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{{Short description|Aspect of literature in India}}{{Multiple issues|{{Unreliable sources|date=July 2007}}
{{Inline citations|date=September 2024}}}}

In [[Indian literature]], '''Kāma-[[shastra|Śāstra]]''' ''(कामशास्त्र )'', refers to the tradition of works about [[kāma]] (broadly desire; particularly love, erotic, sensual and sexual desire in this case). Kāma-shastra aims to instruct the townsman (nāgarika) in the attainment of enjoyment and fulfillment.

== Etymology ==
Kāma ({{lang|sa|काम}}) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that has the general meanings of "wish", "desire", and "intention" in addition to the specific meanings of "pleasure" and "(sexual) love".<ref>[[Arthur Anthony Macdonell]]. ''A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary''. p. 66.</ref> Used as a proper name, it refers to [[Kamadeva]], the [[Hindu]] god of love.

== History ==
The sage [[Śvetaketu]] produced a work too vast to be accessible.{{Clarification needed|reason=What work? What did it contain?|date=September 2024}} A scholar called [[Babhravya]], together with his group of disciples, produced a summary of Śvetaketu's work, which nonetheless remained a huge and encyclopaedic tome. The name of the work was "One Hundred and Fifty Chapters Dealing with Kāma" and was divided into 7 parts.

Between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, several authors reproduced different parts of Babhravya's work in various specialist treatises. Among the authors, those whose names are known are [[Charayana]], [[Ghotakamukha]], [[Gonardiya]], [[Gonikaputra]], [[Suvarnanabha]], and [[Dattaka]].

However, the oldest available text on this subject is the ''[[Kama Sutra]]'' ascribed to [[Vatsyayana|Vātsyāyana]] who is often erroneously called "Mallanaga Vātsyāyana". Yashodhara, in his commentary on the ''Kama Sutra'', attributes the origin of erotic science to Mallanaga, the "prophet of the [[Asura]]s", implying that the ''Kama Sutra'' originated in prehistoric times. The attribution of the name "Mallanaga" to Vātsyāyana is due to the confusion of his role as editor of the ''Kama Sutra'' with the role of the mythical creator of erotic science. Vātsyāyana's birth date is not accurately known, but he must have lived earlier than the 7th century since he is referred to by Subandhu in his poem Vāsavadattā. Vātsyāyana was familiar with the [[Arthashastra]] of [[Chanakya|Kautilya]].

Vātsyāyana refers to and quotes a number of texts on this subject, most of which have been lost.

Following Vātsyāyana, a number of authors wrote on Kāmashastra, some writing independent manuals of erotics, while others commented on Vātsyāyana. Later well-known works include [[Kokkaka]]'s ''[[Ratirahasya]]'' (13th century) and ''[[Anangaranga]]'' of [[Kalyanamalla]] (16th century). The most well-known commentator on Vātsyāyana is [[Jayamangala]] (13th century).

== List of Kāma-shastra works ==

=== Lost works ===

* ''Kāmashāstra'' of [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]] or Nandikeshvara. (1000)
* ''Vātsyāyanasūtrasara'', by [[Kshemendra]]: eleventh-century commentary on the ''Kama Sutra.''

=== Chapters ===
* ''Kāmashāstra'', by Auddalaki Shvetaketu (500 chapters).
* ''Kāmashāstra'' or ''Bābhravyakārikā.''
* ''Kāmashāstra'', by Chārāyana.
* ''Kāmashāstra'', by Gonikāputra.
* ''Kāmashāstra'', by Dattaka.
* ''Kāmashāstra'' or ''Ratinirnaya'', by Suvarnanāb.
*''[[Kama Sutra]]'', by [[Vatsayana]].
** ''[[Jayamangala]]'' or ''Jayamangla'', by [[Yaśodharā|Yashodhara]]: important commentary on the ''Kama Sutra.''
** ''Jaya'', by Devadatta Shāstrī: a twentieth-century Hindi commentary on the ''Kama Sutra.''
** ''Sūtravritti'', by Naringha Shastri: eighteenth-century commentary on the ''Kama Sutra.''

