Additional information
by Karene Howie (Introduction by), Kama Sutra Indian Art (Illustrator), Erotic Art Paintings of Sex Positions (Photographer)
The complete Kama Sutra by Mallanaga Vatsyayana (translated by Sir Richard Burton) with fully illustrated Kama Sutra Sex Positions and an introduction from evolutionary sexologist Karene Howie. Written in India (100AD 600AD), the Kama Sutra is ultimately about wisdom and our creative cultivation as a complete individual with healthy, intimate relationships with others. It covers the three aims of life, virtue (dharma), prosperity (artha), and love (kama). The Kama Sutra is a philosophical work that discusses sexuality and its cultivation openly and honestly. It is not significantly influenced by western Christian morals that dominate western attitudes on sex. The Kama Sutra sex positions are the most famous part of the book. This edition is beautifully illustrated with 25 full page pictures of all the Kama Sutra Sex positions (useful, sexually explicit, captivating and erotic). Kama is further defined as; "... the enjoyment of appropriate objects by the five senses of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling, assisted by the mind together with the soul. The ingredient in this is a peculiar contact between the organ of sense and its object, and the consciousness of pleasure which arises from that contact is called Kama. ... Kama is to be learnt from the Kama Sutra (aphorisms on love) and from the practice of citizens." (Kamasutra, 1883) The 64 Arts of Kama Sutra are skills that should be cultivated by both men and women to create a beautiful environment. Some arts include singing, playing on musical instruments, dancing, writing, drawing, culinary art, practice with sword, bow and arrow, drawing inferences and reasoning, architecture, art of applying perfumed ointments, dressing hair etc. This is a beautiful book - beautifully illustrated - rich in detail - a must read for any person serious about their sexuality and its creative cultivation to enhance their sexual relationships.
Author Biography
Mallanaga Vatsyayana was a Hindu philosopher who lived in India sometime between the 4th to 6th centuries AD. He is believed to have written the Kama Sutra based upon the ancient Indian text 'Kama Shastra' (one of three ancient Indian texts concerning the aims of life). Kama Shastra should be understood within the context of the Artha Shastra and the Dharma Shastra (which were written in Sanskrit, 7th century BC, composed on the basis of the Vedas).
