Kama Sutra
8th Century
I. From the Temple of the Kailas
At Ellora, Hyderabad
THE
KAMA SUTRA
OF
VATSYAYANA
Translated from the Sanscrit
by
The Hindoo Kama Shastra Society
COMPLETE IN SEVEN PARTS
with
Preface, Introduction, and Concluding Remarks
Illustrated
Benares—New York
Printed for the Society of the Friends of India
1883-1925
For Private Circulation Only
CONTENTS
- The List of Illustrations with Notes
ix - Preface
xvi - Introduction
xx - The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana
1-175 Part I. Index, and General Consideration Of the Subject1 Part II. Of Sexual Union29 Part III. About the Acquisition of a Wife69 Part IV. About a Wife89 Part V. About the Wives of Other People101 Part VI. About Courtezans131 Part VII. On the Means of Attracting Others to Oneself163 - Concluding Remarks
175
THE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WITH NOTES
I. When "Each is Both"—Frontispiece
The monolithic Temple of the Kailas has been characterized as the most wonderful and interesting monument of architectural art in India. Certainly it is the most splendid of those representing Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain work near Ellora, a village of India in the State of Hyderabad and north-east of the city of Bombay. . . . This cave-temple is not a mere interior chamber cut in the rock. It is a model of a complete temple such as might have been erected on the plain. That is, a sloping hill has been hewn away externally as well as internally, leaving the temple a solid mass of trap-rock about a sunken, cloistered court measuring 276 by 154 feet. . . . Though Moslem zealots have striven to destroy the carved figures, and time and earthquakes have weathered and broken away parts here and there, this great temple is still one of the most perfect examples of Dravidian architecture. . . . It was built by Krishna I., Rashtrakuta, King of Malkhed in the incredibly short period of twenty-three years, between 760 and 783 A. D.
II. From the Temple of Surya—Page 1
With the exception of Number VI the remainder of the reproductions are of stone sculptures from the Temple to Surya (the Sun-God) at Konarak, a small village on the coast of Orissa, and 19 miles north-east of the city of Puri. All of this temple, except the Jagamohan or Audience Hall, is in unrecoverable ruin. Various suggestions as to why worship in it was given up have been offered. One is founded in a native legend that the priests deserted it after mariners had profaned it by stealing a great lode-stone which rumor had set in the Vimana, (tower over the sanctuary), alleging the lode-stone drew their vessels irresistibly toward the shore. Others have blamed earthquakes, lightning, sinking of the foundations in the sandy soil, etc. And, there is a record in the Temple at Puri of an attempt by invading vandals to destroy it. It is certain that its neglect began in the first half of the 17th Century when the tower, which was 174 feet high, gave way. Its deterioration continued unchecked until the opening of the 20th Century when the British Archaeological Survey came to it. They drove the snakes away, excavated, replaced what they could, cleaned off the overgrowing vegetation, and filled the Audience Hall with stones and sand, their method of preventing its threatened collapse. . . . It is from the Audience Hall that the subjects of these reproductions come. Though the interior was quite severe, the decoration of the exterior was amazingly elaborate. All who have seen it have lavished praise on it: "the noblest specimen of medieval art;" "the most exquisite memorial of sun-worship in India;" and, from Sir James Fergusson, "for its size, the most richly ornamented building—externally at least—in the whole world." It wrung unwilling tribute even from the Mohammedans. But it is difficult for the imagination to grasp from words the mere extent of the decoration that covers like an embroidered veil all of the structure that remains. To mention only one thing: the extant frieze work varying from a foot to a foot and a half broad amounts alone to nearly three thousand feet in length and must contain at least six thousand figures. The sculpture is remarkably free from that conventionalism which, to the Western eye, frequently mars Eastern art. In delicacy, power, breadth and appropriateness of treatment, it represents one of the highest points ever reached in stone sculpture. It demonstrates that there was a time when the Hindoo artist worked from nature, as did their gods themselves, in the enshrining of their dreams in matter. Much of the stone used was very hard (chlorite) , and has every appearance of having retained all its original clarity and strength of line. But, unfortunately for us, many of the figures are in a soft sandstone which has seriously suffered from the weather . . . . The date of the construction of this glorious monument to the religion that underlies all the religions of man is, according to the Annals of the temple itself, S'aka 1200, i.e., A. D. 1278, under the King Languliya Narasinka Deva. Moreover the seal of this king runs thus: "The lord of the earth, the tailed king Narasinka, erected a temple for the ray-garlanded god in the S'aka year 1200." Late research has fairly certainly set its construction between the years 1240 and 1280 A. D.
