Scripture: Kama Sutra, Contents of the Book -1-2

At some point in your life, you may have heard something called Kama Sūtra and it was taught or mentioned as something about intimate positions or more crudely known as sex positions probably. Although there is some truth to that however, Kama Sūtra is a lot more than just intimate positions. Kama Sūtra is an ancient text about rules of engagement in sexual encounters for wealthy Hindu men or Hindu men who were seeking to become wealthy in ancient India. Although Kama Sūtra has been used in the west in the production of pornography and erotic movies at times, it is strictly part of ancient Hindu culture and originates from India. It is important to understand the context in order to use this ancient text and recommendations universally in today's globalized societies. Believe it or not in ancient India Kama Sūtra was somewhat sacred and holy similar to other holy texts of Hinduism. Thus I will treat the passages with utmost respect it requires. Let's get to the content. The book was first put in writing by Vâtsyãyana and it starts with a praise to the three aims of life. 

The first chapter of the book is Contents of the Book: 

1-2 Praised be the three aims of life, virtue [dharma], prosperity [artha], and love [kama] which are the subject of this work. 

As mentioned above, contrary to the common misconception or false promotion of the concept of Kama Sūtra, the book is more than just the intimate positions. It is a book of rules for conduct in the areas of sexual conduct, marriage and relationships in ancient Hindu society.

The book of Kama Sūtra starts with the three aims of life. According to prehistoric Indian thinkers, life necessitates three kinds of activities:

1- Survival, 

2- Reproduction and,

3- Rules of behavior. 

These are represented as the three aims of life: 

a) Material goods (artha) assure survival,

b) Erotic practice (kama) assures the transmission of life,

c) The rules of behavior, a moral nature (dharma) assure cohesion and duration of species. 

In Hindu society, in connection to ethical duties of individuals, which was believed to be hereditary, various members of society had certain duties and roles which was connected to their functionalities in that society. This is what is known as svadharma, the ethical duty peculiar to each individual. In that, they believed the caste system ensured the continuation of these ethical duties setting the moral code for the whole of society. Vãtsyãyana's purpose was to teach the townsman and others virtue, prosperity and eroticism. 

In Kama Sūtra Love is essential to satisfying the mind; conscious is satisfied by the ethics; and peaceful soul seeks spirituality. According to Vãtsyãyana these three aims of life are essential to ensure the society stays moral, ethical and doesn't astray from spirituality. These three aims are interconnected and if one of them is missing, moral eroticism will not be complete and without a moral eroticism one cannot obtain spiritual realization. 

These three aims of life are mentioned in the ancient texts such as Vedas, Purãnas, the Laws of Manu, the Mahãbbãrata.   

Vãtsyãyana starts his collection of Kama Sūtra with invoking these scripts because this is a testament to religious and spiritual nature of Kama Sūtra in ancient Hindu religion and culture. 

Please share your thoughts on what you think of the first passage of Kama Sūtra. What did you know about Kama Sútra prior to watching this video? 

Vâtsyãyana, The Complete Kama Sūtra (Daniélou, A. Trans) Park Street Press (original work published unknown)