Kama Sutra: A Guide to the Art of Pleasure

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C. Upadhyaya published his translation as the Kamasutra of Vatsyayana: Complete Translation from the Original. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, [6] the Kama Sutra is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions, [3] but rather was written as a guide to the art of living well, the nature of love, finding a life partner, maintaining one's love life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life. Through its discussion on erotic love, the book manages to highlight the social customs and individual habits of ancient India. Doniger's presentation style titillates, yet some details misinform and parts of her interpretations are dubious, states Sil. The Kamasutra has been one of the unique sources of sociological information and cultural milieu of ancient India.

He creatively found a way to subvert the then prevalent censorship laws of Britain under the Obscene Publications Act of 1857. For example, it suggests that a young man seeking to attract a woman, should hold a party, and invite the guests to recite poetry.

In the Western media, such as in the American women's magazine Redbook, the Kamasutra is described as "Although it was written centuries ago, there's still no better sex handbook, which details hundreds of positions, each offering a subtle variation in pleasure to men and women. The Burton edition of the Kamasutra was illegal to publish in England and the United States till 1962.

a b According to Jyoti Puri, the Burton version of Kamasutra "appears to have borrowed material concerning the functioning of the harem in Damascus (Syria)" as he edited the text for his colonial era British audience in the late 19th-century. The male-female union is portrayed in all its splendor through the use of Indian miniatures and Khajuraho sculptures. It is more difficult to manage a good, happy relationship when there are basic differences between the two, according to verse 3. It was composed in Sanskrit, the literary language of ancient India, sometime in the third century CE.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. However, Burton's Kamasutra gave a unique, specific meaning to these words in the western imagination. It discusses, in its distilled form, the physiology, the emotions and the experience while citing and quoting prior Sanskrit scholarship on the nature of kama. T. Chatterjee (2003), Knowledge and Freedom in Indian Philosophy, ISBN 978-0-7391-0692-1, pp 89–102; Quote - "Moksa means freedom"; "Moksa is founded on atmajnana, which is the knowledge of the self.

These Hindu scriptures are variously dated between 900 BCE and 700 BCE, according to the Indologist and Sanskrit scholar Patrick Olivelle.Kama – signifies desire, wish, passion, emotions, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations. The text acknowledges the Hindu concept of Purusharthas, and lists desire, sexuality, and emotional fulfillment as one of the proper goals of life. It has led to a misunderstanding of the text and created the wrong impression of it being ancient "Hindu pornography". Book 1), 28-73 (Book 2), 74–93 (Book 3), 94–103 (Book 4), 104–129 (Book 5), 131-159 (Book 6), 161-172 (Book 7). Artha incorporates wealth, career, activity to make a living, financial security and economic prosperity.