaining a warmth for love and sex in art and literature.

No attempt has yet been made to trace and analyse0 the influences of the Kama Sutra on Indian literature, art and religion. Sex in ancient Indian religion was not looked upon with abhorrence, but its functions were clearly recognised. The nude figures of the mother goddesses, the fertility figures of the Mithunas, Yakshas and Yakshis engaged discreetly in love gestures, but becoming more erotic in the medieval period, shoe an intimate knowledge of sex impulses.

It cannot be said that religious sensuality as reflected in the Tantras was in any way inspired by the Kama Sutra, the feeling of sex being natural to all primitive religions. But there is no doubt that in mystic Tantrism, witch enjoined sexual union as one of its essential features, there was a definite understanding of the principles of the Kama Sutra, perhaps elated to mystic heights, but nevertheless revealing a worldliness which could not be mistaken easily. In medieval Indian sculptures of Khajuraho and Orissa which fully reflect the Kaula-kapalika practices, sex relations under the garb of religious practice presuppose the knowledge of the Kama Sutra. In the ancient bas-reliefs and terracotta plaques as well as in the representations of Mithuna figures, dancing, drinking and revelry presuppose the existence of such forms of enjoyment which fully support the state of society as depicted in the Kama Sutra.

Study of the Kama Sutra, which was considered as a necessary part of the liberal education and culture of a man of the world in ancient India, is looked upon suspiciously by some present-day reformers and prudes for whom the very mention of sex connotes profanity, obscenity and pornography. The Kama-Sutra, however, could easily disprove the charges made against it. Vatsyayana has treated sex in a scientific spirit and if the modern killjoys do not like his descriptions of the acts of love he is not to be blamed. Moreover, the study of the Mama Sutra points to one of the earliest attempts at sanity in sex life. Within recent years sane sex life as a happy mode of existence has been treated scientifically by renowned authors. As one of the earliest in the chain of thinkers on sex and love, Vatsyayana deserves our fullest approbation.

The Kama Sutra has been translated into English many times, but Dr. Upahyaya's translation has tried to keep up the Spirit of the Original as far as possible. He has followed the commentary of Yashodhara to clarify certain points, but the emphasis is mostly on the sutra.

Back Of The Book

The Kama Sutra: The Hindu Art of Love is the only truly authentic translation from the ancient Sanskrit of the most famous sex manual in the world.

This is a new edition of the original Indian volume, in which the sutras are translated faithfully and put into their historical, religious and cultural context - a celebration of the many aspects of courtship and love. The introduction to the book traces the evolution of the subject through the Vedic and post-Vedic periods and provides a valuable comparative study of the various texts. There is also a complete glossary of Sanskrit terms.

The book is beautifully produced and illustrated with photographs of the famous 11th-century Indian sculptures from the sacred temple at Khajuraho. Which depict fascinating and delightful aspects of courtship and love. It is not only a work of art, but will be an important reference for every student of ancient Indian culture and civilization.

Vatsyayana, a celebrated sage, wrote with scientific accuracy, amazing perception and shrewd common sense on all aspects of sex and married life. He maintained that love is a science as well as an art and must be studied if it is to give pleasure. He understood the importance to every marriage of a harmonious and satisfactory sex life. This is the first translation to do real justice to his great work.