Kama Sutra

For A New Time

By: Shahnee Zaver

law, business, commerce or any of and satisfaction with exotic sexual

F ebruary is the month of love, so

why not celebrate by picking up the
the other sciences.
Ancient India embraced such
positions and beautifully drawn
painted pictures. In fact the true
intention of Vatsyana’s work is
teachings because it was believed
universal classic text on love apho- to blend the physical, emotional
that relationships were the core of and spiritual aspects of love to
risms - The Kama Sutra. Embark on human culture. Indians historically
this journey into the past with your strengthen, expand and spice up
have embraced sexuality and sexual one’s relationship and to create a
loved one and apply it to your pres- loving as integral and essential powerful and lasting union.
ent relationship or simply read it for aspects of human relationships,
your own pleasure and enjoyment. honoring the mysteries of love In contemporary society we tend
Revel in it, play with it, and learn and teaching the skills of loving. to live within a climate that more
from it! Ancient Hindu culture considered often than not, separates learning
This 2000-year-old document physical love to be a natural element about sex and love. This presents a
originated during the 4th Century of spirituality. They maintained the limiting view and mixed messages
C.E. but it is said to have existed in belief that passion and loving in this on coupling. The very concept of
oral form for centuries before that. life would lead one down the path of being intimate with someone we
Translated from Sanskrit it literally eternal bliss in the next. This credo love is often contradicted and given
means “Treatise on Pleasure”. is also reected in much of the art passing attention. What the Kama
Kama is the Hindu God of Love from this period of time. The goal Sutra maintains is there is an art in
and Kama also means desire. Sutra of the Kama Sutra’s teaching which courting, wooing, communicating
makes reference to the manual or can be applied to one’s relationship and respecting. Experiencing this
guide. Mallanaga Vatsyayana, the today is to strive to keep two people kind of pleasure is inherent to
Indian scholar who wrote it many connected and to dedicate yourself to us but can easily be sidestepped
centuries ago meant for it to be a your relationship as you would your and dismissed. According to this
philosophical work on the science hobbies, your professional pursuits or classical text man had three main
of love, exploring human desire, as raising your children. goals in life – Dharma (duty and
well as a classic guide to lovemaking responsibility), Arta (obtaining
that reected the social and sexual The teachings of the Kama Sutra power through wealth and politics)
traditions of the time. During this have transcended throughout time and Kama (pleasure). As Deepak
period, education in the ways of yet what tends to peak our curiosity Chopra states in his interpretation of
sexual loving was mandatory for when we hear its name today is the Kama Sutra, “Most books on the
scholars and as important as learning what Westerners know and associate Kama Sutra are very good, but most
with it - a guide to sexual fantasy of them are about sexual positions.
www.CityMasala.com 10 FEBRUARY 2010 Continued on Page 12

CityMasalaFeb2010.indd 10 1/25/2010 12:38:45 AM

 The Kama Sutra is much more than that. It’s a political part of our culture.
commentary, social interactions. More than eroticism.
It’s about the spiritual component of human relations” If we took cues from the Kama Sutra’s teachings
and in the context of his own work, it’s about “exploring and devoted more time on getting back to ourselves
consciousness.” The advice he would give to fellow and focusing on one another, we would undoubtedly
Indians is this “Take it easy. Don’t be self-conscious. experience more fullling and more satisfying
Be natural, without any guilt or repression or moral relationships. Sustaining a healthy, loving and passionate
compunctions. It is difcult to inuence people who are relationship is about striking a balance – nding a
indoctrinated by religion, parents etc. “ He goes on to say common ground between your needs and the needs of
that “Sexuality represents our total value system. That your partner. In fact one could even say the Kama Sutra
is what the ancient texts meant.” It is this insight into is about the art of living.
human relationships that have made it such an important

Kama Sutra Tidbits and Facts:

During the time he wrote the wrong, but doing it badly was
Kama Sutra Vatsyayana lived in sinful.
the North Indian city of Benares,
now called Varanasi, in Uttar After Burton published the Kama
Pradesh. Sutra the prudish British Raj
banned the book in India.
It was rst translated into
English by the 19th Century According to the book a man
British explorer Sir Richard F. becomes irresistible to women if
Burton in 1876. Born in 1821 he ties the bone of a peacock or
the adventurer, who spoke 25 hyena that has been covered in
languages, came across the Kama gold to his right hand.
Sutra in Bombay in 1842 and
became fascinated with Indian The Kama Sutra also gives tips
erotica on the best ways to arrange a
house. It suggests that people
In 1883 Burton risked prosecution will be happiest if they have a pot
and imprisonment under the for spitting in, a lute hanging from
Obscene Publications Act after an elephant’s tooth, a soft bed
publishing 250 copies of the Kama and pots of owers
Sutra privately in Britain. The book
did not become legal in Britain The book contains an early
until 1963. recipe for Viagra. It suggests that
sparrows’ eggs boiled in milk
The Kama Sutra contains a total of 64 sexual and then mixed with claried butter and honey will do
positions. Vatsyayana believed there were eight ways wonders for a man’s love life
of making love, multiplied by eight positions within
each of these. In the book, they are known as the 64 There are 10 methods of kissing in the Kama Sutra
Arts. (including) - the nominal kiss, the probing kiss, the
touching kiss, the straight kiss, the bent kiss, the
Only about 20 per cent of the book is devoted to turned kiss, the pressed kiss and the greatly pressed
sexual positions. The remainder gives guidance on kiss - and four ways to administer the kiss. That gives
how to be a good citizen and insights into men and a total of 40 different ways to kiss a lover.
women in relationships, a bit like Men Are From Mars,
Women Are From Venus. In April 1998 former president Bill Clinton was handed
a copy of the Kama Sutra as he did a walk-about
The Kama Sutra describes making love as “divine with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien after the
union”. Vatsyayana believed that sex itself was not Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile.

www.CityMasala.com 12 FEBRUARY 2010

CityMasalaFeb2010.indd 12 1/25/2010 12:39:18 AM