The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text [UNABRIDGED] (Paperback)

~ Alain Daniélou (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The galaxy of pleasures in Alain Daniélou's translation of the Kama Sutra takes you back to an India where sexuality was an integral part of life and an avenue to spiritual bliss. As Devadatta Shastri says in his commentary: "At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitudes of being." Daniélou's elegant rendering includes not only the entire sutra, much of which is excluded in other versions, but two essential commentaries as well. More than just a pillow book, the Kama Sutra is a guide to the labyrinth of sexual etiquette, from how to bathe before meeting a lover to how lovers should entertain each other after making love. Admittedly, the text is dated and culture bound in places; it can be chauvinistic, bizarre, and even violent. The commentators are careful to point out, however, that the work is an overview of all sexual practices, some of which are not recommended. Take from this encyclopedia of amour what you will and let it keep you moving down the path of spiritual practice. --Brian Bruya

From Library Journal

Long dismissed as a sort of Sanskrit Joy of Sex , the Kama Sutra , composed by Vatsyayana in the fourth century B.C., explores sexuality as an integral part of human existence. Arguing that happiness and moral duty ( dharma ) depend on elaborate social ritual to satisfy the essential needs of life, the Kama Sutra describes the practices, rituals, and lore of the erotic ( kama ) in human relations, both heterosexual and homosexual. Noted Indiologist Danielou provides a fluent and literal translation of the entire Sanskrit original with interpolated extracts from the 12th-century commentary by Yashodara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. This is an important advance over Burton's Victorian abridgment.
- T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions; abridged edition edition (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892815256
• ISBN-13: 978-0892815258
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,368 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, November 27, 2000

By	Vasudevan Srinivasan (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book a few years ago and is one of the most intriguing books I have read. It gives an unique perspective at the life of ancient India (c 100-500AD) on how the people lived and the society flourished. What strikes most is when ancient India was talking about souls and spirits, on how life is vain etc, here is a book that says "being materialistic is not bad". If the society didnt consider that such a book isnt a blasphemy how great it should have been. And the book survived! Apart from the usual sexual poses, Kamasutra, is a history book. It also lists the 64 ancient arts of India, which I was trying to find for more than a decade and I never quiet expected to find in this book. Also the lives of courtesans are an interesting read.

Alan Danileou's translation is straightforward and it also includes commentaries on KS by other authors which helps to know different views. Though it lacks pictures (precisely the reason I bought it - not to get distracted from the original composition) it is a much better translation than Richard Burton's (which also I own). At times Richard gets squeaky in explaining very "intimate" things (its not a complete translation, looks like he left things that are too un-Victorian to translate) but Alan is more straightforward and complete.

Also translated are the chemistry of love potions, how to make money (of course not relevant to modern times) etc. If it contained the original Sanskrit quotations, I would have enjoyed the poetic flow. Anyways it adorns my book case.

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Translation par Excellence, April 28, 1998

By A Customer

It was the film "Kama Sutra" that led me to this classic. The idea of someone documenting various forms of making love was intriguing and I started exploring further on the original work. Once I got past a few mindnumbing translations, I discovered this work. I saw my initial curiosity turning into fascination at first, but when I finished the work I had nothing but respect for this work ("Eroticism is firstly a search for pleasure, and the goal of the techniques of love is to attain a paroxysm considered by the Upanishads ( holy texts) as a perception of the divine state, which is infinite delight ").Alan Danielou's seems to have impressive credentials that bring an impeccable authenticity to this work.

There is hardly a subject the author has not dealt with. If the range of subjects dealt with fascinates you (marriage, adultery, prostitution, group sex, sadomasochism, male and female homosexuality, and transvestitism) the scientific approach and the depth of classification in dealing with those subjects might bewilder you. ("There are different types of men and women according to their sizes of the organs, their moment of sexual enjoyment, and the violence of their sexual impulse"). The part dealing with occult practices is a blast. These practices include ointments for the body, marks on the forehead, powders sprinkled over the woman and substances that she be made to ingest, the surprising things she must be shown, as well as the means and remedies for subjugating her. This section also manifest the thoroughness of the research done almost 2000 years back.

While the considerable pains the author has undergone to protect the integrity of the original work makes this a classic, it is possible that at times the casual reader will be hard pressed to follow. The author emphasizes that this is not a pornographic work and is merely an impartial and systematic study of one of the essential aspects of existence. There is ample proof of that throughout the book.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent information on sex and relationships, July 11, 2005

By	Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The Kama Sutra has a huge reputation based on only one of its five sections. The positions would be Part 2 and only one chapter of the ten in that section. Most books with Kama Sutra in the title are just going to be some porn structured around that chapter. The entire book is not so much useful in describing the physics of sex as for describing the psychology of sex. (It is good for physical stuff too. At one point it gives a method to get to the G-spot with the fingers, so I have to give Indian medicine props there.)

The five sections are as follows:
Part 1 - Describes how to be attractive. You should bathe before you will be meeting the opposite sex and do something to get your breath smelling better. Also clean your apartment. People call it ritual, but it is excellent advice on not being a slob. For women it gives a listing of the 64 arts which will let you be the favorite in the harem. They are fun. Who wouldn't love a woman who does yoga, can inlay a marble table and knows how to design and build irrigation systems? Much more fun to try to be than the Proverbs 31 woman, but on the other hand kind of a strange laundry list of talents.
Part 2 - The positions, hugging, kissing, scratching and oral. Size of the man and the woman and which positions are better to even thing out in that regard.
Part 3 - How to negotiate an arranged marriage (not so useful now). How to devirginize your bride. You won't be sexing her until about two weeks into the marriage. Its all about gaining her trust and her being comfortable so she won't have hang ups about men, and sadly it doesn't apply to most marriages or devirginizations today.
Part 4 - Handling your harem. How the harem women should treat one another and how to keep them one big happy family.
Part 5 - Other men's wives/concubines and how to sneak around with them.
Part 6 - Courtesans. Kind of like etiquette for prostitutes, except courtesans aren't prostitutes. For example there is some etiquette on how to handle the courtesan living with you and your wives.
Part 7 - Being a hottie. How to make some aprodisiacs and some nice little tricks. This section is probably better advice for the sex life than the positions in that the anatomy is here.

I highly recommend the Kama Sutra but not to people who are looking for the book by reputation as sex sex sex. The book is very much about sex, but more about the whole world of etiquette surrounding male female relations. Virgin marriages (virgin women anyway) are taken for granted and one whole section is about devirginizing the woman AFTER THE MARRIAGE. The advice is very good because it tells how to go about building relationships not how to have one night stands.

Get this book to study and think about and view it as relationship advice and not physical sex advice. So much of the book is about communication and is dead on that it is no wonder it is a classic and likewise shows how important communication is to good sex. In terms of this specific translation, just go for a modern translation of the whole book. A picture book of the positions is not the Kama Sutra and the Richard Burton translation is very stilted. This translation works and not having pictures is also good because you are getting all meat. As with all sexy books avoid used copies.