Kamasutra: India's sexual revolution
Sex is an extremely important topic to billions of humans around the world. We as humans and our society and institutions all regard sex as something different, and depending on what you listen to, the messages a person hears and internalizes about sex can be freeing or damaging. Religious institutions like to use sex as a punishment in most cases and as a limited reward for couples who are married. Governments want to ensure their people are having sex on some level so that they can have lots of babies and, therefore, lots of taxpayers. There are very few parts of society that regard sex as its own individual pleasurable act. But before there were sexologists, adult videos, and the Sexual Liberation movement, 1500 years ago, there was only the Kama Sutra.
What is the Kama Sutra, and where did it come from?
There is no subject in sex more provocative, tantalizing, and titillating as mentioning the Kama Sutra. This radical book is actually a collection of verses pieced together sometime during the 7th and 3rd centuries AD. Historians don't know exactly when the book or its verses were written, but they do know that it was likely written by a single person, as the grammar and prose style stays consistent throughout the entire book. Some say that it could have been written in the 2nd century. The Kama Sutra is written in the ancient and somewhat mystical language of Sanskrit, which was once spoken in the regions now called Nepal, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, and more areas around Southeast Asia.
As with its date of creation, historians also are not sure who wrote the Kama Sutra, but there is one major contender. It was likely the work of an ancient male philosopher named Vatsyayana Mallanaga. He was most likely born between the 1st century and the 6th century three, and it is also likely that he lived in the region around the Himalayas, and he was part of a pagan cult. He was definitely alive after a major incident involving a king. The king beat his wife to death while they were supposed to be having sex.
This situation is mentioned in the Kama Sutra, so Vātsyāyana must have lived during or after the reign of the king. Other than that, not much is known about his life, work, or his birth and final resting palace, but he does have a small book of meditations that he wrote before writing the Kama Sutra.
The words Kama and Sutra translate to Principles of Lust.
The Kama Sutra The book is not just about sexual pleasure and how to have wild and crazy sex with one or more people. It also teaches how to have relationships with other people. Sexuality is a form of power during the time the book was written, and so there are many passages on how men can get women to do what they want, how women can get men to do what they want, and how a woman who has a husband with multiple wives can become the head wife and get the other wives to do what she wants. In some parts, it is quite progressive. However, in other parts, the information is rooted in old-world gender myths and should not be followed. But it is a captivating historical text nonetheless.
So what is in the Kama Sutra?
The Kamasutra is not just a book of men and women in different sexual positions. It is a book designed to teach people how to handle love, relationships, and how to please their partner both in and out of the bedroom.
Kamasutra isn't just for heterosexual couples as well. There is an entire section dedicated to the relationships and sexuality of male/male relationships and female/female relationships. There is also a smaller section about polyamory and how both men and women should conduct themselves if they have multiple sexual partners.
The philosopher who wrote the Kamasutra was a single man, and all of his ideas were influenced by the culture from which he lived, along with his own meditations. His teachings and rules in the Kama Sutra were more lenient towards sacred sexual marital vows than many other religions and doctrines at that time. In the Kama Sutra, there's even a section on what to do and how to conduct yourself if you wish to have an extramarital affair.
But the book also says that no one should have an extramarital affair if they can prevent it. Each person's body still belongs to their marital partner. But if a person was going to have an extramarital affair, it does provide instructions on how to conduct yourself so as to not embarrass their extramarital partner, their own marital partner, and each person's family. It also tells men about which women they should not have affairs with because their personalities and manners are not discreet.
Since the Kamasutra was most likely written in India, does that mean Indian culture has an open view of sex?
No, not at all. Ancient and modern India both have strong views on sexuality and sex. Both cultures are considered conservative, especially by today's modern western standards. The rules of sex were and still are heavily guided by religion.
The book is still very much tailored towards men and how they can please their wives. But it also spoke about how people can gain power and use their sexuality and others to gain an advantage and favor. Consider the kama sutra to be the sexual equivalent of The Laws of Power.
Popular positions in the Kamasutra
The crazy sexual positions in the Kama Sutra are the main reason why this book is so popular. There are dozens of sexual positions in the Kamasutra book, and as we have said before, these positions are for heterosexual couples, gay couples, and lesbian couples. And there are even sexual positions for threesomes for two men and one woman and one man and two women. The great philosopher who wrote this book didn't leave anyone out! Maybe he just wanted everyone to have a variety of healthy and satisfying sexual encounters.
So what are the most popular sexual positions in the book? Here is a list of the top 10!
- The Closed Box or the Uttana Samputa - the woman lays down, and the man places himself between her legs. She then wraps her lower legs around the man's lower legs. When the man penetrates her and begins to thrust, he is to stay on his knees.
- The Tripadam - wall sex is so much better with the right position. The woman is placed against the wall. He then wraps her right leg around her lover. The knee must be above his buttocks. This will give him the positioning he needs to place himself inside her.
- The Blossoming position - Utphallaka - This position is similar to the clothes box position, except the woman will wrap both of her legs around her lover's waist. He will lift the woman's hips, and thighs, and buttocks in the air. So the man places himself between her legs and then lifts her lower body up as he settles down onto his knees.
- The Mare - Vadavaka - For lesbians- one woman lays down on the bed with her legs bent. The other woman sits on top of the first woman, and their mons' pubis and lips pressed together. Then the woman on top rides the woman on the bottom.
- The Impalement - Shulachitaka - Go deeper than ever before with this position. The impalement position is similar to the clothes box position, except the woman pleases one of her legs around her lover's waist, while the other leg extends up so that the heel of her foot rests against his shoulder.
So is the Kama Sutra a sexually and medically accurate book by today's standards?
No, unfortunately, it is not medically accurate. But the book tells us a lot about the beliefs and practices of the people in that region. It also tells us about the local folklore and how it was common to use romantic spells to improve one's chances of getting a lover. All of the strange sayings and beliefs in the Kamasutra are great for historical and cultural references for anyone studying the era.
Remember that the book was written before the 7th century, and so it contains quite a few outdated remedies and gender constructs that don't work today. Also, there are a lot of principles and viewpoints in the book about sex that has been proven to be false by sexologists and doctors today. That doesn't mean it's not a great book. But before you drink any strange teas or rub anything on your genitals, check with your doctor first. Your genitals will thank you.
So what myths and outdated knowledge should you avoid when reading the Kama Sutra?
- For some odd reason, the book says that any woman that has the name of a tree, river, or any one of the 27 stars/constellations is worthless. Do not marry her. Also, do not marry women who have the sounds of r and l in their name. This book may have been written over 1500 years ago, but I know the signs of a bad breakup anywhere!
- Even though the Kamasutra is progressive in some parts, it is backward in other parts. There is some slut-shaming in the book as the text says that a woman who has too many partners and too much sexually satisfying sex will eventually turn into a man because she's constantly absorbing their semen into her body. The buildup of semen will make her a man. But we know that women don't absorb semen.
- The text says if a man mixes milk hedge plant powder, katakana plant leaves, and monkey poop into a mixture and then throws it onto the body and clothes of a woman, she will never love anyone ever again. Well, I know that if someone throws monkey poop on me, I would definitely not be in the mood for falling in love.
- Ladies, beware of the happily sexually satisfied older women living in your house! The Kama Sutra says that any younger woman who lives inside a house that also has a sexually satisfied older woman will never have good sex herself. This is because the energy in the house is finite, and since the old woman is already harnessing the energy for her sexual satisfaction, there won't be enough for the younger woman.
- One of the best non-sexual passages says that a fortune teller can tell the destiny and fate of a man by the size, shape, color, and other distinguishing features of his sexual organs. Imagine that! Going to a fortune-teller and she tells you to drop your trousers and then proclaims the date and time of your death. I wonder if they can also tell if a man is going to win the lottery or not! Now that would be helpful! Some predictions state that a man with a long penis will stay poor his entire life. A man who has a short penis when it is flaccid and erect will be granted the status of the king in his lifetime.
- Rape is actually allowed in the book. It must be done according to special circumstances. It has to be done on a special occasion or a festival. The woman must be given a drink that causes her to blackout. And the man has to finish raping her before she wakes up. He's also allowed to take her back to her house while she is intoxicated and rape her there. After the deed is done, then he may announce what happened to her family and claim her as his wife through rape. So don't do that, because that is terrible.
Conclusion
For a book so old, it is quite progressive, and it really shakes the image of what we in our modern era consider to be normal in ancient cultures. But any good historian knows that just because a society is older than ours does not mean that it was backward or sexually repressive. It just goes to show history is not linear. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Although it does openly state that women who engage in extramarital affairs should not be killed, the book isn't a revolutionary manual on equality. It's a product of its time, but it is valuable and full of amazing information.