(The ancient Indian Aphorisms on Love)
It is difficult to fix the period of Vatsyayana and Kama Sutras. However he was definitely before the Mahabharata period because Lord Krishna mentions Vatsyayana in the Bhagavad Gita.
Unfortunately a lot of modern youngsters regard it as a book of various methods of sex and even more unfortunately a lot of old fashioned people regard it as a taboo. The truth is that it is a scripture which teaches us about the proper union of a man and a woman at spiritual, emotional and physical levels.
Strangely, the one country where people badly need to study this scripture is India! The average Indian woman regards a husband as a social security and a means of income. On the other hand, the average Indian man regards a wife as a means of dowry and a free house keeper. So much so for the union of Shiva with Shakti! As per the physical fitness part, physically we Indians are the most misfit people. more than 95% Indians don’t do any physical exercise – neither the Gym variety nor the sports variety. The average Indian gets a job at 25; gets married and starts becoming fat immediately; by 30 they have a pot belly; by 35 they have BP & Spondylitis trouble and start huffing after climbing 2 floors! As a practicing astrologer I find that a dissatisfied married life is the reason for half our problems in today’s so called modern life, where we have neither the understanding of the partners feelings nor the physical fitness to give and take happiness. I hope this scripture saves a few marriages and improves a few more.
INDEX
Part I: Introductory
Chapter I. Preface
Chapter II. Observations on the Three Worldly Attainments of Virtue, Wealth, and Love
Chapter III. On the Study of the Sixty-Four Arts
Chapter IV. On the Arrangements of a House, and Household Furniture; and About the Daily Life of a Citizen, His Companions, Amusements, Etc.
Chapter V. About Classes of Women Fit and Unfit for Congress with the Citizen, and of Friends, and Messengers
Part II: On Sexual Union
Chapter I. Kinds of Union According to Dimensions, Force of Desire, and Time; and on the Different Kinds of Love
Chapter II. Of the Embrace
Chapter III. On Kissing
Chapter IV. On Pressing or Marking with the Nails
Chapter V. On Biting, and the Ways of Love to be Employed with Regard to Women of Different Countries
Chapter VI. On the Various Ways of Lying Down, and the Different Kinds of Congress
Chapter VII. On the Various Ways of Striking, and of The Sounds Appropriate to Them
Chapter VIII. About Females Acting the Part of Males
Chapter IX. On Holding the Lingam in the Mouth
Chapter X. How to Begin and How to End the Congress. Different Kinds of Congress, and Love Quarrels
Part III: About the Acquisition of a Wife
Chapter I. Observations on Betrothal and Marriage
Chaper II. About Creating Confidence In the Girl
Chapter III. Courtship, and the Manifestation of the Feelings by Outward Signs and Deeds
Chapter IV. On 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 the Different Forms of Marriage
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 Eldest Wife Towards the Other Wives of her Husband, and of the Younger Wife Towards the Elder Ones…
Part V: About the Wives of Other People
Chapter I. On the Characteristics of Men And Women…
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. The Business of a Go-Between
Chapter V. On the Love of Persons in Authority with the Wives of Other People
Chapter VI. About the Women of the Royal Harem, and of the Keeping of One’s Own Wife
Part VI: About Courtesans
Introductory Remarks
Chapter I. Of the Causes of a Courtesan Resorting to Men…
Chapter II. Of a Courtesan Living With a Man as His Wife
Chapter III. Of the Means of getting Money…
Chapter IV. About a Reunion with a Former Lover
Chapter V. Of Different Kinds of Gain
Chapter VI. Of Gains and Losses, Attendant Gains and Losses, and Doubts; and Lastly, the Different Kinds of Courtesans
Part VII: On The Means of Attracting Others to One’s Self
Chapter I. On Personal Adornment, Subjugating the Hearts of Others, and of Tonic Medicines
Chapter II. Of The Means of Exciting Desire, and of the Ways of Enlarging the Lingam. Miscellaneous Experiments and Receipts
