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