The Kama Sutra कामसूत्र

26 September - 28 October    

The Kama Sutra entry in Wikipedia begins… “The text acknowledges the Hindu concept of Purusharthas, and lists desire, sexuality, and emotional fulfilment as one of the proper goals of life”. It discusses “methods for courtship, training in the arts to be socially engaging, finding a partner, flirting, maintaining power in a married life, when and how to commit adultery, sexual positions, and other topics.” 

Wikipedia also notes that the first European edition, self-published by Richard Burton in 1883 did not reflect the Sutra accurately because he revised it to suit 19th-century Victorian tastes. Similarly we might assume that any contemporary translation would recount the poetic passages of this religious text with reference to the rubric of our time. Conveniently for the present this millennium old religious code divides people into four genders, male, female, males who dress as females and females who dress as males. Accommodatingly, gender as self-realisation is counted among the goals that we might seek in life with virtue.

Here the Kama Sutra seems to question our idea of the sacred. Is the function of a religious code to identify conduct that has been sanctioned by a divinity for humanity? Or does religion codify humanity in a form that will be sanctioned by a divinity? It may or may not be a complex theological question but it is self evident that our existence is a function of an ancestor’s sexual desire. 

Irrespective of the moral limitations we may be imposed on desire, the images that accompany the Kama Sutra bring a vision of devotional calm to its articulation of desire. A vision that contrasts equally with the sexual code of 19th Century Britain and the sexual rubric that our society is currently struggling with.

Tony Twigg