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KAMASUTRA

What is the Kamasutra?

The Indian treatise on sex, the Kamasutra, was written by the fourth century writer Vatsyayana Mallagana. There are no details on the author itself, but his work has remained the encyclopedia of all things sexual even almost 1600 years after it was first written.

The Kamasutra is written from a male perspective. It journeys through the entire lifecycle of the man after the time of his sexual maturity. In a general manner of speaking, the Kamasutra spans from a man’s awakening to sex, i.e. puberty until his old age when he loses his sex drive.

The entire work of the Kamasutra is divided into seven books. The seven books represent the seven stages of a man’s sexual life. The following are their seven books:-

Book 1	This is a general book about the development of a boy into a man. In this book, there are social issues like mode of conduct, basic laws of citizenry, the aims of life and the acquisition of knowledge. In the last chapter of this book there is a description of the various agencies through which a young man can satisfy his growing sexual desires.
Book 2	Book 2 talks about the initial sexual encounters of the young man. Essentially this book is about the preliminary obtaining of sex and getting fully sexually mature. It talks about its discovery in the young male and then the methods he must develop to enhance his experience. This is the most popular book of the Kamasutra. It contains the very popular section on sexual positions. There is a vivid description of the physicality and animal-like behavior of humans during sex. There are descriptions of even other aspects like noises during lovemaking, pre-coital and post-coital problems, etc.
Book 3	Book 3 delves on how the man must procure a wife for himself. This book deals strictly with marital sex. It contains portions on how to make married life more blissful and how to adopt various lovemaking positions when the monotony begins to creep in. It also talks about how a man can satisfy himself alone (i.e. masturbation) even within a marriage.
Book 4	This is the shortest book of the Kamasutra. This is also the only book that is addressed directly to the women. It talks about the roles and responsibilities of a good wife towards her husband. In essence it talks about how the woman must be competent enough to provide her husband good sex, which in turn will provide her with the satisfaction she requires also.
Book 5	Book 5 is a controversial book as it deals with how a man can covet other men’s wives. After a few years of marriage, the wife seems to bore the husband both sexually and otherwise. It tells how such men then begin their quests of conquering other men’s wives. Book 5 actually advises men on how to ensnare other men’s wives for lovemaking.
Book 6	This book deals with the late middle age of the man. The sexual drive of the man is diminishing then, and sex with neither his wife nor his other paramours is satisfying to him. This is the stage when the man looks for other avenues, like courtesans and prostitutes. Book 6 of the Kamasutra tells how a man can derive his sexual satisfaction from women other than his wife.
Book 7	This book deals with the period when the man has entered old age and his sexual drive is a thing of the past. This is the time when a man must turn to the divine incarnate. The man can use various herbs and potions to regain his sexual drive. A summary of several herbs and potions is included with this book. It also tells how man can perform exercises and use sex toys to attempt sexual encounters even in his old age.

The Advantages of the Kamasutra

It is a very progressive text, considering that it was written somewhere in the 4 th century AD. The ideas propounded by Vatsyayana in his treatise are too forward for even the open-minded western concept of sex. That is perhaps the greatest advantage of the Kamasutra.

Moreover, the Kamasutra does not regard sex as something unclean like many other texts of that period do. On the contrary, sex is included within the three holy aspects of life a man must strive to achieve. Vatsyayana says every man must have:-

Bhakti, i.e. sense of devotion,

Kama, i.e. sense of love and

Karma, i.e. sense of duty.

Hence, love is placed with the highest attributes of life such as Bhakti and Karma. This book therefore went a long way in changing people’s outlook about sex even in that age.

It accepts the fact that sex is not just a means of producing offspring. It talked about the much deeper relevance of sex; i.e. how lovemaking can be used as a means of achieving the beauty that is designed for mankind on earth.

Criticisms Against the Kamasutra

The most prominent criticism about it is that it is too male chauvinist to be considered a universal text on sex. Apart from the book 4, all other books are addressed directly to men. Also, the book itself deals with the sexual development of a man and not a woman per se.

Several cultures cannot digest the subject matter of it. It exhorts man to have premarital sex, adulterous sex and promiscuous sex with prostitutes. All these are considered morally unethical activities.

Strangely, it has no references on any kind of oral sex. There is no description of kissing. This is quite odd when one takes into account the almost graphic description of anal sex, which is more dangerous and taboo than oral.