The Karma Sutra: A Process of Liberation

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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] 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 In childhood, Vātsyāyana says, a person should learn how to make a living, youth is the time for pleasure, as years pass one should concentrate on living virtuously and hope to escape the cycle of rebirth. [17]

The most widely known English translation of the Kama Sutra was made by the famous traveler and author Sir Richard Francis Burton and compiled by his colleague Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot in 1883. Historian Burjor Avari has criticized Burton's translation as "inadequate," having had the result that the book gained a reputation in the West of being a pornographic work. [18]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. Due to its association with sexual intimacy, many stereotypes about the text have developed in the western popular culture. However, Indra Sinha states, “The Kama Sutra is neither a sex-manual nor, as also commonly believed, a sacred or religious work. It is certainly not a tantric text. In opening with a discussion of the three aims of ancient Hindu life—dharma, artha and kama—Vatsyayana's purpose is to set kama, or enjoyment of the senses, in context. Thus dharma or virtuous living is the highest aim, artha, the amassing of wealth is next, and kama is the least of the three.” [4] Etymology Apte, Vaman Shivram. 1965. The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4 A recent translation is that of Indra Sinha, published in 1980. In the early 1990s its chapter on lovemaking positions began circulating on the internet as an independent text and today is often assumed to be the whole of the Kama Sutra. [19] Dharma, Artha and Kama are aims of everyday life, while Moksha is release from the cycle of death and rebirth. The Kama Sutra (Burton translation) says:

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.Daniélou, Alain. 1993. The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text. Inner Traditions. ISBN 0-89281-525-6 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