{"product_id":"2940014556255","title":"The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana","description":"IN the literature of all countries there will be found a\u003cbr\u003ecertain number of works treating especially of love.\u003cbr\u003eEverywhere the subject is dealt with differently, and from\u003cbr\u003evarious points of view. In the present publication it is\u003cbr\u003eproposed to give a complete translation of what is\u003cbr\u003econsidered the standard work on love in Sanscrit\u003cbr\u003eliterature, and which is called the ‘Vatsyayana Kama\u003cbr\u003eSutra’, or Aphorisms on Love, by Vatsyayana.\u003cbr\u003eWhile the introduction will deal with the evidence\u003cbr\u003econcerning the date of the writing, and the commentaries\u003cbr\u003ewritten upon it, the chapters following the introduction\u003cbr\u003ewill give a translation of the work itself. It is, however,\u003cbr\u003eadvisable to furnish here a brief analysis of works of the\u003cbr\u003esame nature, prepared by authors who lived and wrote\u003cbr\u003eyears after Vatsyayana had passed away, but who still\u003cbr\u003econsidered him as the great authority, and always quoted\u003cbr\u003ehim as the chief guide to Hindoo erotic literature.\u003cbr\u003eBesides the treatise of Vatsyayana the following works\u003cbr\u003eon the same subject are procurable in India:\u003cbr\u003eThe Ratirahasya, or secrets of love\u003cbr\u003eThe Panchasakya, or the five arrows\u003cbr\u003eThe Smara Pradipa, or the light of love\u003cbr\u003eThe Ratimanjari, or the garland of love\u003cbr\u003eThe Rasmanjari, or the sprout of love\u003cbr\u003eThe Anunga Runga, or the stage of love; also called\u003cbr\u003eKamaledhiplava, or a boat in the ocean of love.\u003cbr\u003eThe author of the ‘Secrets of Love’ was a poet named\u003cbr\u003eKukkoka. He composed his work to please one\u003cbr\u003eVenudutta, who was perhaps a king. When writing his\u003cbr\u003eown name at the end of each chapter he calls himself\u003cbr\u003e‘Siddha patiya pandita’, i.e. an ingenious man among\u003cbr\u003elearned men. The work was translated into Hindi years\u003cbr\u003eago, and in this the author’s name was written as Koka.\u003cbr\u003eAnd as the same name crept into all the translations into\u003cbr\u003eother languages in India, the book became generally\u003cbr\u003eknown, and the subject was popularly called Koka\u003cbr\u003eShastra, or doctrines of Koka, which is identical with the\u003cbr\u003eKama Shastra, or doctrines of love, and the words Koka\u003cbr\u003eShastra and Kama Shastra are used indiscriminately.\u003cbr\u003eThe work contains nearly eight hundred verses, and is\u003cbr\u003edivided into ten chapters, which are called Pachivedas.\u003cbr\u003eSome of the things treated of in this work are not to be\u003cbr\u003efound in the Vatsyayana, such as the four classes of\u003cbr\u003ewomen, the Padmini, Chitrini, Shankini and Hastini, as\u003cbr\u003ealso the enumeration of the days and hours on which the\u003cbr\u003ewomen of the different classes become subject to love,\u003cbr\u003eThe author adds that he wrote these things from the\u003cbr\u003eopinions of Gonikaputra and Nandikeshwara, both of\u003cbr\u003ewhom are mentioned by Vatsyayana, but their works are\u003cbr\u003enot now extant. It is difficult to give any approximate idea\u003cbr\u003eas to the year in which the work was composed. It is only\u003cbr\u003eto be presumed that it was written after that of\u003cbr\u003eVatsyayana, and previous to the other works on this\u003cbr\u003esubject that are still extant. Vatsyayana gives the names of\u003cbr\u003eten authors on the subject, all of whose works he had\u003cbr\u003econsulted, but none of which are extant, and does not\u003cbr\u003emention this one. This would tend to show that Kukkoka\u003cbr\u003ewrote after Vatsya, otherwise Vatsya would assuredly\u003cbr\u003ehave mentioned him as an author in this branch of\u003cbr\u003eliterature along with the others.\u003cbr\u003eThe author of the ‘Five Arrows’ was one Jyotirisha. He\u003cbr\u003eis called the chief ornament of poets, the treasure of the\u003cbr\u003esixty-four arts, and the best teacher of the rules of music.\u003cbr\u003eHe says that he composed the work after reflecting on the\u003cbr\u003eaphorisms of love as revealed by the gods, and studying\u003cbr\u003ethe opinions of Gonikaputra, Muladeva, Babhravya,\u003cbr\u003eRamtideva, Nundikeshwara and Kshemandra. It is\u003cbr\u003eimpossible to say whether he had perused all the works of\u003cbr\u003ethese authors, or had only heard about them; anyhow,\u003cbr\u003enone of them appear to be in existence now. This work\u003cbr\u003econtains nearly six hundred verses, and is divided into\u003cbr\u003efive chapters, called Sayakas or Arrows.\u003cbr\u003eThe author of the ‘Light of Love’ was the poet\u003cbr\u003eGunakara, the son of Vechapati. The work contains four\u003cbr\u003ehundred verses, and gives only a short account of the\u003cbr\u003edoctrines of love, dealing more with other matters.\u003cbr\u003e‘The Garland of Love’ is the work of the famous poet\u003cbr\u003eJayadeva, who said about himself that he is a writer on all\u003cbr\u003esubjects. This treatise is, however, very short, containing\u003cbr\u003eonly one hundred and twenty-five verses ...","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083774214384,"sku":"2940014556255","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014556255_p0.jpg?v=1763610740","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014556255","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}