"Kama Sutra" is the art of love

One can not but agree that the word "kamasutra" in the imagination of modern people evokes scenes of exotic decadence that attract and even seem a bit illegal. Translated into thousands of different languages, the world's oldest treatise written in Sanskrit, in fact, is a much more complicated work than just enumerating practical sexual advice. He deeply and meaningfully describes the art of love, regulates the issues of sensual relations between partners in accordance with the ancient Indian laws. The text presents curious subtleties that were practiced in ancient India, not applicable to modern life, but at least are interesting topics for discussion.

It is believed that the treatise "Kamasutra", which is the most famous of the collection of ancient Indian erotic texts, was written by a scientist, philosopher and monk named Vatsyayana Mallanaga in about the third century. Rather, he collected and reworked in his work a number of already existing stories, religious in nature. In some ancient Indian scriptures, there are stories that tell how the "Kamasutra" was created. The art of love, According to one myth, The sacred bull Nandi granted to mankind the gatekeeper of the god Shiva. Once he heard how the god Shiva and his wife Parvati indulged in intimate pleasures. The episode so inspired the sacred bull that he uttered great words about love, about the role it plays in a person's life, which the sages recorded to pass from generation to generation as instructions for the successful continuation of the human race. In another story, it is said that the Vedic god-maker Prajapati, connected with conception and procreation, pronounced 10,000 chapters of "Kamasutra." Later, the god Shiva gathered them together in a single text, and the son of the sage Uddalaka, Svetaketu, who represents the quintessence of the person seeking knowledge, reduced it to 500 chapters. By the way, in the Mahabharata Svetaketu is credited with the saying that "a woman should be confined to one husband for life".

Written on a rather complex form of Sanskrit text "Kama Sutra" - the only surviving to our time of those of that historical period. In scientific circles, the ancient Indian art of love is studied in order to understand the life of society, the social mores of that time. It is believed that Vatsyayana Mallanaga himself, being a monk who accepted celibacy, creating his own work on the basis of sexual knowledge, accumulated over the centuries, perceived such activity as a form of meditative practice. In the fifteenth century, the work of Ananga Ranga was published, based on the Kamasutra, but written in a more accessible form, not in Sanskrit. As a result, for many centuries it actually replaced the ancient text and remained the main source of knowledge about sexual pleasures. At that time, when the Europeans mastered (or rather, colonized) the Hindustan peninsula, they were passionately carried away by the Eastern texts. It was at this time that the participation of Anang Rang led to the fact that people were again interested in an older source.

While the art of love in the context of sensory being is the essence of the treatise, it is attributed to religious faith and the traditions of the Hindu system. Ancient texts describe four basic goals in human life : dharma (virtue), artha (material well-being), kama (lust) and moksha (salvation). They control three ages: childhood, youth and old age. The Vedic concept of "kama", similar to the ancient Greek Eros, is one of the main cosmogonic principles, an all-powerful world power. Vatsyayana, instructing the reader, says that an intelligent and righteous person should wisely and rationally organize his life so that he can practice religion, become rich and enjoy sensual pleasures, know the true art of love.

A man who tries to learn and understand the desires of women, and also chooses the proper time and place for all this, can easily win the love of even that woman who is considered unapproachable. In the text there are some interesting concepts that are relevant in modern times. For example, practical information on reading the language of the female body, the recognition that there are differences between women, what form of love courtship should be chosen for each individual case.

Psychologists who studied the text, pay attention to the fact that it contains positive messages in terms of creating equal and gentle relations between a man and a woman. The elegant art of love, which includes various caresses, kisses, sexual positions, is designed to increase the physical connection between partners, to offer a creative and brighter aspect of relationships.