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The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana

Sir Richard Burton, translator

(1883)
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The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian text which is considered the primary Sanskrit work on human sexuality. It was written by Mallanaga Vatsyayana in the 2nd century CE. Although Burton published this, the most widely known English translation, he was not the author of the translation, although he did provide footnotes and the introduction. The bulk of the translation was performed by an Indian archaeologist, Bhagvanlal Indraji and civil servant Foster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, with the assistance of a student, Shivaram Pashuram Bhide. This is one of the first systematic studies of human sexual behavior in world literature. It also documents the sociology of sex in India eighteen centuries ago.

Title Page
Preface
Introduction

Part I: Introductory

Chapter I. Preface
Chapter II. Observations on the Three Worldly Attainments of Virtue, Wealth, and Love
Chapter III. On the Study of the Sixty-Four Arts
Chapter IV. On the Arrangements of a House, and Household Furniture; and About the Daily Life of a Citizen, His Companions, Amusements, Etc.
Chapter V. About Classes of Women Fit and Unfit for Congress with the Citizen, and of Friends, and Messengers

Part II: On Sexual Union

Chapter I. Kinds of Union According to Dimensions, Force of Desire, and Time; and on the Different Kinds of Love
Chapter II. Of the Embrace
Chapter III. On Kissing
Chapter IV. On Pressing or Marking with the Nails
Chapter V. On Biting, and the Ways of Love to be Employed with Regard to Women of Different Countries
Chapter VI. On the Various Ways of Lying Down, and the Different Kinds of Congress
Chapter VII. On the Various Ways of Striking, and of The Sounds Appropriate to Them
Chapter VIII. About Females Acting the Part of Males
Chapter IX. On Holding the Lingam in the Mouth
Chapter X. How to Begin and How to End the Congress. Different Kinds of Congress, and Love Quarrels

Part III: About the Acquisition of a Wife

Chapter I. Observations on Betrothal and Marriage
Chaper II. About Creating Confidence In the Girl
Chapter III. Courtship, and the Manifestation of the Feelings by Outward Signs and Deeds
Chapter IV. On Things to be Done Only by the Man, and the Acquisition of the Girl Thereby. Also What is to be Done by a Girl to Gain Over a Man and Subject Him to Her
Chapter V. On the Different Forms of Marriage

Part IV: About a Wife

Chapter I. On the Manner of Living of a Virtuous Woman, and of Her Behaviour During the Absence of Her Husband
Chapter II. On the Conduct of the Eldest Wife Towards the Other Wives of her Husband, and of the Younger Wife Towards the Elder Ones...

Part V: About the Wives of Other People

Chapter I. On the Characteristics of Men And Women...
Chapter II. About Making Acquaintance with the Woman, and of the Efforts to Gain Her Over
Chapter III. Examination of the State of a Woman's Mind
Chapter IV. The Business of a Go-Between
Chapter V. On the Love of Persons in Authority with the Wives of Other People
Chapter VI. About the Women of the Royal Harem, and of the Keeping of One's Own Wife

Part VI: About Courtesans

Introductory Remarks
Chapter I. Of the Causes of a Courtesan Resorting to Men...
Chapter II. Of a Courtesan Living With a Man as His Wife
Chapter III. Of the Means of getting Money...
Chapter IV. About a Reunion with a Former Lover
Chapter V. Of Different Kinds of Gain
Chapter VI. Of Gains and Losses, Attendant Gains and Losses, and Doubts; and Lastly, the Different Kinds of Courtesans

Part VII: On The Means of Attracting Others to One's Self

Chapter I. On Personal Adornment, Subjugating the Hearts of Others, and of Tonic Medicines
Chapter II. Of The Means of Exciting Desire, and of the Ways of Enlarging the Lingam. Miscellaneous Experiments and Receipts
Concluding Remarks