Overview

'When the wheel of sexual ecstasy is in full motion, there is no textbook at all, and no order.' The Kamasutra is the oldest extant Hindu textbook of erotic love. It is about the art of living - about finding a partner, maintaining power in a marriage, committing adultery, living as or with a courtesan, using drugs - and also about the positions in sexual intercourse. It was composed in Sanskrit, the literary language of ancient India, sometime in the third century CE. It combines an encyclopaedic coverage of all imaginable aspects of sex with a closely observed sexual psychology and a dramatic, novelistic narrative of seduction, consummation, and disentanglement. Best known in English through the highly mannered, padded, and inaccurate nineteenth-century translation of Sir Richard Burton, the text is presented here in an entirely new translation into clear, vivid, sexually frank English, together with three commentaries: translated excerpts from the earliest and most famous Sanskrit commentary (13th century) and from a twentieth-century Hindi commentary, and explanatory notes by the two translators.

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9780192839824

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Reviews

A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com

A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times<br> A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer<br> A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune<br> The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service<br> If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com<br>

<br> A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times<br> A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer<br> A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune<br> The Kamasutra is one of

A radically different view of the famous sex manual. - A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered.... Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a kamasutra in which everyone's on top. - With its aphoristic advice on attracting, satisfying, keeping and shedding a partner, the book is often more 'Sex in the City' than Sex manual. [This] new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. With its aphoristic advice on attracting, satisfying, keeping and shedding a partner, the book is often more 'Sex in the City' than sex manual. A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead some to try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have a Kamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary. Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com A radically different view of the famous sex manual. --The New York Times A fresh translation of the Kamasutra, gloriously rendered by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar. Put Doniger, one of the University of Chicago's top historians of religion, and Kakar, India's leading psychoanalyst of sex, together and you've got the kind of moxie and revisionist energy that lead someto try 'splitting the bamboo.' In a highly entertaining and learned 57-page introduction packed with crisp insights and droll asides, they put the Kamasutra in historical context, outline its numerological conceits, and clarify its gender ambiguities. Thanks to two nervy scholars, we now have aKamasutra in which everyone's on top. --Philadelphia Inquirer A new look at the ancient Indian textbook of erotic love has fleshed out--and in some cases corrected--the original translation from Sanskrit into English, done in 1883 by explorer and writer Sir Richard Burton. --Chicago Tribune The Kamasutra is one of those rare publishing gems, an ancient Hindu treatise on sex and romance that has engaged generations of serious scholars as well as lesser minds like Homer Simpson. Far from being an ancient dime-store manual, the Kamasutra comes off as a potent social commentary.Nonetheless, it is also a terribly sexy book. --Religion News Service If you're a serious student of sex, or of India, or if you and your honey want to read each other a different kind of pillow book, the new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing. --Michael Castleman, salon.com

Author Information

Wendy Doniger is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago. She is the author of The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade and Siva, The Erotic Ascetic. Sudhir Kakar is Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University. He is the author of Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and Its Healing Traditions.

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