The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding RemarksVatsyayana
Philosophy
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks
Vatsyayana
Love; Sex
[Footnote 7: Dandakya is said to have abducted from the forest the
daughter of a Brahman, named Bhargava, and being cursed by the Brahman,
was buried with his kingdom under a shower of dust. The place was called
after his name the Dandaka forest, celebrated in the Ramayana, but now
unknown.]
[Footnote 8: Ahalya was the wife of the sage Gautama. Indra caused her
to believe that he was Gautama, and thus enjoyed her. He was cursed by
Gautama and subsequently afflicted with a thousand ulcers on his body.]
[Footnote 9: Kichaka was the brother-in-law of King Virata, with whom
the Pandavas had taken refuge for one year. Kichaka was killed by Bhima,
who assumed the disguise of Draupadi. For this story the Mahabarata
should be referred to.]
[Footnote 10: The story of Ravana is told in the Ramayana, which with the
Mahabarata form the two great epic poems of the Hindoos; the latter was
written by Vyasa, and the former by Valmiki.]
CHAPTER III.
ON THE ARTS AND SCIENCES TO BE STUDIED.
Man should study the Kama Sutra and the arts and sciences subordinate
thereto, in addition to the study of the arts and sciences contained in
Dharma and Artha. Even young maids should study this Kama Sutra along
with its arts and sciences before marriage, and after it they should
continue to do so with the consent of their husbands.
Here some learned men object, and say that females, not being allowed to
study any science, should not study the Kama Sutra.
But Vatsyayana is of opinion that this objection does not hold good, for
women already know the practice of Kama Sutra, and that practice is
derived from the Kama Shastra, or the science of Kama itself. Moreover,
it is not only in this but in many other cases that though the practice
of a science is known to all, only a few persons are acquainted with the
rules and laws on which the science is based. Thus the Yadnikas or
sacrificers, though ignorant of grammar, make use of appropriate words
when addressing the different Deities, and do not know how these words
are framed. Again, persons do the duties required of them on auspicious
days, which are fixed by astrology, though they are not acquainted with
the science of astrology. In a like manner riders of horses and
elephants train these animals without knowing the science of training
animals, but from practice only. And similarly the people of the most
distant provinces obey the laws of the kingdom from practice, and
because there is a king over them, and without further reason.[11] And
from experience we find that some women, such as daughters of princes
and their ministers, and public women, are actually versed in the Kama
Shastra.
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