The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Mallanaga Vātsyāyana

This work is not to be used merely as an instrument for satisfying our desires. 'After reading and considering the works of Babhravya and other ancient authors, and thinking over the meaning of the rules given by them, this treatise was composed, according to the precepts of the Holy Writ, for the benefit of the world, by Vatsyayana, while leading the life of a religious student at Benares, and wholly engaged in the contemplation of the Deity. His interest in human sexual behavior as a medium of attaining spirituality was recorded in his treatise Kama Sutra.Īt the close of the Kama Sutra this is what he writes about himself: Later as the worship spread to the east Garo hills,the goddess manifest of a 'yoni' goddess Kamakhya was created. He is said to have created the legend of Tara among the hill tribes as a tantric goddess. Hardly anything is known about him, although it is believed that his disciples went on his instructions, on the request of the Hindu Kings in the Himalayan range to influence the hill tribals to give up the pagan cult of sacrifices. His name appears as the author of the Kama Sutra and of Nyāya Sutra Bhāshya, the first commentary on Gotama's Nyāya Sutras. Whereas the Kama Sutra tackles kama (or sensual pleasures), the Nyaya Sutra delineates paths for achieving moksha, or spiritual liberation from the cycle of birth and death.Vātsyāyana is the name of a Hindu philosopher in the Vedic tradition who is believed to have lived around 3rd century CE in India. Besides transcribing the Kama Sutra more than 300 years after the Shastras had already been passed down, he also transcribed the Nyaya Sutras, an ancient Indian text of philosophy that was composed by the buddha Gotama in the 2nd century B.C. Indeed, Vatsyayana was less of a groundbreaking philosopher and apparently more of a diligent academician.

Scholars believe that the tone Vatsyayana takes towards youth in the Kama Sutra suggests that he likely spent many years studying religion before beginning his life's work compiling the wisdom of the sages. The Kama Sutra does reveal that Vatsyayana lived the life of a religious student, likely in Benares, and spent his time engaged in the contemplation of the highest Deity.

(the Gupta Period in Indian civilization) - a very wide berth of time - but recently evidence has arisen that indicates that Vatsyayana wrote the Kama Sutra around 150 B.C. For years, scholars believed that he lived sometime between the 6th century B.C. Unfortunately, very little is known about the sage Mallanaga Vatsyayana, who compiled the notes that make up the Kama Sutra.

The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Mallanaga Vātsyāyana