III. From the "Black Pagoda"—Page 29
The Jagamohan or Audience Hall of the Temple to Surya at Konarak has come to be more specifically known as the "Black Pagoda." This has probably come about through some association of the epithet kala, meaning "black," which the Hindoos apply to all deserted or desecrated religious edifices. The term is certainly not derived from the general color of the building, for the stone of which it is built is light. . . . The name Konarak or Konarka comes from the vernacularized forms of two Sanskrit, words (kona, "corner," and arka, "the sun"), implying "the corner of the sun," i.e., the corner of the world dedicated to the sun. It is thus to be surmised that this locality had for ages been associated in men's minds as especially blessed by the sun, and that long before this temple was built Konarak had been a prominent center of Sun-worship. . . . This probability is also supported by the legend of the founding of the temple. This legend, which is quite characteristic of the great imagination and picturesqueness of the Hindoo mind, is, according to the Samba Purana, as follows. Samba (one of the heroes of the Mahabharat) , the son of Krishna by Jambavati, is enjoying life in the heavenly home of his father. A handsome young man, full of spirit and given to the display of it, he has become the object of the displeasure of the sage, Narada, who believes him lacking in the respect due a learned man. So that, in spite, Narada maligns Samba to Krishna, insinuating that for a son Samba is over-familiar with his step-mothers, the 1,600 present wives of the god. Krishna, quite proof against this, disbelieves it. Narada does, however, soon after find the opportunity to his revenge. One fine, warm day the wives are all naked bathing in a great tub, and, moreover, flushed with wine, they are rather unrestrained in their dousing each other with water. The sage lures Samba to the scene; then, contriving the presence of Krishna, accuses Samba with his pernicious beauty of having too exciting an influence on the wives. Krishna, presented with the evidence of this spectacle, in an instant anger curses his son with the curse of leprosy. Although Samba later proves his complete innocence the curse cannot be revoked and the leprosy takes hold. Krishna then does the best he can for his unfortunate boy: instructs him how he can be cured. Samba is to go to earth, and by the river that runs through Konarak he is to lead the life of an ascetic and put himself upon the mercy of the one god, Surya, who can effect his cure. For twelve years Samba prosecutes his devotion to the Sun-god. In a vision Surya then appears to him in all his glory. Samba has learned the twenty-one laudatory epithets of the ray-garlanded One. He repeats them without fault. The god answers his prayer, and makes him whole. The next day, Samba, bathing with more than usual joy in the river, finds a marvellous image of the god to whom he is so much indebted. Of course, how the image came to be at the bottom of the river was another point that had to be explained. That went back to ages before that age, to the time when Surya was married to Sanjna, a daughter of the metal-worker Visvakarma. But so fierce and rough had the god seemed to her that in disgust she would not suffer his embraces. In dismay at this repulse Surya consulted Brahma, and on that divinity's advice went to the father of the girl, who evidently knew his daughter's likes and dislikes, to get himself made over more to the form she had been taught to appreciate. Visvakarma placed Surya on his lathe, and worked over all of the god except the feet. He pared off a full eighth of the body, and then smoothed him down properly, according to the traditions of the family. Unwilling to scrap the divine refuse Visvakarma fashioned out of it the discus of Vishnu, the trident of Siva, the club of Kuvera, the lance of Kartikeya. Of the great amount he still had left he made a likeness of Surya himself. Thus came the image that Samba recovered from the bed of the river and about which in gratitude he built a sanctuary. And thus was the beginning of the great temple at Konarak.
IV. From the Temple of Surya— Page 69
This is another life-sized group of many in different sizes on this temple frankly depicting the sexual episode. Though this subject has here perhaps attained its most happy expression, it is the theme of many representations on many Indian temples. For the Hindoo mind openly faced the sexual function as the reality it is, one of the expressions of the divine mind. They held it as a peculiarly sacred and godlike function in themselves. The great number of their religious laws dealing with the sexual, the place it occupies in secular literature, show that its significance in the life of man was recognized by them at its inherent importance. And, as can be seen in these sculptures, they were not content to classify and elucidate its manifestations in writing alone. As though they would insure the uninitiate from any mistake they even illustrated the subject in stone. . . . . One commentator on this work has been so hardy as to suggest it is merely an imaginative depiction of the heavenly joys awaiting the faithful believer. But, distinctive in Indian art as this work is, the Hindoos were too serious artists and too bound up in the legends of their theology to permit us to presume that these sculptures were other than illustrations of religious subjects taken from their mythology. One wonders, however, just why so much of the decorations on a temple to the sun should depict the sexual. Neither the sect of the Sauras (which had its origin in a Persian influence) nor that of Surya (the ancient Vedic divinity of the sun) has as a principal part of its mysteries those connected with the union of the sexes. There is, however, a sect, the Sahtas, worship of woman, which does emphasize the sexual element. Many of the figures on this Audience Hall suggest a fusion of the sect of Surya with that of Naga (or some other sect of serpent worshippers) as well as with that of Sahta.
V. Apsaras humbling an Ascetic— Page 89
The subject of this group suggests the influence of the ideas of a serpent cult. Serpent worship is still one of the religions of India. It was formerly very widespread, and influenced the decoration of many other monuments, especially the Buddhist stupas of Sanchi and Amravati. The intimate association of the serpent with woman in the minds of all primitive peoples is not as obvious as its association with the lingam (phallus). Here the substitution of the serpent for the male organ is suggested. . . . This group appears to illustrate a part of Brahmanical belief associated with the Apsaras. They were originally spirits of the clouds and waters, semi-divine nymphs said to have sprung from the churning of the ocean. In the Rig-Veda there is but one Apsaras, who, as the wife of Gandharva, gave birth to the first mortals Yama and Yami. In the heroic age there are many Apsaras and many Gandharvas who form part of the retinue of Indra, the first as dancers, the second as musicians. One of the uses the gods had for the beautiful Apsaras was a means of humbling the over-pious ascetic. So strongly did the Hindoo believe in the efficacy of his ritual that he held a devotee could, through austere practices, develop supernatural powers that made him a rival and even a being superior to the gods. Obviously, the gods could not have this. To humble him through the symbolism of the sexual act was both pertinent and suggestive. . . . The figure behind the man may be another Apsaras who was sent along to make certain the reduction of an especially obdurate case, or it may have been intended to represent the god himself assisting at the rite. Or, again, the group may represent two proselytes accompanied by an instructor.
VI. A Naga from the Temple of Surya— Page 101
The Nagas were another of the Hindoo's many races of a semi-divine character who had the same standing in relation to the universe as human beings themselves. The details of life in their world were fully described as known. Their element was Water, as that of the Yakshas was Earth. The capital city of the Nagas was under the sea. and was called Bhogavati, "the city of enjoyment." The name is derived from naga meaning either a "snake" or an "elephant," and has the earlier connotations, a "tree" and a "mountain". . . . This figure shows more definitely the influence of serpent worship. The substitution or confusion of the serpent with the lingam is more obvious. There is substantiation of this conjecture by the suggestion in the upper part of the pedestal that the figure is standing on the horned head of a great reptile.
VII. Monolithic Pillar from a Stupa— Page 131
This stupa (burial mound of the ashes of some distinguished person) is at Bharahat, a village in the small State of Nagod. The excavations instigated by Alexander Cunningham in 1874 showed it to be one of the most important and handsome in India. The mound itself was found to be 70 feet in diameter, between 50 and 60 feet high, and was surmounted by an ornament shaped like the letter T. About this mound ran a circular balustrade, a hundred feet in diameter, the ground plan of which made a gigantic swastika. The whole of this stood toward the east side of a paved and walled quadrangle about 300 feet by 320 feet. . . . The pillar shown, which is 7 feet 1 inch high, came from the balustrade. The elaborate ornament and large number of inscriptions on this stupa have yielded valuable information in regard to the art and social conditions of the people of Buddhist India at that period. The subjects were taken from the Buddhist Sacred Books, more especially from the accounts given in them of the life of the Buddha in previous births. . . . The figure shown here (the motive is one very frequent in Hindoo art) has been taken for Maya, mother of the Buddha, awaiting his birth under the tree Sala. It is much more probable that it was intended to represent the guardian spirit of a Yakshini, the females of one of their semi-divine races, to which the nearest approach in Western thought is the fairy and gnome people. . . . This pillar is now in the Indian Museum at Calcutta. Villagers had already carried off the greater part of the stone and bricks with which to make cottages when the monument was first brought to Western notice. Only about half of the original eighty pillars and about a third of the cross-bars were recovered.
VIII. From the Temple of Surya— Page 163
One of the groups illustrating variant positions to be assumed in the sexual act. (See Chapter 6 of Part II.)
PREFACE
In the literature of all countries there will be found a certain number of works treating especially of love. Everywhere the subject is dealt with differently, and from various points of view. In the present publication it is proposed to give a complete translation of what is considered the standard work on love in Sanscrit literature, and which is called the "Vatsyayana Kama Sutra," or Aphorisms on Love, by Vatsyayana.
While the Introduction will deal with the evidence concerning the date of the writing, and the commentaries written upon it, the chapters following the Introduction will give a translation of the work itself. It is, however, advisable to furnish here a brief analysis of works of the same nature, prepared by authors who lived and wrote years after Vatsya had passed away, but who still considered him as the great authority, and always quoted him as the chief guide to Hindoo erotic literature.
Besides the treatise of Vatsyayana the following works on the same subject are procurable in India:—
- The Ratirahasya, or secrets of love.
- The Panchasakya, or the five arrows.
- The Smara Pradipa, or the light of love.
- The Ratimanjari, or the garland of love.
- The Rasmanjari, or the sprout of love.
- The Anunga Runga, or the stage of love also called Kamaledhiplava, or a boat in the ocean of love.
The author of the "Secrets of Love" (No. 1) was a poet named Kukkoka. He composed his work to please one Venudutta, who was perhaps a king. When writing his own name at the end of each chapter he calls himself "Siddha patiya pandita," i.e., an ingenious man among learned men. The work was translated into Hindi years ago, and in this the author's name was written as Koka. And as the same name crept into all the translations into other languages in India, the book became generally known, and the subject was popularly called Koka Shastra, or doctrines of Koka, which is identical with the Kama Shastra, or doctrines of love, and the words Koka Shastra and Kama Shastra are used indiscriminately.
The work contains nearly eight hundred verses, and is divided into ten chapters, which are called Pachivedas. Some of the things treated of in this work are not to be found in the Vatsyayana, such as the four classes of women, viz., the Padmini, Chitrini, Shankini, and Hastini, as also the enumeration of the days and hours on which the women of the different classes become subject to love. The author adds that he wrote these things from the opinions of Gonikaputra and Nandikeshwara, both of whom are mentioned by Vatsyayana, but their works are not now extant. It is difficult to give any approximate idea as to the year in which the work was composed. It is only to be presumed that it was written after that of Vatsyayana, and previous to the other works on this subject that are still extant. Vatsyayana gives the names of ten authors on the subject, all of whose works he had consulted, but none of which are extant, and does not mention this one. This would tend to show that Kukkoka wrote after Vatsya, otherwise Vatsya would assuredly have mentioned him as an author in this branch of literature along with the others.
The author of the "Five Arrows" (No. 2 in the list) was one Jyotirisha. He is called the chief ornament of poets, the treasure of the sixty-four arts, and the best teacher of the rules of music. He says that he composed the work after reflecting on the aphorisms of love as revealed by the gods, and studying the opinions of Gonikaputra, Muladeva, Babbravya, Ramtideva, Nundikeshwara and Kshemandra. It is impossible to say whether he had perused all the works of these authors, or had only heard about them; anyhow, none of them appear to be in existence now. This work contains nearly six hundred verses, and is divided into five chapters, called Sayakas or Arrows.
The author of the "Light of Love" (No. 3) was the poet Gunakara, the son of Vechapati. The work contains four hundred verses, and gives only a short account of the doctrines of love, dealing more with other matters.
"The Garland of Love" (No. 4) is the work of the famous poet Jayadeva, who said about himself that he is a writer on all subjects. This treatise is, however, very short, containing only one hundred and twenty-five verses.
The author of the "Sprout of Love" (No. 5) was a poet called Bhanudatta. It appears from the last verse of the manuscript that he was a resident of the province of Tirhoot, and son of a Brahman named Ganeshwar, who was also a poet. The work, written in Sanscrit, gives the descriptions of different classes of men and women, their classes being made out from their age, description, conduct, etc. It contains three chapters, and its date is not known, and cannot be ascertained.
"The Stage of Love" (No, 6) was composed by the poet Kullianmull, for the amusement of Ladkhan, the son of Ahmed Lodi, the same Ladkhan being in some places spoken of as Ladana Mull, and in others as Ladanaballa. He is supposed to have been a relation or connection of the house of Lodi, which reigned in Hindostan from A.D. 1450-1526. The work would, therefore, have been written in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. It contains ten chapters, and has been translated into English but only six copies were printed for private circulation. This is supposed to be the latest of the Sanscrit works on the subject, and the ideas in it were evidently taken from previous writings of the same nature.
The contents of these works are in themselves a literary curiosity. There are to be found both in Sanscrit poetry and in the Sanscrit drama a certain amount of poetical sentiment end romance, which have, in every country and in every language, thrown an immortal halo round the subject. But here it is treated in a plain, simple, matter of fact sort of way. Men and women are divided into classes and divisions in the same way that Buffon and other writers on natural history have classified and divided the animal world. As Venus was represented by the Greeks to stand forth as the type of the beauty of woman, so the Hindoos describe the Padmini or Lotus-woman as the type of most perfect feminine excellence, as fellows:
She in whom the following signs and symptoms appear is called a Padmini. Her face is pleasing as the full moon; her body, well clothed with flesh, is soft as the Shiras or mustard flower, her skin is fine, tender, and fair as the yellow lotus, never dark coloured. Her eyes are bright and beautiful as the orbs of the fawn, well cut, and with reddish corners. Her bosom is hard, full and high; she has a good neck; her nose is straight and lovely, and three folds or wrinkles cross her middle—about the umbilical region. Her yoni resembles the opening lotus bud, and her love seed (Kama salila) is perfumed like the lily that has newly burst. She walks with swan-like gait, and her voice is low and musical as the note of the Kokila bird, she delights in white raiments, in fine jewels, and in rich dresses. She eats little, sleeps lightly, and being as respectful and religious as she is clever and courteous, she is ever anxious to worship the gods, and to enjoy the conversation of Brahmans. Such, then, is the Padmini or Lotus-woman.
Detailed descriptions then follow of the Chitrini or Art-woman; the Shankhini or Conch-woman, and the Hastini or Elephant-woman, their days of enjoyment, their various seats of passion, the manner in which they should be manipulated and treated in sexual intercourse, along with the characteristics of the men and women of the various countries in Hindostan. The details are so numerous, and the subjects so seriously dealt with, and at such length, that neither time nor space will permit of their being given here.
One work in the English language is somewhat similar to these works of the Hindoos. It is called "Kalogynomia; or the Laws of Female Beauty," being the elementary principles of that science, by T. Bell, M.D., with twenty-four plates, and printed in London in 1821. It treats of Beauty, of Love, of Sexual Intercourse, of the Laws regulating that Intercourse, of Monogamy and Polygamy, of Prostitution, of Infidelity, ending with a catalogue raisonne of the defects of female beauty.
Another work in English also enters into great details of private and domestic life. It is called "The Elements of Social Science or Physical, Sexual and Natural Religion, with a Solution of the Social Problem," by a Doctor of Medicine. London, Edward Truelove, 256, High Holborn. To persons interested in the above subjects this work wilt be found to contain such details as have been seldom before published, and which ought to be thoroughly understood by all philanthropists and benefactors of society.
After a perusal of the Hindoo work, and of the English books above mentioned, the reader will understand the subject, at all events from a materialistic, realistic, and practical point of view. If all science is founded more or less on a stratum of facts, there can be no harm in making known to mankind generally certain matters intimately connected with their private, domestic, and social life.
Alas! complete ignorance of them has unfortunately wrecked many a man and many a woman, while a little knowledge of a subject generally ignored by the masses would have enabled numbers of people to have understood many things which they believed to be quite incomprehensible, or which were not thought worthy of their consideration. INTRODUCTION
It may be interesting to some persons to team how it came about that Vatsyayana was first brought to light and translated into the English language. It happened thus. While translating with the pundits the "Anunga runga, or the stage of love," reference was frequently found to be made to one Vatsya. The sage Vatsya was of this opinion, or of that opinion. The sage Vatsya said this, and so on. Naturally questions were asked who the sage was, and the pundits replied that Vatsya was the author of the standard work on love in Sanscrit literature, that no Sanscrit library was complete without his work, and that it was most difficult now to obtain in its entire state. The copy of the manuscript obtained in Bombay was defective, and so the pundits wrote to Benares, Calcutta, and Jeypoor for copies of the manuscript from Sanscrit libraries in those places. Copies having been obtained, they were then compared with each other, and with the aid of a Commentary called "Jayamangla" a revised copy of the entire manuscript was prepared, and from this copy the English translation was made. The following is the certificate of the chief pundit:—
"The accompanying manuscript is corrected by me after comparing four different copies of the work. I had the assistance of a Commentary called 'Jayamangla for correcting the portion in the first five parts, but found great difficulty in correcting the remaining portion, because, with the exception of one copy thereof which was tolerably correct, all the other copies I had were far too incorrect. However, I took that portion as correct in which the majority of the copies agreed with each other."
