The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana

The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana
Sir Richard Burton, translator (1883)

Formatted at sacred-texts.com, July 2003. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

* 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
* Chapter 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

* Part IV: About 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 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
* Concluding Remarks

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 Vatsyayana 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' was a poet named Kukkoka. He composed his work to please one Venudutta,