=== Medieval and modern texts ===
====Texts up to 10th century CE====
* ''Kuchopanisad'', by Kuchumara (tenth century).
* ''Kuttanimata'', by the eighth-century Kashmiri poet Damodaragupta (Dāmodaragupta's ''Kuṭṭanīmata'', though often included in lists of this sort, is really a novel written in Sanskrit verse, in which an aged [[bawd]] [''kuṭṭanī''] named Vikarālā gives advice to a young, beautiful, but as yet unsuccessful courtesan of Benares; most of the advice comes in the form of two long moral tales, one about a heartless and therefore successful courtesan, Mañjarī, and the other about a tender-hearted and therefore foolish girl, Hāralatā, who makes the mistake of falling in love with a client and eventually dies of a broken heart.)
* ''Mānasollāsa'' or ''Abhilashitartha Chintāmani'' by King Someshvara or Somadeva III of the Chālukya dynasty by Kalyāni. A part of this encyclopedia, the ''Yoshidupabhoga'', is devoted to the Kāma-shastra. (Manasolasa or Abhilashitachintamani).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/erotica/manas.htm|title = Kamat's Potpourri: Manasollasa of Somadeva III}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kamat.com/database/books/sociallife/note.htm|title = Kamat Research Database : Medieval Social Life - A Brief Note on Manasollasa}}</ref>

====Texts post 11th century CE====

* ''[[Anangaranga]]'', by Kalyanmalla; 15th-16th century text.
* ''Kāmasamuha'', by Ananta (fifteenth century).
* ''Nagarasarvasva'' or ''Nagarsarvasva'', by Bhikshu Padmashrī, a tenth- or eleventh-century Buddhist.
* ''Panchashāyaka'', ''Panchasakya'', or ''Panchsayaka'', by Jyotirīshvara Kavishekhara (fourteenth century).
* ''[[Ratirahasya]]'', by Kokkoka; 11th-12th century CE text.
** ''Janavashya'' by Kallarasa: based on Kakkoka's ''Ratirahasya.''
* ''Ratiratnapradīpika'', by Praudha Devarāja, fifteenth-century [[Maharaja]] of [[Vijayanagara]].
* [[Samaya Mātrikā|''Samayamatrka'']], a satire by the 11th century poet [[Kshemendra|Ksemendra]].

====Others====
* ''Dattakasūtra'', by King Mādhava II of the Ganga dynasty of [[Mysore]].
* ''Kandarpacudamani''
* ''Kuchopanishad'' or ''Kuchumāra Tantra'', by Kuchumāra.
* ''Rasamanjari'' or ''Rasmanjari'', by the poet [[Bhânudatta|Bhānudatta]].
* ''Ratikallolini'', by Dikshita Samaraja.
* ''Smaradīpika'', by Minanatha.
**[[w:de:Ratimanjari|''Ratimanjari'']], by the poet [[Jayadeva]]: a synthesis of the ''Smaradīpika'' by Minanatha.
* ''Shrngaradipika'', by Harihar.
* ''Shringararasaprabandhadīpika'', by Kumara Harihara.
* ''Smarapradīpika'' or ''Smara Pradipa'', by Gunākara (son of Vachaspati).

== Kāma-shastra and kāvya poetry ==
The Kāma-shastra have an intimate connection with [[Sanskrit]] ornate poetry ([[kāvya]]). Kāvya poets were supposed to be proficient in the Kāma-shastra as it governs the approach to love and sex in kāvya poetry.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Translated by Daniélou, Alain. {{ISBN|0-89281-492-6}}












[[Category:Kamashastra| ]]
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Sanskrit literature]]

Kamashastra - Revision history

Trevor51P0492 at 12:10, 23 July 2025