The "Aphorisms on Love," by Vatsyayana contain about one thousand two hundred and fifty slokas or verses, and are divided into parts, parts into chapters, and chapters into paragraphs. The whole consists of seven parts, thirty-six chapters, and sixty-four paragraphs. Hardly anything is known about the author. His real name is supposed to be Viallinaga or Mrillana, Vatsyayana being his family name. At the close of the work this is what he writes about himself:
"After reading and considering the works of Babhravya and other ancient authors, and thinking over the meaning of the rules given by them, this treatise was composed, according to the precepts of the Holy Writ, for the benefit of the world, by Vatsyayana, while leading the life of a religious student at Benares, and wholly engaged in the contemplation of the Deity. This work is not to be used merely as an instrument for satisfying our desires. A person acquainted with the true principles of this science, who preserves his Dharma (virtue or religious merit), his Artha (worldly wealth), and his Kama (pleasure or sensual gratification), and who has regard to the customs of the people, is sure to obtain the mastery over his senses. In short, an intelligent and knowing person, attending to Dharma and Artha and also to Kama, without becoming the slave of his passions, will obtain success in everything that he may do."
It is impossible to fix the exact date either of the life of Vatsyayana or of his work. It is supposed that he must have lived between the first and sixth century of the Christian era, on the following grounds:—He mentions that Satkarni Satvahan, a king of Kuntal, killed Malayevati his wife with an instrument called kartari by striking her in the passion of love, and Vatsya quotes this case to warn people of the danger arising from some old customs of striking woman when under the influence of this passion. Now this king of Kuntal is believed to have lived and reigned during the first century A.D. and consequently Vatsya must have lived after him. On the other hand, Virahamihira, in the eighteenh chapter of his "Brihatsanhita." treats of the science of love, and appears to have borrowed largely from Vatsyayana on the subject. Now Virahamihira is said to have lived during the sixth century A.D., and as Vatsya must have written his works previously, therefore not earlier than the first century A.D., and not later than the sixth century A.D., must be considered as the approximate date of his existence.
On the text of the "Aphorisms on Love," by Vatsyayana, only two commentaries have been found. One called "Jayamangla" or "Sutrabashya," and other other "Sutra vritti." The date of the "Jayamangla" is fixed between the tenth and thirteenth century A.D., because while treating of the sixty-four arts an example is taken from the "Kavyaprakasha." which was written about the tenth century A.D. Again, the copy of the commentary procured was evidently a transcript of a manuscript which once had a place in the library of a Chaulukyan king named Vishaladeva, a fact elicited from the following sentence at the end of it:—
"Here ends the part relating to the art of love in the commentary on the "Vatsyayana Kama Sutra," a copy from the library of the king of kings, Vishaladeva, who was a powerful hero, as it were a second Arjuna, and head jewel of the Chaulukya family."
Now it is well known that this king ruled in Guzerat from 1244 to 1262 A.D., and founded a city called Visalnagur. The date, therefore, of the commentary is taken to be not earlier than the tenth and not later than the thirteenth century. The author of it is supposed to be one Yashodhara, the name given him by his preceptor being Indrapada. He seems to have written it during the time of affliction caused by his separation from a clever and shrewd woman, at least that is what he himself says at the end of each chapter. It is presumed that he called his work after the name of his absent mistress, or the word may have some connection with the meaning of her name.
This commentary was most useful in explaining the true meaning of Vatsyayana, for the commentator appears to have had a considerable knowledge of the times of the older author, and gives in some places very minute information. This cannot be said of the other commentary, called "Sutra vritti," which was written about A.D. 1789, by Narsing Shastri, a pupil of a Sarveshwar Shastri; the latter was a descendant of Bhaskur, and so also was our author, for at the conclusion of every part he calls himself Bhaskur Narsing Shastri. He was induced to write the work by order of the learned Raja Vrijalala, while he was residing in Benares, but as to the merits of this commentary it does not deserve much commendation. In many cases the writer does not appear to have understood the true meaning of the original author, and has changed the text in many places to fit in with his own explanations.
A complete translation of the original work now follows. It has been prepared in complete accordance with the text of the manuscript, and is given, without further comments, as made from it. 
13th Century
II. From the Temple of Surya
At Konarak, Orissa
THE KAMA SUTRA
of
VATSYAYANA
Part I
Index, and General Consideration of the Subject
This work was published before January 1, 1928, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse