Many Kamasutras: A Guide to Postures and Methods for Compatibility in Sexual Union

Works Cited

Executive Summary

‘Many Kamasutras’ condenses the wealth of experience and expertise of Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra and eleven other kamasastras, written in India between the third and the sixteenth centuries, into a simple, essential guide book.

It elaborates on the principles and philosophy that underlie the famous sexual postures and, in doing so, offers nothing less than the definitive methods for finding compatibility in sexual union and for pleasuring your woman.

If you want to learn how sexual satisfaction works, this is the book for you.

Core Areas of the Kamasastras

This book focuses on what might be called the ‘core’ areas of the Kamasutra, and the Indian kamasastric tradition, as it has developed since the Kamasutra, particularly the following:

● Sexual union including coital postures, sexual acts and methods, etc.,

● Compatibility and properly matched sexual relations,

● Classification of men and women to determine ‘equal coupling’, and

● Sex and knowledge of the female body.

New Areas

This book concentrates on the following ‘new’ areas of the Indian kamasastric tradition not adequately covered so far:

● How woman comes first in the Kamasutra and the kamasastras

● Pleasuring the woman, bodily pleasures and cunnilingus

● Postures and methods suitable for equal coupling

● New sex acts and practices in the later kamasastras

What this Book will do for you

Eleven kamasastra treatises have been compared with the Kamasutra in the core areas.

In a new interpretation of the Kamasutra and the later kamasastra works, this book contends that sexual compatibility between lovers was the dominant factor in the Kamasutra, and it became even more important in the later kamasastras.

To determine compatibility, the Kamasutra and the later kamasastras classified men and particularly women with increasing precision, and tried to match them.

If the lovers did not match, Kamasutra and kamasastras prescribed sexual positions and other methods (like special braces, kissing and oral sex) to achieve ‘equal coupling’ and simultaneous orgasm.

This book describes these methods and connects them to classification.

And, most important, this book tries to show how this knowledge can help you pleasure your lover.

Sexual Compatibility and Equal Coupling

The very minute divisions of coital positions, kissing, embraces, etc., which Vatsyayana and his successors prescribed, may appear to be too hair-splitting. However, they stand on a very sound footing when you look at them as methods for attaining orgasm for the sexually unequal couple, as Vatsyayana and his successors did.

Kamasutra and the later kamasastra texts gave a lot of importance to ‘equal union’. Compatibility and properly matched sexual relationship between a man and a woman were major concerns.

The first tool for achieving compatibility was the classification of men and women. Men and women needed to evaluate their own abilities and limits -- and their partner’s -- to achieve ‘equal union’. They needed to match each another in terms of genital size, level of passion, or duration.

The second tool to achieve properly matched sexual relationship included the famous sexual positions. Specific positions helped overcome specific instances of mismatch.

The third major tool included sexual methods like foreplay, special embraces, kisses, etc., and particularly cunnilingus.

These acts helped women from different typologies reach orgasm and sexual satisfaction, even if the couple was not properly matched.

Texts

This book includes modern translation of the core parts of the Kamasutra of Vatsyayana. It also includes modern translation of the core parts of three major kamasastras, Ratirahasya of Kokkoka, Anangaranga of Kalyanamalla, and Ratimanjari of Jayadev.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my daughter, S., for her invaluable advice on the first draft, my son, S., for his encouragement, and my wife A., without whose help, this book would not have been possible. To them, this book is dedicated.

INTRODUCTION

1. Outline of Kamasutra and Kamasastras

1.1 Overview

In the Indian mythology, sexual union for pleasure was ‘invented’ by god Siva. For procreation, the credit goes to Daksa, Siva’s father-in-law (till then, procreation was through a mental process).

God Siva, through his companion Nandi, composed the original Kamasutra in 1000 chapters.

It was edited and condensed by Svetaketu and then Babhravya to 150 chapters, and later, completely rewritten by Vatsyayana, or for him, in or around, the third century A.D.

Kamasutra does not refer to sex for procreation at all.

While the Kamasutra has received pre-eminent status in the history of the kamasastras, the susequent treatises, particularly Ratirahasya and Anangaranga, once constituted the standard configuration of knowledge on kama.

Indeed, the first text encountered, translated, and published in English by Burton and Arbuthnot in the 1880s, under the title Kamasastra, was not the Kamasutra, but the sixteenth-century treatise, the Anangaranga by Kalyanamalla.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Ratirahasya, Anangaranga appear to have been circulated very widely and held great influence.

Some of these later texts were also translated into various Indian languages. Often associated with the name ‘Koka’, they appeared in popular print editions and pamphlets in the early twentieth century.

The authorship of Kokkoka or ‘Koka’ was so popular that the term ‘Kokasastra’ came to denote the genre of kamasastra itself.

Treatises like the Ratirahasya seem to have exerted considerable influence throughout the second millennium both within and beyond the kamasastra tradition.

