CHAPTER I. - The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks

KINDS OF SEXUAL UNION ACCORDING TO

(_a_) DIMENSIONS.

(_b_) FORCE OF DESIRE OR PASSION.

(_c_) TIME.

_Kinds of Union._

Man is divided into three classes, viz., the hare man, the bull man, and

the horse man, according to the size of his lingam.

Woman also, according to the depth of her yoni, is either a female deer,

a mare, or a female elephant.

There are thus three equal unions between persons of corresponding

dimensions, and there are six unequal unions, when the dimensions do not

correspond, or nine in all, as the following table shows:

+--------------------+--------------------+

| EQUAL. | UNEQUAL. |

+--------------------+--------------------+

| MEN. | WOMEN. | MEN. | WOMEN. |

+--------+-----------+--------|-----------+

| | | | |

+--------+-----------+--------+-----------+

In these unequal unions, when the male exceeds the female in point of

size, his union with a woman who is immediately next to him in size is

called high union, and is of two kinds; while his union with the woman

most remote from him in size is called the highest union, and is of one

kind only. On the other hand when the female exceeds the male in point

of size, her union with a man immediately next to her in size is called

low union, and is of two kinds; while her union with a man most remote

from her in size is called the lowest union, and is of one kind only.

In other words, the horse and mare, the bull and deer, form the high

union, while the horse and deer form the highest union. On the female

side, the elephant and bull, the mare and hare, form low unions, while

the elephant and the hare make the lowest unions.

There are then, nine kinds of union according to dimensions. Amongst all

these, equal unions are the best, those of a superlative degree, _i.e._,

the highest and the lowest, are the worst, and the rest are middling,

and with them the high[33] are better than the low.

There are also nine kinds of union according to the force of passion or

carnal desire, as follows:

+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| MEN. | WOMEN. | MEN. | WOMEN. |

+-----------+-----------+-----------|-----------+

| | | | |

+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

A man is called a man of small passion whose desire at the time of

sexual union is not great, whose semen is scanty, and who cannot bear

the warm embraces of the female.

Those who differ from this temperament are called men of middling

passion, while those of intense passion are full of desire.

In the same way, women are supposed to have the three degrees of feeling

as specified above.

Lastly, according to time there are three kinds of men and women, viz.,

the short-timed, the moderate-timed, and the long-timed, and of these as

in the previous statements, there are nine kinds of union.

But on this last head there is a difference of opinion about the female,

which should be stated.

Auddalika says, "Females do not emit as males do. The males simply

remove their desire, while the females, from their consciousness of

desire, feel a certain kind of pleasure, which gives them satisfaction,

but it is impossible for them to tell you what kind of pleasure they

feel. The fact from which this becomes evident is, that males, when

engaged in coition, cease of themselves after emission, and are

satisfied, but it is not so with females."

This opinion is, however, objected to on the grounds that if a male be a

long-timed, the female loves him the more, but if he be short-timed, she

is dissatisfied with him. And this circumstance, some say, would prove

that the female emits also.

But this opinion does not hold good, for if it takes a long time to

allay a woman's desire, and during this time she is enjoying great

pleasure, it is quite natural then that she should wish for its

continuation. And on this subject there is a verse as follows:

"By union with men the lust, desire, or passion of women is satisfied,

and the pleasure derived from the consciousness of it is called their

satisfaction."

The followers of Babhravya, however, say that the semen of women

continues to fall from the beginning of the sexual union to its end, and

it is right that it should be so, for if they had no semen there would

be no embryo.

To this there is an objection. In the beginning of coition the passion

of the woman is middling, and she cannot bear the vigorous thrusts of

her lover, but by degrees her passion increases until she ceases to

think about her body, and then finally she wishes to stop from further

coition.

This objection, however, does not hold good, for even in ordinary things

that revolve with great force, such as a potter's wheel, or a top, we

find that the motion at first is slow, but by degrees it becomes very

rapid. In the same way the passion of the woman having gradually

increased, she has a desire to discontinue coition, when all the semen

has fallen away. And there is a verse with regard to this as follows:

"The fall of the semen of the man takes place only at the end of

coition, while the semen of the woman falls continually, and after the

semen of both has all fallen away then they wish for the discontinuance

of coition."[34]

Lastly, Vatsyayana is of opinion that the semen of the female falls in

the same way as that of the male.

Now some may ask here: If men and women are beings of the same kind, and

are engaged in bringing about the same result, why should they have

different works to do.

Vatsya says that this is so, because the ways of working as well as the

consciousness of pleasure in men and women are different. The difference

in the ways of working, by which men are the actors, and women are the

persons acted upon, is owing to the nature of the male and the female,

otherwise the actor would be sometimes the person acted upon, and vice

versa. And from this difference in the ways of working follows the

difference in the consciousness of pleasure, for a man thinks, "this

woman is united with me," and a woman thinks, "I am united with this

man."

