The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Rema.

Long mistaken for mere erotica, this ancient Indian treatise is in truth a philosophy of pleasure, courtship, and civilized life. Its Victorian translation scandalized and fascinated the West in equal measure.

What it's about

Attributed to the sage Vatsyayana and composed in Sanskrit in the early centuries of the common era, the Kama Sutra is arranged in seven parts, of which the celebrated chapters on physical intimacy form only a portion. The work also treats the pursuit of the three aims of life, the conduct of courtship and marriage, the arts a cultivated person should master, the ways of wives and lovers, and the social world of the courtesan. This edition presents the noted English translation prepared under Richard Burton's auspices, with its preface and introduction setting the text in context.

Themes

At its core the book treats desire, or kama, as one of the legitimate ends of a well-lived life, to be cultivated with knowledge, refinement, and mutual regard rather than mere appetite. It offers a vivid picture of the manners, aesthetics, and social codes of classical India, and takes an unusually frank and considered view of pleasure and relationship.

Why it still matters

Few ancient texts are so famous and so misunderstood. As a window onto classical Indian civilization and its sophisticated thinking about love and living, the Kama Sutra is a genuine cultural landmark, and the Burton translation is itself a milestone in the West's encounter with Eastern literature. It rewards reading beyond its reputation.

Who it's for

For readers curious about the classics of world literature, about Indian history and philosophy, and about how earlier cultures thought seriously about desire and the art of living. Approached with an open mind, it surprises.