The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana
Sir Richard Burton, translator (1883)
Formatted at sacred-texts.com, July 2003. This text is in the public domain. These files may be used for any
non-commercial purpose provided this notice of attribution is left intact.
Part I: Introductory
Chapter I.
Preface
Chapter II.
Observations on the Three Worldly Attainments of Virtue, Wealth, and Love
Chapter III.
On the Study of the Sixty-Four Arts
Part I: Introductory 1

Chapter IV.
On the Arrangements of a House, and Household Furniture; and About the Daily Life of a Citizen, His
Companions, Amusements, Etc.
Chapter V.
About Classes of Women Fit and Unfit for Congress with the Citizen, and of Friends, and Messengers
Part II: On Sexual Union
Chapter I.
Kinds of Union According to Dimensions, Force of Desire, and Time; and on the Different Kinds of Love
Chapter II.
Of the Embrace
Chapter III.
On Kissing
Chapter IV.
On Pressing or Marking with the Nails
Chapter V.
On Biting, and the Ways of Love to be Employed with Regard to Women of Different Countries
Chapter VI.
On the Various Ways of Lying Down, and the Different Kinds of Congress
Chapter VII.
On the Various Ways of Striking, and of The Sounds Appropriate to Them
Chapter IV. 2

Chapter VIII.
About Females Acting the Part of Males
Chapter IX.
On Holding the Lingam in the Mouth
Chapter X.
How to Begin and How to End the Congress. Different Kinds of Congress, and Love Quarrels
Part III: About the Acquisition of a Wife
Chapter I.
Observations on Betrothal and Marriage
Chaper II. About Creating Confidence In the Girl
Chapter III.
Courtship, and the Manifestation of the Feelings by Outward Signs and Deeds
Chapter IV.
On Things to be Done Only by the Man, and the Acquisition of the Girl Thereby. Also What is to be Done by
a Girl to Gain Over a Man and Subject Him to Her
Chapter V.
On the Different Forms of Marriage
Part IV: About a Wife
Chapter I.
On the Manner of Living of a Virtuous Woman, and of Her Behaviour During the Absence of Her Husband
Chapter VIII. 3

Chapter II.
On the Conduct of the Eldest Wife Towards the Other Wives of her Husband, and of the Younger Wife
Towards the Elder Ones...
Part V: About the Wives of Other People
Chapter I.
On the Characteristics of Men And Women...
Chapter II.
About Making Acquaintance with the Woman, and of the Efforts to Gain Her Over
Chapter III.
Examination of the State of a Woman's Mind
Chapter IV.
The Business of a Go-Between
Chapter V.
On the Love of Persons in Authority with the Wives of Other People
Chapter VI.
About the Women of the Royal Harem, and of the Keeping of One's Own Wife
Part VI: About Courtesans
Introductory Remarks
Chapter I.
Of the Causes of a Courtesan Resorting to Men...
Chapter II. 4

Chapter II.
Of a Courtesan Living With a Man as His Wife
Chapter III.
Of the Means of getting Money...
Chapter IV.
About a Reunion with a Former Lover
Chapter V.
Of Different Kinds of Gain
Chapter VI.
Of Gains and Losses, Attendant Gains and Losses, and Doubts; and Lastly, the Different Kinds of Courtesans
Part VII: On The Means of Attracting Others to One's Self
Chapter I.
On Personal Adornment, Subjugating the Hearts of Others, and of Tonic Medicines
Chapter II.
Of The Means of Exciting Desire, and of the Ways of Enlarging the Lingam. Miscellaneous Experiments and
Receipts
Concluding Remarks
PREFACE
IN the literature of all countries there will be found a certain number of works treating especially of love.
Everywhere the subject is dealt with differently, and from various points of view. In the present publication it
is proposed to give a complete translation of what is considered the standard work on love in Sanscrit
literature, and which is called the 'Vatsyayana Kama Sutra', or Aphorisms on Love, by Vatsyayana.
While the introduction will deal with the evidence concerning the date of the writing, and the commentaries
written upon it, the chapters following the introduction will give a translation of the work itself. It is, however,
advisable to furnish here a brief analysis of works of the same nature, prepared by authors who lived and
Chapter II. 5

wrote years after Vatsyayana had passed away, but who still considered him as the great authority, and always
quoted him as the chief guide to Hindoo erotic literature.
Besides the treatise of Vatsyayana the following works on the same subject are procurable in India: