Summary

In the beginning, God created man and woman, and laid down a set of rules in accordance with three main ideas - dharma, artha, and kama. Dharma refers to a person's "duty" on Earth, artha refers to the acquisition of material possessions, friends, and talent, and kama is the enjoyment of the five senses. These rules will be presented in this Kama Sutra, or Aphorisms on Love. The work is divided into seven books, which cover general principles, sexual union, courtship and marriage, the role of the wife, the process of seducing others' wives, the prostitute, and secret lore.

Man must realize that dharma, artha, and kama harmonize in different ways over the course of one's life. In a man's youth, for instance, artha and kama take precedence, but later on dharma should become the focus of attention. For even though artha and kama may sustain survival by allowing one to find pleasure and comfort, it is the fulfillment of dharma that permits moksha, or release from the karmic cycle of birth and death.

While dharma is learned from the vedas, and artha from those who are expert in the concept, kama is the enjoyment of the five senses and thus must be learned from the Kama Sutra manual, or through first-hand experience. The author says that some will argue that kama is practiced by all "brute creations," and thus does not merit instruction. The author, however, responds that sex is a thing dependent "on man and woman and requires the application of proper means by them."

The Kama Sutra addresses the fact that others might argue that pleasure is in itself a weak goal and only leads to misery and misfortune. The author responds that this argument cannot be maintained because sex, food, and other sensory pleasures are necessary for life - and are, moreover, the results of dharma and artha. Pleasure must be sought in moderation and with caution, but it cannot be disdained or ignored, for fear of losing the most vital forces in life.

Men and women should both study the Kama Sutra, since it is an essential part of the livelihood of both. However, the author also argues that women should be trained in a variety of other arts as well, including singing, writing, sketching, painting, arranging flowers, and the adornment of household deities. He presents a long list of useful pastimes for a woman, including intellectual pursuits, useful arts, aphrodisiacs, and even water sports.

Once a man achieves the necessary financial resources, he should become the head of his household. He should reside in a town that can sustain his livelihood, live in a house near the water, and have two apartments - an outer one, and one for privacy. The inner apartment should be the dwelling of his lady (the author even provides a detailed layout for the ideal nagaraka, or male residence). The Kama Sutra also lays out a man's morning duties, including washing his teeth, putting ointments on his body, rubbing collyrium on his eyes, and even coloring his lips. He should bathe daily, use herbal soap powder every three days, and get his head and face shaved every four days.

The author outlines a number of other responsibilities for the male head of the household, including holding poojas on auspicious days to honor the deities, holding social gatherings for men of similar age, disposition, and talents (these gatherings can include women as well), and even arranging drinking parties. The Kama Sutra is painfully specific in its description of all these rituals, even going so far as to suggest that in the morning, men should go to gardens on horseback, accompanied by society women and their servants - and once they're done with their diversions for the day, including gambling, watching performances, and other time-passing activities, they should return home in the same manner, bearing bunches of flowers as mementos of their wanderings.

Only when kama is practiced by men of the four castes in marriages with women of their own caste do men achieve a truly effective and "lawful" way of bringing children into the world. The practice of having sex with women of a higher class or with those "previously enjoyed by others" is prohibited. On the other hand, the practice of sex with women of a lower class is "accepted," but only if the sole objective is "carnal pleasure." The author outlines eight possible reasons a man might sleep with a woman who has been previously married to another man before adding that there are a number of women who cannot be subject to kama union, no matter what. These include lunatics, outcasts, gossips, unsightly or unclean women, those who have lost their "glow," near relations, female friends, and masculine women.

Analysis

The Kama Sutra, for all its mythic sexiness and supposed revelations about the power of intercourse, is remarkably didactic in its presentations. That said, it is a remarkably assured collection of wisdom and anecdotes, one that has achieved a legacy as the "greatest book of love ever written" (Anand 23). While certainly many of its conclusions and prescriptions are bizarre to say the least, the Kama Sutra is singular in its "unabashed directness of the confrontation of sexual relations, the subtleties of apperceptions of feeling, mood, and emotion, the delicacy of nuances of love rendered by a mind, freed from all fears, inhibitions, and awkwardness of the accepting, routine society." Indeed, it is this frankness, this freedom from inhibition and awkwardness that should guide our analysis as we continue, so that we can understand how sex is placed in the context of self-realization, rather than as a prurient act in itself.

The book begins with a "salutation" to dharma, artha, and kama, the three forces that intertwine for self-realization. Dharma is the duty one has to fulfill over the course of one's lifetime in order to work off "karma," or the debts accumulated from selfish actions. Dharma is the most important part of being human, and as we get older, we must focus on it more and more in order to achieve "moksha," or liberation from the constant rebirths on Earth. Artha is the accumulation of material wealth, specifically those things that help one rise in status, but also applies to the elements that ensure a comfortable life. Early on, we are more conscious of artha as we seek to make a living, but we ultimately lose focus on artha as we grow older. Finally, kama is the experience that comes with the pleasure of the senses. Kama is the first thing we focus on when we are young, but we gradually lose interest in kama as we focus on artha, and then dharma.

The Kama Sutra was collected by Vatsyayana, a scholar who functions as the editor of this work, and each of the seven sections of the book is purportedly elaborated upon by an ancient sage. This first book, General Principles, has a number of strategies for addressing the reader, but the first one we encounter is the Challenge-Response method, not unlike the Socratic method. Upon stating that dharma is more important than artha, which is in turn more important than kama, the author ensures that the reader doesn't translate this into a casual treatment of the Kama Sutra. Thus he uses challenge-responses to not only establish the necessity of kama - for it is, after all, the source of life itself - but also to underscore its value as a source of pleasure, or bodily satisfaction. Humans are driven to seek out food and sex, implies the author - so why should we judge this desire? It is our duty, our nature, to learn to enjoy it as best we can.

The prescriptions for women may strike modern readers as sexist, but in a way Vatsyayana is attempting to decode the mystery of femininity. He is less concerned with a woman's role in sex, and focuses more on her role in the household. He suggests that a woman should develop intellectual, physical, and even athletic pastimes to show off her powers and skills. Hidden between the lines of all these prescriptions is a remarkable respect for women - the opposite of the attitude found in a number of other religious or ancient texts. What's outlined, then, is a comprehensive set of arts, practices and behaviors that will "complement" the Kama Sutra and enable a woman to be the best lover, wife, and mother she can possibly be.

Perhaps the most compelling moment of the first book comes at the very end of it, when Vatsyayana offers a shloka, or piece of wisdom:

The man who is ingenious and wise, who is accompanied by a friend, and who knows the intentions of others, as also the proper time and place for doing everything, can gain over, very easily, even a woman who is very hard to be obtained.

What Vatsyayana suggests here is that love is not only an art, but a science - something that requires careful courtship, psychology, and even a go-between. This sholka is in itself subtly urgent, as it implies that a man can only become wise and ingenious by studying and assimilating all that will unfold in the pages that follow.

Summary

Men are divided into three classes, depending on the size of their "lingam," or phallus: shasha (hare men), vrisha (bull men), and ashwas (horse men). Women are also classified according to the depth of their "yoni," or vaginas: they are mrigis (deer), vadavas (mares), or hastinis (female elephants). The classification that a man or woman falls into determines the classification to which his or her partner should belong. For instance, a male hare can be with a female deer, but a male hare cannot be with a female mare or elephant, for fear of creating an unequal relationship.

Stamina is another factor that the Kama Sutra classifies, dividing both men and women into three categories: the short-timed, the moderate-timed, and the long-timed. True union comes when, "by union with men, the lust, desire or passion of women is satisfied." According to the Kama Sutra, women dictate the fulfillment of desire since it takes longer for their "passion" to be quenched. In an ideal union, the man and woman should produce their emissions together. In order to do this, "men and women, being of the same nature, feeling the same kind of pleasure," must begin their sexual congress with the man arousing the woman before sex begins so that she can reach climax "earlier or simultaneously with him."

The Kama Sutra describes four kinds of love:

1) Love resulting from constant and continual performance of love. In other words, love acquired by habit.

2) Love that comes from the imagination - love that proceeds from ideas, and emphasizes embracing, kissing, stroking, and scratching;

3) Love that is mutual on both sides and has been proven to be true;

4) Love resulting from experience - love that is known only to others because it is never analyzed as such (and is therefore the superior form of love).

The next part of the Kama Sutra, the Chatus-Shasti (or the "Sixty-Four"), is perhaps the best-known, largely because it outlines 64 types of sexual union. This section includes all the different types of intercourse, kissing, pressing with nails, biting, sexual vigour, and intensity. The author compares sexual intercourse to combat: during sex, the participants often feel the need to strike out in passion. The areas for striking include the shoulders, the head, the space between the breasts, the back, the middle regions of the body, and the sides. Accompanying these blows might be hissing, gasping, cooing, whimpering, or purring sounds.

When a woman sees that his lover has become fatigued by constant copulation and still has not been satisfied, then she should lay him down on his back and give him pleasure by acting his part. The author also notes that this can be done to satisfy the curiosity of the female, or to accommodate her own desire for novelty. The woman mounts the male and controls the rhythm and duration of sexual congress, thus taking on the active, dominant role. This reversal of roles will reveal the true nature of a woman, and the book offers instructions to make the congress "successful."

Oral sex is mentioned mainly in the context of the "Masseur." Neither a man nor a woman, these entities are incapable of achieving sexual satisfaction through any means other than oral sex, since their desires are kept mostly secret except in the case of their professional roles as masseurs. In this context, they can carefully coerce their subjects to allow them to perform oral sex. According to the Kama Sutra, the mouth can only be used by the "normal" male and female for nominal kissing, biting of the sides of the bodies, licking, swallowing, or even sucking a mango - all in service of foreplay.

Oral sex is also mentioned in the context of homosexual interactions - male servants who perform oral sex on their masters, women of the court who perform it on men or other women, and young masseurs who engage in mutual oral sex, known as the Kakila position, in which each participant's head aligns with his or her partner's genitals.

The Kama Sutra also outlines the ways in which sex should begin and end. After sex, for instance, the lovers should not look at each other, and should separately go to the washing room. Afterwards, they should drink and eat light foods together and carry on agreeable conversation while the female lies in the male lap. A man and a woman often initiate sex in the wake of a quarrel, when they have been apart for a long time, when their love is still in its infancy, when there is temporary infatuation, and when it is a product of spontaneous love. Sex can also begin when a man is projecting someone else onto the image of the woman he is having intercourse with, or when there is deceit involved for the purpose of achieving selfish motives.

All in all, the man who knows the 64 "divisions" of the Kama Sutra will become a Nayaka (leader) anywhere he goes, since these divisions are looked upon with love by all women, and the love of women is the key to gaining respect in any society.

Analysis

The Kama Sutra does have its contradictions. At the end of the first book, a Shloka suggests that a man who is wise, ingenious, and aware of the lessons of the Kama Sutra will find the woman he desires, no matter how unobtainable she initially seems. At the start of Book 2, however, we come to find a stringent set of instructions that divide men into three classes, depending on their phallus size, and women into three classes, based on the depth of their vagina. You might end up in an unequal (or impossible) union if you have sex with someone of the wrong class. In other words, a man with a large phallus (a "horse") can only sleep with a woman with an exceptionally deep vagina (a "female elephant"), or risk an unequal, or low, relationship. The Kama Sutra certainly doesn't forbid unequal relationships - indeed, the book rarely forbids anything - but it does suggest that matches based on anatomical similarities make for the best unions.

The matter of orgasms takes up quite a bit of Book 2, with the author trying to designate exactly how the two sexes should climax in relation to each other during intercourse. A man can climax easier and earlier than a woman, so foreplay is crucial for building up a woman's pleasure enough that there is the possibility of climax together at the end of intercourse. The author implies that it's quite easy for a male to achieve satisfaction. As soon as he orgasms, he's finished - his desire is sated no matter what. But a woman achieves satisfaction much more slowly and less completely, and so it's important for a man to pay special attention to ensuring her orgasm, or risk having an unequal sexual congress.

The discussion of the four types of love is one of the hallmarks of the Kama Sutra, and each deserves careful attention. The first type of love is "habitual" love, and has been the subject of considerable recent debate by scientists. Indeed, some scientists have argued in popular journals like National Geographic that love is simply the product of habit. If you sleep with someone enough times and spend enough time with them (knowing that love must develop in order for sex and life to be fulfilling), love will eventually come to be. This form of love is practiced - a habit, something that can be consciously developed.

The second type of love, love from belief, suggests that we condition ourselves as to what we think love is: we define it, categorize it, and then seek out that which best fits our definition. This love, resulting from "imagination," becomes a way to control our feelings, ultimately leading towards tentative, if slightly awkward romance. The author implies that this kind of love is also the most dubious, for the moment that imagination gives way to reality, such love may implode.

Thirdly, there is mutual love, or "proved" love, which results from two people actually agreeing that they're in love and seeking the evidence to prove equal, mutual affection. Finally, there is love that is obvious to everyone but the couple - love that is well known to the world, because the couple is so deep inside it that they can't truly see what is taking place. There is no conceptualizing of this love - it can only be experienced, and the experience "affords a superior pleasure to the other kinds of love, which exists only for its sake."

There is little to say about the 64 divisions of sexual congress, but we should note that all of these sexual instructions do fall into fairly rigid gender roles. Indeed, there is an entire section that delineates the strict rules under which a woman can take over the man's role and control the rhythm of intercourse. The Kama Sutra does allow for other forms of sexual union, including oral sex between men, oral sex between women, and even a "third gender" between man and woman who finds principal satisfaction as a masseuse and preys upon his subjects to achieve satisfaction through oral sex. This is a strange little diversion, but suggests that the Kama Sutra is determined to afford everyone the potential to achieve true pleasure (albeit in the context of a strict hierarchy).

Summary

According to the Holy Writ, a marriage involves the union of male to a female virgin of the same caste. Such a union results in the acquisition of dharma and artha, as well as the production of offspring, affinity, an increase in friends, and untarnished love. Moreover, a man should find a woman with a good family, whose parents are alive, and who is at least three years younger than himself. The author adds that if the woman is wealthy, well connected, has strong relationships with family and friends, and has good hair, teeth, breasts, and overall health, then the marriage will be even more auspicious. The man should possess all of these qualities as well.

To create a marriage with this virgin maid, the Kama Sutra encourages all manner of deceits and diversions. For instance, the friends of both families should extol the potential bride or groom to the other party's family, "even to exaggeration of all the excellencies," in order to be more convincing. One of the male's friends "should disguise himself as an astrologer, and declare the future good fortune and wealth" of the couple, should they get married. However, there are a number of "types" of girls that should be avoided. These include a girl with an ill-sounding name, a girl who has been concealed in the house for bodily defects, a girl who is engaged to another, a girl with white spots on her body, a manly or heavily-built girl, a hunchback, and a balding girl.

For the first three days after marriage, the girl and her husband should sleep on the floor, abstain from sexual pleasure, and eat their food without seasoning. For the next seven days, they should bathe amidst the sounds of auspicious musical instruments, dine together, and pay attention to their relatives. On the night of the tenth day, the man should begin gentle love play, but mainly using soft words to inspire confidence in the girl. Sexual pleasure must not begin until the male has her trust - for women, "being of a tender nature, want tender beginnings." Once he slowly builds this confidence, he can then teach her the "64 arts," tell her how much he loves her, and then, having overcome her bashfulness, "begin to enjoy her in a way so as to delight her."

A poor man should have his own ways of trying to win over a girl. He should spend time with the girl and amuse her with various games and diversions. They should play games together, but more than anything, the man should show great kindness to the girl in order to show that he is fit to be trusted. The man should go out of his way to show he is different by giving her gifts of playthings, revealing his many talents, and impressing her with his prowess. Once he sees that she loves him, he is on his way to winning her family over, as well.

Once the girl begins to show her love through outwards signs and motions, her lover should hold her hand, embrace her, and even rub and press against her to gain some sort of sexual fidelity. Finally, he should express his feelings and make the girl realize his lovesickness, "for though a man loves a girl ever so much, he never succeeds in winning her without a great deal of talking." A girl should hold out physically at first, especially when a man demands sexual intercourse, but when a woman is certain that she is truly loved and is convinced that her lover is devoted to her and will not change his mind, then she can be persuaded to give herself up to him.

There are several forms of marriage. There is the marriage according to religious law, when a girl is won over and acts openly with a man as his wife. This is a marriage done in the presence of the ceremonial fire: the Gandharva form of marriage. When the girl cannot make up her mind or will not express her readiness to marry, then the man should use deceit to acquire her.

Analysis

The third book focuses almost exclusively on marriage, and "even if we disregard certain magical aspects, there is much to be said for paying some attention to the qualities that the Kama Sutra suggests are desirable in a wife" (Spellman 46). The most compelling of these qualities is "confidence," or the idea that a man must dispel the fear of sex in the virgin bride before engaging in sexual union. It's a remarkable diversion from what has come to be known as the ancient tradition of the "wedding night," where a virgin bride is deflowered after enduring pain and fear in the fulfillment of her "duties" as a wife. Instead, says Vatsyayana, a man must take his time with his new wife before even thinking about initiating sexual intercourse. They must spend a considerable amount of time together, getting to know one another. Then they should discuss sex using soft words, move on to subtle advances, and finally, after ten days or more, initiate the first sexual union.

For all its gentle treatment of the matter of sexuality, the Kama Sutra does depart from this approach to make categorical lists of undesirable qualities - even to the point of stipulating the types of girls who cannot be married. Some of these qualities include: an ill-sounding name, upturned nostrils, glandular enlargements, disfigurements, and sweaty palms or feet. These lists are enough to make any female reader angry, but the Kama Sutra is not in and of itself a misogynistic text.

What is perhaps more worthy of examination is the subtle deceit that the author encourages in men. The Kama Sutra, despite its occasional diversions into biological classifications (penis size, emission-amount matching, etc.), also rewards those who pursue their loves to no end. The author offers a laundry list of suggestions that a man should follow if he wishes to marry the woman he loves, not many of which are particularly ethical (sabotaging the competition, creating false witnesses to offer praise in front of the bride's family, etc.). The words "acquired" and "acquisition" are used several times, suggesting that it is a man's duty to "acquire" the one he loves through hard work. Far from urging men to wait to find their "one true love," the Kama Sutra argues that nothing can be achieved without careful negotiation.

As a result, wooing is given quite a lot of attention in the text, and the male is given a precise set of instructions to this end. If in previous books we saw the somewhat alarming list of things that women must be good at in order to attract a mate, now we see what a man must be able to do - procure gifts, show off his talents, teach his mate the 64 means of achieving pleasure, etc. More than anything, he must be a subtle observer of behavior, carefully reading his chosen female to determine when and if she loves him, when and if she's ready for further courtship, when and if she's ready for sex, and when and if she's ready for marriage. It is this emphasis on reading behavior that makes the Kama Sutra so remarkable - it is not a sexual manual, but rather a love manual. And the first step to finding love and maintaining (and consummating) it is being fully aware of a lover's behavior, and accounting for all insecurities, hesitations, and fears.

There is one odd ambiguity in this book: the question of when, exactly, a man is permitted to have sex with a girl. In the beginning of the chapter, especially in light of all the instructions for building confidence in a woman, there is the implication that sex comes after marriage - specifically, more than ten days after marriage. But later on, during the discussion about men who must convince women that they can be suitable husbands, the author seems to suggest that a man should have sex with a woman as a way of coercing her to marry him. These apparent contradictions might be traced to either the idea that Vatsyayana is collecting anecdotes and wisdom from different sources, or - perhaps more likely - that he is accounting for different ways of ensnaring a wife given different circumstances.

Summary

A virtuous woman who has affection for her husband should treat him as if he were a divine being, and thus take care of his whole family. In the house, the husband is a god. The wife should keep the house clean, arrange flowers for decoration, and keep the floors smooth and polished. She should also do all the religious poojas necessary, for nothing attracts the heart more than "careful observance of the household rituals." The wife should plant and tend an herb garden, and should carefully maintain family relations. She should avoid the company of female beggars, female fortunetellers, and witches. She should consider her husband's likes and dislikes when preparing his food, and whenever she hears his footsteps at home she should be ready to do his bidding, including washing his feet. Whenever she goes anywhere with her husband she should put on ornaments, and she should not accept invitations, attend marriages, sit with her friends, or visit temples without his permission. In the same way, she should always sit down after him, get up before him, and never awaken him when he is asleep. She should forgive him when he misbehaves and not use abusive language, for there is nothing worse to a husband than a wife who scolds.

A wife, moreover, should not tell strangers the amount of her wealth, not the secrets that her husband confides to her. She should surpass all the women of her own rank in cleverness, appearance, and cooking skills. Additionally, she should make sure the expenditures of the household are in accordance with the family income, and should make sure that oil, sugar, and butter are all prepared at home. Her duties also include looking after the tilling of the fields, keeping the flock, and taking care of domestic animals.

When her husband is on a journey, a virtuous woman should wear only her most auspicious ornaments, and should observe the fasts in honor of the gods. While anxious to hear news of her husband, she should still be mindful of the household affairs and ensure that the house is ready for his return. When he returns, she should receive him in her ordinary clothes so that he may know in what way she has lived during his absence, and should bring him presents as well as materials for the worship of the deity.

A woman only remarries when she is ill-tempered, disliked by her husband, desirous of offspring, continually giving birth to daughters, or suffering from her husband's impotence. From the beginning, a wife aims to win her husband's heart through his devotion, good temper, and wisdom, but if she bears no children, she should tell her husband to marry another woman. When the second wife is brought to the house, the first wife should give her a position superior to her own, and look upon her as a sister. If the younger wife does anything to displease the husband, the elder wife should always be ready to give her careful advice. The younger wife, meanwhile, should regard the elder wife as her "mother," and should not give away any secrets without her knowledge. Indeed, she should not even approach her husband without the permission of the elder wife. No matter how much she resents a rival wife, this younger wife cannot tell her husband of her pain.

An abandoned or neglected wife should never rebuke her husband or show obstinacy; she should only go near her husband when it is agreeable to him. She should keep her husband's weak points secret and show her children that she is devoted to their father. Meanwhile, should a woman become widowed, she cannot remarry unless she is of poor circumstances, or a weak nature.

Analysis

Of all the books of the Kama Sutra, this is perhaps the one that seems the most anti-feminist. A woman is placed squarely at the head of domestic matters and in a role of servitude to her husband. That said, Hinduism has never shied away from the fact that it sees a woman's control of her house as an immense source of power and responsibility. It is up to the woman to keep the husband afloat and to ensure that he fulfills his worth as a man by keeping the family together, charming his relatives, making sure that the family is fed, managing the expenses, and having children. For all the anti-feminist overtones, the subtext is that the woman is responsible for the family's livelihood.

At the same time, it is quite clear that a wife's chief responsibility is to bear children - and, specifically, to bear sons. If a woman cannot bear children, then the husband - in a radical departure from everything else in the Kama Sutra - is allowed to remarry. Not only is he allowed to remarry, but the first wife must take care of the younger wife in order to ensure that their husband produces children. This is technically polygamy, of course, but the Kama Sutra presents the arrangement as a solely functional endeavor - a way of making up for the first wife's failings.

Ideally, there is a great deal of trust between man and wife. There are repeated mentions of the fact that women should not betray their husbands by sharing their secrets - either to family members, people outside the family, or to a second wife if one is brought into the house. Moreover, the husband needs to know that his wife is like the rock of the house - faithful, loyal, and always attentive to her duties. Thus, the Kama Sutra preaches even the smallest details of fidelity, such as wearing casual home clothes upon a husband's return from a long journey in order to show him that the home has been cared for in his absence.

There is certainly room for disagreements between a husband and a wife, but if a wife is ill-tempered or if her husband truly cannot stand her, then the Kama Sutra allows for separation or remarriage. However, if the disagreement is one-sided (for example, if the husband can't stand his wife, but the wife is still in love with her husband), then the implication is that the wife should simply stay as far away from the husband as she can while performing her wifely duties.

The question of widowhood has long been a subject of debate in Hinduism, especially as modern pragmatism encroaches on ancient tradition. But the Kama Sutra suggests that there are only two good reasons for a widow to remarry. One is if she is of "poor circumstances" and needs a man to ensure that her livelihood remains intact. In other words, the man suddenly becomes the source of a woman's survival - which is in direct contrast to the earlier part of the chapter, which suggests that a man is dependent on his wife for his sustenance. The second condition under which remarriage is possible is if a widow is of "weak character," but what constitutes a weak character is never explained. We are left with the understanding that if a woman knows that this pejorative term "weak" comes with her desire to remarry after being left a widow, she will refrain from doing so.

Summary

Before a man consorts with another man's wife, he should consider a number of things - the possibility of actually making the woman his wife, her fitness for sexual congress, the danger that the union might pose to himself, and the future effects of this union. Indeed, a man may see that he needs the wife of another in order to preserve his own life, since his love for her far exceeds his love for his current wife. If a man finds himself besieged by attachment of the mind, constant reflection, emaciation, loss of will, turning away from pleasure and enjoyment, shameless behavior, mental imbalance, fainting fits, or even no will to live, then he should pursue the wife of another.

Ancient sages argued that a man could tell the character of a woman from her body and movements, but Vatsayayana believes that making these judgments will likely lead to terrible errors, and that women should be judged mainly by their conduct, the outward expressions of their thoughts, and the movements of their bodies. Men and women, moreover, differ in their psychological approaches to love. A woman loves "without regard to right or wrong" and will naturally shrink from a man, until she is repeatedly courted - at which point she will consent. A man, however, will become indifferent whether his advances are rejected or not, as his feelings are easily dispatched.

A woman will reject a man if she already has a husband, is angry about their differences with regards to social status, doesn't like his cleverness, thinks the man is too devoted to his friends, or is fearful of his strength or political position. If a man senses that any of these are possible reasons for a woman's disdain, he should seek to comfort her and let her know that these perceptions are in error. For instance, if a woman thinks that a man is of low character, he should remove this perception by showing his valor and his wisdom. If she is afraid of him, then he should give her proper encouragement and comfort.

At a first meeting, a man should be careful to look at a woman in a way that makes his mind known to her, but at the same time he should listen to her with indifference in order to inspire her desire. He can even go so far as to subtly show off to her by engaging a third person in conversation about subjects he knows she will want to hear about. Indeed, it wouldn't be out of place to embrace and kiss a young boy in order to send covert signals to the woman. Once he has engaged a woman, there is a complex set of steps he should take to slowly make her acquaintance. He should gradually increase his visits to her, first engaging her on a business level and then on a more personal one, before initiating physical intimacy or voicing his desire for marriage. A man should only seduce one woman at a time.

There are several ways for a man to determine the "fitness" of a woman's mind. If she meets him once, and then comes to their second meeting better dressed than she was before, he can be certain that she is capable of "being enjoyed by the use of a little force." If a woman avoids the attentions of a man, and on account of respect for him or herself will not meet or approach him, a man can get her to surrender either by persistence or by using a friend as a mediator. If a woman reproaches a man for his advances, she should be ignored completely (unless these reproaches are done flirtatiously).

Vatsyayana now turns his attentions to the behavior of the nobles. A king, for instance, is constantly watched and imitated, so his behavior must be beyond reproach. A king, after all, has numerous wives, so when he desires a woman, it is best if his wife introduces her to him - perhaps by inviting her to the royal palace so that she might see the practice of the art that she has been invited to perform with the king. A king also has powers of force, so if the woman desired by the king is living with a person who is not her husband, the king can have her arrested and made a slave.

The women of the royal house cannot see or meet with men because they are guarded, and must deal with the dissatisfaction that inevitably arises when one's husband is shared with many wives. As a result, the women of the royal house must learn to give pleasure to each other. In dire circumstances, they can have young men delivered to the palace dressed as girls for them to enjoy.

Analysis

This book again emphasizes a woman's behavior, not her external appearance, which is one of the hallmarks of the Kama Sutra. Vatsyayana lays out a series of prescriptions for a man's approach of a woman, and delineates what he should do in each case of behavior. In general, the author sees woman as eminently conquerable, believing that they are biologically wired to submit after multiple advances. This does make sense to some degree, as the book subtly implies that women must be quite sure of their mate before they relent. Only a man who repeatedly shows dedication and commitment to a woman will inspire her to relinquish her power.

At the same time, however, men tend to be indifferent after rejection, and thus the Kama Sutra is a necessary guide to ensure that men stay persistent after women spurn them. Vatsyayana writes that it is a man's nature to give up and a woman's nature to resist, and without this understanding of each other there will be no ultimate victory, only a settling of scores that leaves both parties dissatisfied. The only reason to give up on a woman after her initial rejection is if she reproaches a man without any sign of love; then it is not a match.

Some of the ways Vatsyayana suggests a man should win over a woman may sound ridiculous to modern ears (for example, kissing young boys in front of her in order to arouse her!), but he is simply referring to man's age-old tendency to show off for the women they desire. Indeed, what is so remarkable about the Kama Sutra is that it does not see love as a holy act of union that requires patience and endurance, but rather as an art of manipulation, pride, and even deceit. Like birds that puff up their chests in preparation for the mating game, Vatsyayana encourages men to pursue their women like warriors - with their full attention on the battle ahead.

Submission is a word that appears repeatedly throughout the Kama Sutra, and it is one that seems to have biological resonance. The more advanced a species is, the more complex its mating rituals. Many mammals are notably finicky about their mates, but the characteristic of a female submitting after many advances is quite consistent - and it would make sense that a female, when pressed repeatedly, will submit to a man who pursues her and persuades her that they are meant to be together. The concept of the Casanova seems to emanate from this line of thinking - the lover who is so good with words and the dance of courtship that no woman can resist his charms.

While ordinary mortals must rely on courtship, the king has to deal with his own set of codes. As he is a model for all of his subjects, he cannot do anything prurient, and is thus encouraged to rely on go-betweens and his wives to acquire new women. Little is said about the practice of polygamy, but we must assume that kings are permitted (even encouraged) to take multiple wives in order to ensure the maximum number of male progeny. The king certainly can use his power to squire a girl, and Vatsyayana suggests that if he can't acquire a girl because she is already married, that he should simply use force to imprison her and bring her into the worldly court. This may seem malicious, but the suggestion is merely an extension of the larger theme of this book: a male must pursue the object of his desire relentlessly until she finally submits, ultimately loving him the more for his unflagging determination.

Summary

The sixth book of the Kama Sutra discusses the courtesan, delineating her role, her responsibilities, and even the workings of her mind. According to Vatsyayana, the courtesan (or vaishika) has long been a key element of human society, and particularly Hindu culture. Indeed, as long as they behave with decency and propriety, they can often earn considerable respect, unlike in the West, where they are treated with brutality and contempt. Courtesans in the Hindu culture are not considered "prostitutes" as such, and in the past have been educated and trained to become amusing escorts for high-class men. Indeed, says the Kama Sutra, seeming to wink to its audience, every woman "has got an inkling of the profession in her nature," for as a general rule a woman aims "to make herself agreeable to the male sex."

Intercourse with men offers courtesans not only a livelihood, but also sexual pleasure. If a courtesan takes up with a man for love, she can slip back into the role of a lover, but when she takes up with a man only for money, her lovemaking is artificial, even forced. However, it is a courtesan's duty to act as if she is in love during every encounter, as her partner's confidence relies on the idea that she is in love with him, regardless of the circumstances under which they have come together.

A courtesan should sit or stand at the door to her house and look out on the outside world, like an object on display for sale. At the same time, she should make friends with people who will protect her, such as guards of the town, police officers, court members, astrologers, and powerful men. A courtesan should try to take up with young, handsome men who are free from any ties and already have their livelihoods. They can even take up with a man who has feminine traits and wants to be thought of as a man. A courtesan should be beautiful, enjoy sex, have a firm mind, be interested in meeting new people and acquiring experience and knowledge, and be free from avarice. A courtesan should avoid men who are sickly, affected by parasites, have bad breath, are greedy, are thieves, or are conceited. A courtesan should not sacrifice money for love, because money is her top priority. If she does fall in love, however, she should be careful not to immediately consent to a union, for men are "apt to despise things which are easily acquired."

When a courtesan is with a lover, she should behave like a chaste woman and do everything for his satisfaction. At the same time, she should give him pleasure without becoming attached to him. She can do this in a number of ways, and can even invent a harsh or nagging mother who can forcibly take her away from her lover whenever he's drawing too close. The courtesan can "show pretended anger, dejection, fear and shame" at having to leave him on the account of such a nag, but in private she should continue these schemes in order to ensure her independence. When she is with a man, a courtesan should show him the 64 kinds of pleasure, conceal her personal feelings and reveal only her love for him, follow his lead in terms of mood, express curiosity about his wives, give him confidence by revealing how attractive he is to women, and attending on him with praise and wit.

A courtesan makes money either through natural/lawful means, or through artifice. Sages reveal that a courtesan should not use artifice unless she absolutely has to, or can get double or triple the money from her lover. Artifice can include taking money from her lover ostensibly to buy clothes, flowers, or food, and then using less than the amount given, or praising his intelligence so that he must give her gifts connected with the vows of the holidays. She can also claim that her body or home has been robbed, contract debts that her lover must pay, or demand the assistance of her friends and family.

A courtesan can easily see when a man's desire is cooling, as he will give her less money than she wants, make false promises, forget her promises, or sleep with someone else under the pretense of doing something for a friend. When a courtesan finds that her lover's disposition is changing, she should get possession of all his best things before he becomes aware of her intentions and then get rid of him by belittling his pride. A courtesan should only return to a former lover if he has acquired new wealth and is still attached to her enough to want her back.

A courtesan should not confine herself to a single lover, lest she risk losing valuable money. However, if she can obtain tremendous financial gain from a single lover, she may consort with him alone. She should also, according to Vatsyayana, value gold over all other objects, since gold cannot be taken back, and can be exchanged for gifts. A courtesan may often find that she has to choose between two lovers - one who is generous and rich, and one who is attached to her. Sages differ on which one she should choose, but Vatsyayana argues that she should take the one who is more attached to her, for he can be made to be generous. If a courtesan receives money from a man who is not her current lover, she risks falling out of her lover's good graces, forced union to a lower person, and even universal hatred.

Analysis

An entire book dedicated to the courtesan is certainly a surprise, given the fact that up until this point the Kama Sutra has focused on how an understanding between the sexes fosters love. A discussion about prostitution not only seems bizarre, but also antithetical. Right away, however, the author addresses this apparent contradiction, arguing that courtesans are crucial to the functioning of society, for they help men to gain confidence. It is a man's responsibility to give his partner confidence in the days after marriage, but how do men develop this confidence themselves?

This is the task of the courtesan: to develop her partner's confidence. She not only has the powers of the 64 sexual positions at her disposal, but also possesses a keen insight into a man's psychology. A courtesan's primary objective is the acquisition of money, while a man's primary objectives are satiation of lust and love. In the gap between these two objectives there is room for negotiation, and the author lays out a series of strategies to help the courtesan determine exactly how to handle a male. Notice that the audience for this chapter is not the male, but rather the courtesan herself. As she is responsible for driving the action in this situation, it is natural that men are left out, just as women are essentially ignored in earlier portions of the work.

In many ways, the courtesan is responsible for a reversal of gender roles. For example, when the subjects of long-term attachment or a man's wives come up, it is her duty to act as the male typically would - nonchalant, impossible to pin down, uninterested in commitment. Even if she loves one of her partners, she would be wise to invent circumstances that would prevent her from being with him too frequently. She is, in many ways, a pillager, solely concerned with financial gain. If the courtesan falls in love, however, she must deal with the fact that the object of her affection is likely to harbor a deep mistrust towards her, and she must thus earn his confidence rather than vice versa.

Vatsyayana raises the question of what, exactly, a courtesan wants from an ideal lover: generosity? Extreme wealth? Obsession? He argues that a different goal characterizes each interaction. Generosity is the most useful, because a man who is generous to a courtesan will shower her with wealth without counting pennies or expecting favors in return. Extreme wealth is also useful, but if a man's attachment to a courtesan overwhelms his wealth, then he is likely to expect the courtesan to pay back every gift with some sort of sign of affection, which reduces the courtesan's power and ultimately ties her to one man.

Artifice - the idea that a woman must deceive her man in order to keep him happy - returns as a central concept here. We saw elements of this earlier in the section that dealt with how a wife must approach her interactions with her husband, but this book suggests that a courtesan must employ all manner of deceit in order ensure that her lover continues to shower her with gifts and money. Because it is wealth, and not love, that is at stake, a courtesan must be extremely conscious of whether or not her lover's feelings are cooling off, and then quickly end the relationship before he can. These lists of signs that signal the cooling of affection, and suggestions as to what can be done are amongst the most compelling and insightful sections of the Kama Sutra - here, we come to understand just how much the author respects the power of feminine sexuality and its ability to rid men of their judgment, regardless of their power or wealth.

Summary

If one cannot find love through the methods laid out in the Kama Sutra, one must resort to other methods. These include beautifying the body and using charms, aphrodisiacs, or artificial membranes. One can also beautify the eyes with makeup, enhance the texture of the skin, or drink potions to smooth the complexion. The author also explains a number of ways in which a man or woman can enhance their genitals with pastes and creams in order to make them more sexually attractive - even irresistible. (One odd suggestion is to take the remains of a kite that has fallen out of use, grind it into powder, mix it with cowdung and honey, and apply it to the body before bathing.)

The author offers a number of aphrodisiac recipes that will allow a man to stay virile (milk with sugar; liqorice), vigorous (milk with sugar; the crushed testicles of a ram or a goat), or increase his stamina (vidari and kshrika fruit boiled in milk). A man can become stimulated with sugarcane roots mixed with milk, or onion powder mixed with sugar and ghee. Sexual ability can be enhanced by mixing rice with the eggs of a sparrow and then boiling the potion in milk. Other mixtures will help a man enjoy more women, preserve his life, help him recuperate from sex, or strengthen his body.

A man unable to relieve the sexual urges of a passionate woman can use his hands or even an "apadravyas" (a phallus-shaped artificial member) to stimulate orgasm. A man who is suffering sexual deficiency can be induced to orgasm by oral sex, manually, or even by inserting a finger (either the man's own or his partner's) into his anus.

Some cultures argue that a man's penis canal has to be enlarged early in pubescence. The author points specifically to Southern India, where a young male's penis is perforated with a pointed shaft to engorge the canal. A grown man can enlarge the aperture of his penis by penetrating the canal with a long wedge, provided he can stop the bleeding afterwards and sterilize the wound. Over time, he can make his penis opening larger and larger, so that it will be stronger and more powerful.

The author suggests that a man's lingam can be enlarged by the application of various pastes, by massaging the penis, or even by rubbing it with the seeds of pomegranates, cucumbers, and eggplants. The author also cites various other food combinations that can be used to alleviate different problems, such as an over-attentive man, a woman who has lost affection, a vagina that needs to be contracted or expanded, hair loss, and excessively pale lips.

Thus conclude the seven books of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra, which the author suggests should be considered a treatise on men and women, their relationship to one another, life, and love. The book should be studied by old and young, by those who have gathered experience and those who are brand-new, and by anyone who is curious about the true methods for achieving fulfillment in love.

Analysis

The final book of the Kama Sutra is more concerned with tying up loose ends than with introducing core elements of the philosophy. The basic principle here involves making sure that those who cannot find sexual fulfillment and love using the other techniques in the book still have some recourse for improving their seduction and lovemaking skills. These can be divided into a few main categories - bodily improvements, sexual performance enhancements, and genital modifications.

The bodily improvements fall into line with the other aphrodisiacs mentioned in the Kama Sutra - recipes to increase stamina, vigor, ability, etc. One wonders how many of these are almost metaphorical in their nature (the potion that involves the remains of a failed kite quite obviously produces a placebo effect, if any), and whether they are directed at mothers, fathers, and other relatives who might use the placebo promise of these drinks to dupe the drinkers into truly believing in their powers.

A few of the recipes suggest that if a man or woman applies certain pastes to their genitals, there is no way a member of the opposite sex will be able to resist them. It's rather antithetical to offer miracle cures in the Kama Sutra, since so much of the book discusses the sheer amount of work necessary to perfect the art of seduction. Again, these pastes and creams can be taken as ways to build confidence in those who are uncertain of the strength of their natural powers.

The section on genital enhancement is particularly disturbing, since it appears to encourage men to use objects to pry open their penis shafts in order to increase the power of their ejaculations. This practice is not only incredibly painful, but seems likely to have a high rate of infection. The author offers a number of recipes and potions to avoid infection, but we can only assume that most readers would bypass these recommendations.

The Kama Sutra ends with this odd collection of last resorts, but we are nonetheless left with a clean arc between the books, one that centers around the theme of confidence. Indeed, the book begins with a male's responsibility to create confidence in the female, then turns to discuss a courtesan's ability to create confidence in men, and finally closes with suggestions for how both males and females can find self-confidence using a variety of remedies. This manual for sexual fulfillment, then, describes a path towards self-realization using kama, a path that will ultimately intersect with that of dharma and karma.

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