It may be said that if the ways of working in men and women are

different, why should not there be a difference, even in the pleasure

they feel, and which is the result of those ways.

But this objection is groundless, for the person acting and the person

acted upon being of different kinds, there is a reason for the

difference in their ways of working; but there is no reason for any

difference in the pleasure they feel, because they both naturally derive

pleasure from the act they perform.[35]

On this again some may say that when different persons are engaged in

doing the same work, we find that they accomplish the same end or

purpose: while, on the contrary, in the case of men and women we find

that each of them accomplishes his or her own end separately, and this

is inconsistent. But this is a mistake, for we find that sometimes two

things are done at the same time, as for instance in the fighting of

rams, both the rams receive the shock at the same time on their heads.

Again, in throwing one wood apple against another, and also in a fight

or struggle of wrestlers. If it be said that in these cases the things

employed are of the same kind, it is answered that even in the case of

men and women, the nature of the two persons is the same. And as the

difference in their ways of working arises from the difference of their

conformation only, it follows that men experience the same kind of

pleasure as women do.

There is also a verse on this subject as follows: "Men and women being

of the same nature, feel the same kind of pleasure, and therefore a man

should marry such a woman as will love him ever afterwards."

The pleasure of men and women being thus proved to be of the same kind,

it follows that in regard to time, there are nine kinds of sexual

intercourse, in the same way as there are nine kinds, according to the

force of passion.

There being thus nine kinds of union with regard to dimensions, force of

passion, and time, respectively, by making combinations of them,

innumerable kinds of union would be produced. Therefore in each

particular kind of sexual union, men should use such means as they may

think suitable for the occasion.[36]

At the first time of sexual union the passion of the male is intense,

and his time is short, but in subsequent unions on the same day the

reverse of this is the case. With the female, however, it is the

contrary, for at the first time her passion is weak, and then her time

long, but on subsequent occasions on the same day, her passion is

intense and her time short, until her passion is satisfied.

_On the different kinds of Love._

Men learned in the humanities are of opinion that love is of four kinds,

viz.:

1. Love acquired by continual habit.

2. Love resulting from the imagination.

3. Love resulting from belief.

4. Love resulting from the perception of external objects.

(1). Love resulting from the constant and continual performance and

habit, as for instance the love of sexual intercourse, the love of

hunting, the love of drinking, the love of gambling, etc., etc.

(2). Love which is felt for things to which we are not habituated, and

which proceeds entirely from ideas, is called love resulting from

imagination, as for instance, that love which some men and women and

eunuchs feel for the Auparishtaka or mouth congress, and that which is

felt by all for such things as embracing, kissing, etc., etc.

(3). The love which is mutual on both sides, and proved to be true, when

each looks upon the other as his or her very own, such is called love

resulting from belief by the learned.

(4). The love resulting from the perception of eternal objects is quite

evident and well-known to the world, because the pleasure which it

affords is superior to the pleasure of the other kinds of love, which

exists only for its sake.

What has been said in this chapter upon the subject of sexual union is

sufficient for the learned; but for the edification of the ignorant, the

same will now be treated of at length and in detail.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 33: High unions are said to be better than low ones, for in

the former it is possible for the male to satisfy his own passion

without injuring the female, while in the latter it is difficult for the

female to be satisfied by any means.]

[Footnote 34: The strength of passion with women varies a great deal,

some being easily satisfied, and others eager and willing to go on for a

long time. To satisfy these last thoroughly a man must have recourse to

art. It is certain that a fluid flows from the woman in larger or

smaller quantities, but her satisfaction is not complete until she has

experienced the "spasme genesique," as described in a French work

recently published and called "Breviare de l'Amour Experimental par le

Dr. Jules Guyot."]

[Footnote 35: This is a long dissertation very common among Sanscrit

authors, both when writing and talking socially. They start certain

propositions, and then argue for and against them. What it is presumed

the author means, is, that though both men and women derive pleasure

from the act of coition, the way it is produced is brought about by

different means, each individual performing his own work in the matter,

irrespective of the other, and each deriving individually their own

consciousness of pleasure from the act they perform. There is a

difference in the work that each does, and a difference in the

consciousness of pleasure that each has, but no difference in the

pleasure they feel, for each feels that pleasure to a greater or lesser

degree.]

[Footnote 36: This paragraph should be particularly noted, for it

specially applies to married men and their wives. So many men utterly

ignore the feelings of the women, and never pay the slightest attention

to the passion of the latter. To understand the subject thoroughly, it

is absolutely necessary to study it, and then a person will know that,

as dough is prepared for baking, so must a woman be prepared for sexual

intercourse, if she is to derive satisfaction from it.]