Kamashastra
In Indian literature, Kāma-Śāstra , refers to the tradition of works about kāma. Kāma-shastra aims to instruct the townsman in the attainment of enjoyment and fulfillment.
Etymology
Kāma is a Sanskrit word that has the general meanings of "wish", "desire", and "intention" in addition to the specific meanings of "pleasure" and " love". 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. 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 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 Asuras", 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 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 and Anangaranga of Kalyanamalla. The most well-known commentator on Vātsyāyana is Jayamangala.
List of Kāma-shastra works
Lost works
Kāmashāstra of Nandi or Nandikeshvara. Vātsyāyanasūtrasara, by Kshemendra: eleventh-century commentary on the ''Kama Sutra.''Chapters
Kāmashāstra, by Auddalaki Shvetaketu.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 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.Kuttanimata, by the eighth-century Kashmiri poet Damodaragupta 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..Texts post 11th century CE
Anangaranga, by Kalyanmalla; 15th-16th century text.Kāmasamuha, by Ananta.Nagarasarvasva or Nagarsarvasva, by Bhikshu Padmashrī, a tenth- or eleventh-century Buddhist.Panchashāyaka, Panchasakya, or Panchsayaka, by Jyotirīshvara Kavishekhara.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.
- Samayamatrka, a satire by the 11th century poet Ksemendra.
Others
Dattakasūtra, by King Mādhava II of the Ganga dynasty of Mysore.KandarpacudamaniKuchopanishad or Kuchumāra Tantra, by Kuchumāra.Rasamanjari or Rasmanjari, by the poet Bhānudatta.Ratikallolini, by Dikshita Samaraja.Smaradīpika, by Minanatha.- *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.