KAMA SUTRA

In the literature of all countries there will be found a certain number of works

treating especially of love. Everywhere the subject is dealt with differently, and

from various points of view. In the present publication it is proposed to give a

complete translation of what is considered the standard work on love in Sanscrit

literature, and which is called the `Vatsyayana Kama Sutra', or Aphorisms on

Love, by Vatsyayana. While the introduction will deal with the evidence

concerning the date of the writing, and the commentaries written upon it, the

chapters following the introduction will give a translation of the work itself. It is,

however, advisable to furnish here a brief analysis of works of the same nature,

prepared by authors who lived and wrote years after Vatsyayana had passed

away, but who still considered him as the great authority, and always quoted

him as the chief guide to Hindoo erotic literature.

 The work contains nearly eight hundred verses, and is divided into ten

chapters, which are called Pachivedas. Some of the things treated of in this

work are not to be found in the Vatsyayana, such as the four classes of women,

the Padmini, Chitrini, Shankini and Hastini, as also the enumeration of the days

and hours on which the women of the different classes become subject to love,

The author adds that he wrote these things from the opinions of Gonikaputra

and Nandikeshwara, both of whom are mentioned by Vatsyayana, but their

works are not now extant. It is difficult to give any approximate idea as to the

year in which the work was composed. It is only to be presumed that it was

written after that of Vatsyayana, and previous to the other works on this

subject that are still extant. Vatsyayana gives the names of ten authors on the

subject, all of whose works he had consulted, but none of which are extant, and

does not mention this one. This would tend to show that Kukkoka wrote after

Vatsya, otherwise Vatsya would assuredly have mentioned him as an author in

this branch of literature along with the others.