The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana | Page 2

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, 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, 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' 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, Babhravya,
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' 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' 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' 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' 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 and romance, which have, in
every country and in every language, thrown an immortal halo round
the subject.