Literary commentaries routinely cite these texts rather than the Kamasutra when referring to technical aspects in kamasastra.

The major and minor treatises in the kamasastra tradition include (chronologically):

Early Medieval Kamasastras

1. Nagarasarvasva of Padmasri – 900 - 1000 AD

2. Ratirahasya of Kokkoka – 1100 - 1200 AD

Medieval Kamasastras

3. Jayamangala of Yasodhara – after 1200 AD

4. Pancasayaka of Jyotirisvara – 1200 – 1300 AD

5. Samaradipika of Minanatha – 1300 – 1400 AD

Later Medieval Kamasastras

6. Ratimanjari of Jayadeva – 1400 – 1500 AD

7. Ratiratnapradipika of Praudha Devaraja Maharaja – 1422 - 1446 AD

8. Anangaranga of Kalyanamalla – 1500 - 1600 AD

9. Kandarapa Cudamani of Virabhadra – 1577 AD

Major Satellite Works

10. Kuttanimata (KM) of Damodaragupta – 875 – 925 AD

11. Kama Samuha (KS) of Sri Ananta Kavi– 1400 – 1500 AD

There are some kamasastra texts with uncertain chronology, authorship and provenance. These include Babhravya Karika, Sringararasaprabandhadipika, Kamatantrakavya, Virasimhacarita, Ratikallolini, and Kelikutuhalam, among others.

There are references to numerous other Kamasastra texts, many of which may have been lost.

There are plenty of ‘street’ kamasastra texts -- vulgar or even puritanical renditions of an earlier classical tradition -- which pundits in Varanasi, for example, will produce from sealed folders – or even write for you – for adequate compensation.

1.2 Kamasutra

Vatsyayana divided Kamasutra in seven books (or parts), each further subdivided in sections (or chapters) and topics.

The whole text is composed in the style of sutra (aphorism) and bhasya (commentary). According to Vatsyayana’s own calculation, the seven books have 36 chapters and 64 topics dealt in 1250 aphorisms (these numbers may not be accurate).

Kamasutra is predominantly in prose with occasional verse citations. Subsequent kamasastras are written in verse. Vatsyayana followed the pattern of the contemporary works (like Arthasastra and Natyasastra).

Verses were introduced to sum up or supplement the discussion in prose portion.

Kamasutra is sastra (lit., a scientific work) in the Indian tradition. It serves two-fold purpose -- narration and regulation.

It presents analytical and descriptive account of the practices, models and standards related to sex; it establishes norms and evolves a set of rules and regulations; and it is descriptive as well as prescriptive.

Vatsyayana adopts the following methodology:

1. Study of current and past practices, norms and orders

2. Diverse views of experts on the problem, including views of imagined opponents

3. Vatsyayana’s views and rebuttal of opponent’s arguments

4. Conclusions

Kamasutra’s Seven Limbs/Parts/Books

Yasodhara says Kamasutra has two parts: technique and means. Technique deals with the methodology of love and sex. Means unite the lovers: marriage, messengers, social relationships, etc.

Out of Kamasutra’s seven parts, only one deals with technique (book 2), and four parts deal with means (books 3-7). Book 1 deals with general topics and the book 7 covers the topics which could not be dealt under technique or means. (JM on 1.1.23)

Book 1: General Topics

The first book forms an introduction to the Sastra.

After presenting a synopsis of the whole treatise Vatsyayana goes to discuss the three ends of life. He defines kama, and refutes all the objections raised by the opponents against the study of the science of love.

He discusses the importance of learning the sixty-four arts, lists them, and advises even the women to study them.

His description of Nagaraka -- cosmopolitan gentleman, for whom his book is actually written -- indicates the social conditions of that time.

Book 2: Sexual Union

The first section of the lengthiest part of Kamasutra deals with the kinds of sexual union and types of the males and the females.

Vatsyayana divides males and females on the basis of the length and the depth of their organ. He discusses various types of sexual union on the basis of dimension, passion and time.

The second section discusses the embrace.

The third section depicts the kiss on lips, on eyes, on cheeks, on forehead, on throat, on bosom, on breasts, on thighs and interior of the mouth.

In the fourth section we see the description of many types of nail-scratches on throat, on breasts, on hips, on thighs etc.

The fifth section deals with the act of biting.

The sixth section narrates various types of coition.

The seventh section explains various modes of striking and moaning. Squeezing the limbs and striking the body are described here in detail. Eight types of moaning as well as other words uttered due to tenderness are stated.

The eighth section depicts the importance and necessity of reverse posture. The part further narrates the signs of satisfaction of a woman in love-sport.

Mouth congress or fellatio, though it is prohibited by Hindu religion, is discussed by Vatsyayana in the ninth section in detail with the category of people who will do it.

The tenth and the last section discusses how to begin and how to end the sex-sport. Vatsyayana does not go into it in detail since he discusses it in later part. This part also deals with love-quarrels.

Book 3: Acquiring a Wife

This part deals with the qualities and the behavior of a girl.

The first section gives many characteristics of a girl who is fit for marriage. Vatsyayana believes in love at first sight. Kamasutra lauds the marriage which takes place between equals.

In the second section, Vatsyayana says women are like flowers; hence they should be handled with maximum care. Otherwise they will start hating men and discard sex-sport.

Vatsyayana instructs the bridegroom about his duties and what should be done after the marriage ceremony.

Vatsyayana also gives suggestions to a virgin about her behavior. He says that a virgin should not exhibit her love; she should express her bashfulness, fear etc., to her lover at the first meet. She should obstruct her lover’s activity. She should object it and prohibit it in a dignified style.

The third section talks about the gestures of a girl who wants to express her love to her lover. Vatsyayana suggests various ways to show their love.

The fourth section contains how a man can attract and enjoy his beloved who is expressing her love too. Vatsyayana remarks that a girl should be inactive in the first meeting, and she should not allow her lover any liberties unless she has full confidence in him.

The fifth and the last section gives forms of marriage. Though the Kamasutra describes many types of marriage, it praises the Gandharva type of marriage, as it is easy and as it increases the love between the male and female.

Book 4: Duties and Privileges of the Wife

This part covers topics like why wife must love none but her husband, living in his place of residence, respect for the chief wife; behavior toward younger wives, accepting the arrival of a new wife, the husband’s behavior toward many wives.

Book 5: Relations with Other Men’s Wives

The first section deals with ten stages of love for those who are love-sick for other’s wives. It also gives a list of women who can easily be won by a man.

The second section of this part discusses how to create acquaintance with other’s wife.

The next section discusses how to know the mind of a woman. The behavior of lady in love is shown in the section.

Importance of female messengers is shown in the fourth section. Vatsyayana says that no lover succeeds in his love-affairs without a go-between.

Hence most of the heroes and heroines have taken the help of the dutis to fulfill their desire. Vatsyayana has narrated the duties of a duti in detail.

In the last two sections, the author has given social customs of his days, which throw light on the social conditions.

He has mentioned the lust of the rulers and behavior of amorous women of royal harem.

He has warned the king to control his mind, because he is constantly watched and observed and imitated by the people.

Further he admonishes a nagaraka not to enter royal harem because it is full of danger.

Book 6: About Courtesans

The first section narrates the behavior of a general courtesan and discusses who she should make friendship with.

The second section gives a graphic picture of a harlot who lives like a wife. It tells a courtesan how to show her love as real love.

The last four sections explain in detail the different means of gaining money from a lover; different ways to get rid of the poor lover; different plans for re-union with former lover and different types of courtesans.

Book 7: The Esoteric

The last book contains tips for attracting ladies and use of aphrodisiacs.

The prescriptions given in this book have been derived from Ayurveda and Tantra and many of them are yet to be confirmed by a scientific inquiry.

1.3 Later Kamasastra Works

Later kamasastras rarely replicate the thematic structure of the Kamasutra.

The great majority of later treatises like the Ratirahasya, Pancasayaka, and Samaradipika dispense with Vatsyayana’s section on general topics altogether, beginning instead with the enumeration of male and female types, the foundation of the book on ‘sex’ in the Kamasutra.

Only the Nagarasarvasva contains a series of chapters on topics broadly related to themes covered in the opening book of the Kamasutra on the lifestyle of the nagaraka.

Nagarasarvasva of Padmasri

Composed entirely in verse, sometime between 900 and 1000 A.D. by an apparently Nepalese Buddhist author, Padmasri, it bears a greater similarity in outlook to the Kamasutra than any later kamasastra.

In the last chapter Padmasri says that Nagarasarvasva was written by him at the behest of Vasudeva, a renowned pundit of his times. He begins the text with laudatory verse for Aryamanjusri, offerings of worship for the goddess Tara, both Buddhist deities.

Its 38 chapters incorporated highly innovative thinking.

The chapters 1 and 2 cover the three aims of life and the nagaraka and his home

Padmasri discusses gemology and cosmetics in chapters 3 and 4.

The chapters 5 to 11 chapters discuss costumes and behavior of the lovers. Of these, sanketa (lover’s code language) is most significant. It has not been treated by any other kamasastra.

The topics taken up in subsequent chapters include: aphrodisiacs (12), classification of women (13), classification of men and women (14), means for attaining another man’s wife and for protecting one’s own (15), typology of women by age and the means of conquering them (16), sites of pleasure on a woman’s body and their order (17), nadis (18-19), women of different regions (20), sexual union (21-36), the conduct of women (37); and procreation (38).

Ratirahasya of Kokkoka

Ratirahasya, alternatively referred to as the Kokasastra, was composed by Kokkoka between 1100 and 1200 A.D. Kokkoka is one of the most celebrated authors after Vatsyayana. Ratirahasya remains one of the most popular works.

Kokkoka has introduced new themes and made innovations. The treatment of erogenous zones and congenial days for sexual union are