Vatsyayana was a wise man who recognized the sometimes necessary desire for discretion. He knew very well that a sudden outbreak of unexpected pregnancies in the kings harem or of another fellows wife might have some rather serious consequences but as the saying goes “It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion,” and sometimes temptation is just a bit too much.

As the Kama Sutra stated of these clandestine sexual relationships, “No place is as poorly guarded as a harem. And no women more accessible than the king’s wives. A determined young man only has to choose how to achieve his ends.

Hidden inside a barrel or disguised as a maidservant, he will easily deceive the casual sentinels and the overworked stewards. He can also try to make himself invisible by using an appropriate potion. But the result is uncertain. The king’s wives like to play games with strangers that are forbidden with their husband. The young man and the noble lady are lying against each other, head to tail.

He explores her yoni while her pretty mouth gobbles up his lingam greedily. It is Kalila the crow, the posture of slaves and maidservants, that queens are so fond of.” Vatsyayana went on to describe the steps and variations of oral sex in hopes that his pupils might live to enjoy another day.

The Method Of Fellatio In The Kama Sutra

The Kama Sutra describes the act of fellatio in great detail, breaking it down into individual steps. It is described in the following quotes.

“When your lover catches your lingam in her hand and, shaping her lips to an ‘O’, lays them lightly to its tip, moving her head in tiny circles, this first step is called Nimitta.” Nimitta is translated as Touching.

“Next, grasping its head in her hand, she clamps her lips tightly about the shaft, first on one side then the other, taking great care that her teeth don’t hurt you. This is Parshvatoddashta.” This is called Biting at the Sides.

“Now she takes the head of your lingam gently between her lips, by turns pressing, kissing it tenderly and pulling at its soft skin. This is Bahiha-samdansha.” This is called the Outer Pincers.

“If next she allows the head to slide completely into her mouth and presses the shaft firmly between her lips, holding a moment before pulling away, it is Antaha-samdansha.” This is translated as the Inner Pincers.

“When she senses that your orgasm is imminent she swallows up the whole lingam, sucking and working upon it with lips and tongue until you spend, this is Sangara.” Sangara literally means Swallowed Whole.

The Method Of Cunnilingus In The Kama Sutra

Of course one good turn always deserves another, and this was no less true in Ancient Hindu culture. Thus Vatsyayana’s Kama Sutra went on to describe the reciprocal act of cunnilingus for the man who wanted to return the favor.

“With delicate fingertips, pinch the arched lips of her house of love very very slowly together, and kiss them as though you kissed her lower lip; this is Adhara-sphuritam.” This is rendered the Quivering Kiss.

“Now spread, indeed cleave asunder, that archway with your nose and let your tongue gently probe her yoni, with your nose, lips and chin slowly circling. It becomes Jihva-bhramanaka.” Also called the Circling Tongue.

“Let your tongue rest for a moment in the archway to the flower-bowed Lord’s temple before entering to worship vigorously, causing her seed to flow. This is Jihva-mardita” or the Tongue Massage.

“Next, fasten your lips to hers and take deep kisses from this lovely one, your beloved, nibbling at her and sucking hard at her clitoris; this is called Chushita.” This Chushita is translated as Sucked.

“Place your darling on a couch, set her feet to your shoulders, clasp her waist, suck hard and let your tongue stir her overflowing love-temple. This is called Bahuchushita” or Sucked Hard.

“If the pair of you lie side by side, facing opposite ways, and kiss each other’s secret parts using the ten techniques described above, it is known as Kalila.” Kalila means the Crow.

When we think of the Kama Sutra, we automatically start to think of different sexual positions, commonly seen in books on tantra, but is that all this ancient script is about or is there more than meets the eye with this commonly mistaken text?

A Whole Relationship Guide

Now this text was not just designed as a guide to better sex, but as a way to bring two people together closer than ever before. The ideology behind The Kama Sutra, best describes some of the modern teachings about how to increase the amount of love and connection between you and your partner.

The teachings of sexual intercourse comprise just a small fraction of the teachings in this book. It was first written as a way to bring two people from an arranged marriage together so they could connect with one another, mainly to make life easier on the rest of the family.

The Pleasurable Side Of The Kama Sutra

Now I’m not going to stand here and say that sex is not a big part of the this book, because it is and several of the techniques have been used very successfully to increase the level of love and connections in relationships. So what are some of the best positions to put into practice?

The Embrace Of The Thighs

Sounds kinda kinky doesn’t it? This is where one of the lovers pushes hard on one or both of the thighs of the lover between his or her own thighs. Of course you may have already come across this position before in the bedroom. This particular position is one of four ‘embracing’ positions outlined in the Kama Sutra and is used to create a tighter grasp around the woman’s vagina.

Lying Down Kama Sutra Positions

Another group of positions are the lying down positions, which include: the widely opened position, the yawning position and the position of the wife of Indrani.

The first position requires the female to arch her back and lower her head. The second requires the woman to raise her thighs and the third is when the woman places her thighs with her legs doubled on them upon her sides.

Of course this is just a fraction of the number of sexual positions outlined in The Kama Sutra and it would take many years to perfect them all, so you better get started if you want to get through all of them in your lifetime!

When Vatsyayana first penned the text that we today know as the Kama Sutra, he could have had no idea of the economic impact he was creating. A manuscript brought to life by a man who history has all but lost has created such legal issues through the course of history as to make it one of the most highly debated and vilified texts in publication. Let’s take a few moments to reflect on the social ramifications of the Kama Sutra on Victorian culture in Great Britain.

From A Publishing Standpoint

From the publishers standpoint, the ancient Sanskrit text has been a glowing success. This is easily evidenced by the many translators who have took upon themselves, the task of rewriting and compiling the manuscript for the masses to enjoy.

The first such translator for the English language was Sir Richard F. Burton, a British explorer who spoke no less than twenty-five languages fluently. When he discovered the text upon one of his journeys of exploration through India in 1842, he became enamored by the book and decided he must translate the text into the language of his peers back in Great Britain so that they too could enjoy the material he was now so fond of.

Thirty-four years later, in 1876, Sir Richard Burton had finally finished the work of translating the Kama Sutra with the assistance of his collaborator, Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, since Sir Burton could not read ancient Sanskrit himself. The first published tomes were still a long way off however.

The Kama Shastra Society

Seven years later, in 1883, the first English copies of the Kama Sutra were published. That first edition consisted of 250 privately published copies of the great manuscript. These copies were published by The Kama Shastra Society, of which Burton himself was a founder.

The Kama Shastra Society was created to keep Burton and his peers from being prosecuted and imprisoned by the Society for the Suppression of Vice under the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 and was used by Burton as a method of publishing much of his work over the years. If the society had not been founded, his many endeavors in the field of writing and translation would have been set to the wayside by popular Victorian society of the time, as Burton, himself, was considered to be less than savory by his peers.

His translation and writing often dealt with subjects of a erotic or highly sexual nature which was very counter-culture to the Victorian society of the day. Some of his works that would otherwise be lost to the world today included a translation of The Book of a Thousand Nights and One Night ( Most commonly referred to as The Arabian Nights and considered to be pornography at the time due to sexual content.)and a translation of the Arabic guide called The Perfumed Garden.

Sir Richard Burton had written a second translation of the same work which he titled The Scented Garden but this was tragically lost along with several other papers when his widowed wife, Isabel, burned them after his death in October of 1890 from a heart attack. The irony of her destructive action is that Sir Burton had intended this translation to be published after his death as a way of providing for his widow through the proceeds.

The Kama Shastra Society provided for a private publication and distribution of the Kama Sutra to its own member thus circumventing the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 because they could not be prosecuted for sharing a private Society publication amongst its own members.

It is interesting to note that Sir Burton’s work did not become legal in Great Britain until the year 1963, eighty years after its first publication and seventy- three years after Burton’s death. What is even more interesting is that a text with absolutely no illustrations was considered so offensive to the British censors.