The Karma Sutra: A Process of Liberation

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Sutra ( सूत्र sūtra) signifies a thread, or discourse threaded on a series of aphorisms or concise rules. [7] By definition a sutra is a brief, aphoristic statement. [8] Sutra was a standard term for a technical text, thus also the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Ludo Rocher categorizes the Kama Sutra as a typical example of a work written in sutra style. [9] Content Kama ( काम kāma) is a Sanskrit word that has the general meanings of "wish," "desire," and "intention" in addition to the specific meanings of "pleasure" and "(sexual) love". [5] Used as a proper name it refers to Kama, the Hindu god of Love. The following definition of Kama is given in chapter two of the Kama Sutra, as translated by Richard Burton: Indian tradition includes following the "four main goals of life", [11] [12] known as the purusharthas: [13] 1) Dharma: Virtuous living 2) Artha: Material prosperity 3) Kama: Aesthetic and erotic pleasure. [14] [15] 4) Moksha: Liberation For definition of the term पुरुष-अर्थ ( puruṣa-artha) as "any of the four principal objects of human life, i.e. धर्म, अर्थ, काम, and मोक्ष" see: Apte, p. 626, middle column, compound #1.

The Kama Sutra is sometimes wrongly thought of as a manual for tantric sex. While sexual practices do exist within the very wide tradition of Hindu tantra, the Kama Sutra is not a tantric text, and does not touch upon any of the sexual rites associated with some forms of tantric practice. Daniélou, Alain. 1993. The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text. Inner Traditions. ISBN 0-89281-525-6 Flood, Gavin. 1996. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0The Mallanaga Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra has 36 chapters, organized into seven parts. [10] Both according to Burton and Wendy Doniger translations, the contents of the book are structured into seven parts like the following: Book I, Chapter ii, Lines 2-4 Vatsyayana Kamasutram Electronic Sanskrit edition: Titus Texts, University of Frankfurt bālye vidyāgrahaṇādīn artʰān, kāmaṃ ca yauvane, stʰāvire dʰarmaṃ mokṣaṃ ca Alain Daniélou contributed a translation called The Complete Kama Sutra in 1994. This translation featured the original text attributed to Vatsayana, along with a medieval and modern commentary. For Nandi reporting the utterance see: Alain Daniélou, The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text (Inner Traditions: 1993, ISBN 0-89281-525-6), 3.

Dharma is better than Artha, and Artha is better than Kama. But Artha should always be first practised by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only. Again, Kama being the occupation of public women, they should prefer it to the other two, and these are exceptions to the general rule." (Kama Sutra 1.2.14) [16] For the Dharma Śāstras as discussing the "four main goals of life" (dharma, artha, kāma, and moksha) see: Hopkins, p. 78. For definition of sutra as a brief, aphoristic statement see: Ludo Rocher, "The Dharmaśāstras," in Flood, 2003, p. 104.Sudhir Kakar and Wendy Doniger. 2003. Kamasutra (Oxford World's Classics). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283982-9