The place of its composition is also unclear. The likely candidates are urban centers of north India, alternatively in the eastern urban Pataliputra (now Patna). [19] Doniger notes Kama Sutra was composed "sometime in the third century of the common era, most likely in its second half, at the dawn of the Gupta Empire". [20] Each of these pursuits became a subject of study and led to prolific Sanskrit and some Prakrit languages literature in ancient India. Along with Dharmasastras, Arthasastras and Mokshasastras, the Kamasastras genre have been preserved in palm leaf manuscripts. The Kamasutra belongs to the Kamasastra genre of texts. Other examples of Hindu Sanskrit texts on sexuality and emotions include the Ratirahasya (called Kokashastra in some Indian scripts), the Anangaranga, the Nagarasarvasva, the Kandarpachudmani, and the Panchasayaka. [40] [41] [42] The defining object of the Indian Kamasastra literature, according to Laura Desmond – an anthropologist and a professor of Religious Studies, is the "harmonious sensory experience" from a good relationship between "the self and the world", by discovering and enhancing sensory capabilities to "affect and be affected by the world". [42] Vatsyayana predominantly discusses Kama along with its relationship with Dharma and Artha. He makes a passing mention of the fourth aim of life in some verses. [43] Vedic heritage b] Wendy Doniger (2018). Against Dharma: Dissent in the Ancient Indian Sciences of Sex and Politics. Yale University Press. pp.164–166. ISBN 978-0-300-21619-6. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022 . Retrieved 22 November 2018. Indira Kapoor, a director of the International Planned Parenthood Foundation, states that the Kamasutra is a treatise on human sexual behavior and an ancient attempt to seriously study sexuality among other things. According to Kapoor, quotes Jyoti Puri, the attitude of contemporary Indians is markedly different, with misconceptions and expressions of embarrassment, rather than curiosity and pride, when faced with texts such as Kamasutra and amorous and erotic arts found in Hindu temples. [113] Kamasutra, states Kapoor, must be viewed as a means to discover and improve the "self-confidence and understanding of their bodies and feelings". [113] Y. Krishan (1972). "The Erotic Sculptures of India". Artibus Asiae. 34 (4): 331–343. doi: 10.2307/3249625. JSTOR 3249625.

The text states that there are two sorts of "third nature", one where a man behaves like a woman, and in the other, a woman behaves like a man. In one of the longest consecutive sets of verses describing a sexual act, the Kamasutra describes fellatio technique between a man dressed like a woman performing fellatio on another man. [89] The text also mentions same-sex behavior between two women, such as a girl losing her virginity with a girlfriend as they use their fingers, [90] as well as oral sex and the use of sex toys between women. [91] Svairini, a term Danielou translates as a lesbian, [92] is described in the text as a woman who lives a conjugal life with another woman or by herself fending for herself, not interested in a husband. [93] Additionally, the text has some fleeting remarks on bisexual relationships. [90] Moksha – signifies emancipation, liberation or release. [37] In some schools of Hinduism, moksha connotes freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, in other schools moksha connotes freedom, self-knowledge, self-realization and liberation in this life. [38] [39] John Bowker, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-213965-8, pp. 650 Rocher, Ludo (1985). "The Kāmasūtra: Vātsyāyana's Attitude toward Dharma and Dharmaśāstra". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 105 (3): 521–523. doi: 10.2307/601526. JSTOR 601526.

Does the Kamasutra work?

Wendy Doniger; Sudhir Kakar (2002). Kamasutra. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283982-9. Other translations include those by Alain Daniélou ( The Complete Kama Sutra in 1994). [104] This translation, originally into French, and thence into English, featured the original text attributed to Vatsyayana, along with a medieval and a modern commentary. [105] Unlike the 1883 version, Daniélou's new translation preserves the numbered verse divisions of the original, and does not incorporate notes in the text. He includes English translations of two important commentaries, one by Jayamangala, and a more modern commentary by Devadatta Shastri, as endnotes. [105] Doniger questions the accuracy of Daniélou's translation, stating that he has freely reinterpreted the Kamasutra while disregarding the gender that is implicit in the Sanskrit words. He, at times, reverses the object and subject, making the woman the subject and man the object when the Kamasutra is explicitly stating the reverse. According to Doniger, "even this cryptic text [ Kamasutra] is not infinitely elastic" and such creative reinterpretations do not reflect the text. [106] b] Daud Ali (2011). "Padmaśrī's "Nāgarasarvasva" and the World of Medieval Kāmaśāstra". Journal of Indian Philosophy. 39 (1): 41–62. doi: 10.1007/s10781-010-9116-6. JSTOR 23884106. S2CID 170779101.

Burton "wanted to create a fantasy for his English-speaking audience by portraying people of the East as hypersexual and unchanging, without history," notes Mitra. But, she adds, "Unfortunately, people still use these reductive, racist ideas to think about Indian sexuality in the past and present." While considered in retrospect a wildly inaccurate and misleading translation, the sexual positions described in Burton’s version are what caught people’s attention. That’s one reason people still think of the Kama Sutra as only a book of exotic sex positions. How Does it Work? The text even says that a determined young man can use a female messenger if his chosen beloved ignores his advances and is not accessible to a male go-between. The text does caution, however, saying that whenever possible, the young man should make his own advances as his courageous display is more likely to win him favor. Earning a Wife Wendy Doniger (2003). "The "Kamasutra": It Isn't All about Sex". The Kenyon Review. New Series. 25 (1): 18–37. JSTOR 4338414. Part two goes straight into the sexual content that many people associate with the Kamasutra. There are details on 64 different types of sexual acts, everything from embracing and kissing to more aggressive acts like grabbing and slapping.Before going on to detail the many forms of touching and sexual congress, the text gives a list of women who should not be considered as suitable partners: these include female relatives, close female friends, lepers, women who smell bad, a mentally ill woman, women who are too fair or too dark-skinned, and the wives of kings, friends, relatives and aristocracy. Joseph, Manu (24 July 2015). "The Kama Sutra as a Work of Philosophy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 February 2023. The Early Upanishads. Oxford University Press. 1998. p.149, context: pp. 143–149. ISBN 0-19-512435-9. Love – or should we say lust? – is certainly in the air as we gear up to greet Valentine’s Day head-on. While jewellery, flowers, chocolates and dine-at-home dinners are in no short supply, there is something a little sexier hitting the stores, and we’ve found the best ones to buy. An understanding of women and what women want is key to having fruitful and enjoyable relations, the Kama Sutra tells our young man. But before any sex can be enjoyed by either gender, one must first meet a girl.