Kamasutra

by Vatsyayana Mallanaga

  55 And there are two verses about this:

  Longing* springs from one’s own nature

  but there are ways to make it grow.

  When intelligence has washed away anxiety,

  longing becomes unwavering and undying.

  56 A man who knows his own chances of success

  and discerns women’s telltale signs

  cuts away the causes of their resistance

  and succeeds with women.

  CHAPTER TWO

  [43] Ways of Becoming Intimate

  1 Scholars say: ‘A man can win virgins more easily through his own advances than through a female messenger, but he can win the wives of other men, who are in a more delicate situation, more easily through a female messenger than on his own.’ 2Vatsyayana says: In all instances, if it is within the realm of his powers, the man’s own action is more effective, but if this is difficult or impossible to do, then he should employ a female messenger. 3It is commonly said: ‘Women who are acting rashly for the first time, and who converse without restraint, can be seduced by a man on his own; women who are the opposite, by a messenger.’

  4 But when the man makes advances by himself he must achieve intimacy from the very start. 5He sees her on a natural or contrived occasion. 6A natural occasion might occur near his own house, and a contrived one near the house of a friend, relative, minister of state, or doctor, at a wedding, sacrifice, festival, disaster, picnic, or other such occasion. 7When she sees him, he gazes at her constantly, sending signals, smoothing down his hair, snapping his nails, jingling his jewellery, chewing on his lower lip, and making various other pretences. When she is looking he talks with his friends* about her under the pretext of discussing other matters; he displays his generosity and fondness for enjoyments. Seated on the lap of a friend, he shifts the position of his arms and legs, yawns, raises one eyebrow, speaks slowly, and listens to the woman’s words. He carries on, with a child or another adult, a conversation that seems to be about something else but has a double meaning, about her; thus he himself conveys his wish for her. Under a pretext, but intending no one but her, he kisses and embraces a child, gives him betel with his tongue, caresses the child’s chin with his index finger, all of this done in a manner appropriate to the circumstances and the opportunity. 8He fondles a child on her lap, gives him toys and takes them away again. And out of the intimacy gained by this means he strikes up a conversation with her, and making himself agreeable to someone who is able to talk with her, he uses that person to establish some reason for coming and going. And within her hearing, but without looking at her at all, he talks about the Kamasutra.

  9 As he grows more intimate with her, he places in her hands something for her to keep temporarily for him and something else for her to keep for a long time, and every day, at any moment, he withdraws some small part of it—perfumes or areca nuts. 10Then he arranges for her to meet his own wives and engage in confidential conversations, sitting together by themselves. 11This is so that he can see her all the time and get her to trust him. 12When she desires something from the goldsmith, jeweller, basket-maker, dyer in indigo or saffron, and so forth, he himself, together with his own servants, takes the trouble to obtain these things for her. 13And while he is accomplishing that business, he can see her for a long time, and people will know about it. 14And that transaction will lead to others, each connected with the one before. 15Whenever she wants something done, or wants some object or something requiring a certain skill, he shows her that he himself has the plan, the resources, the experience, the means, and the intelligence for it. 16He converses with her and her entourage about past events, the things that people have done, and ways of testing the quality of material things. 17In the course of doing this, he makes bets about such things and appoints her the umpire for these bets. 18But if he disagrees with her, he says, ‘How amazing!’* Those are the ways of becoming intimate.

  [44] Making Advances

  19 When she has become intimate with him and revealed her gestures and signals to him, he makes advances to her with the methods that are used on a virgin.* Generally the advances in that case are rather subtle, because virgins have not yet made love. But he makes advances to other women in the very same way, though quite blatantly, because these women have made love. 20When he has understood her signals and uncovered her favourable feelings for him, he uses her possessions as they share one another’s objects of enjoyment. 21In the course of this sharing, they exchange precious perfumes, upper garments, flowers, and also rings. When she takes betel from his hand as he prepares to go to a social gathering, he asks for a flower from her hair. 22In doing this, he gives her, with signals, a precious, desirable perfume, in a container marked with the traces of his own nails and teeth. 23He whittles away her nervousness by making more and more advances to her. 24By degrees, he goes with her to a place where they are alone together, embraces her, kisses her, takes betel from her, and after giving it to her exchanges things with her and caresses her in her hidden places. Those are the advances.

  25 A man should never pursue one woman in a place where he is pursuing another. 26If a woman who has had an affair with him in the past lives there, he should placate her with loving conciliations. 27And there are two verses about this:

  The man should not mount any woman,

  even if she is very ready to be taken,

  in a place where the husband

  has been seen to stray toward another woman.

  28 A wise man, aware of his own security,

  will not even think about a woman

  who is worried, well-guarded, afraid,

  or with her mother-in-law.

  CHAPTER THREE

  [45] Testing her Feelings

  1 When a man is making advances to a woman, he tests her behaviour, and this tests her feelings. And then he tailors his advances accordingly. 2If she does not reveal her intentions to him, he wins her through a female messenger. 3If she does not accept his advances, but keeps coming back to meet him, he knows that her mind is divided, and he wins her over gradually. 4If she does not accept his advances but lets him see her again when she dresses very carefully and comes to see him dressed that way, then he knows that he should take her by force in a place where they are alone together. 5A woman who tolerates many advances, but does not yield to him even after a long time, is a tease,* and is to be won by breaking off all intimacies, 6because the human heart is inconstant. 7If a woman avoids a man who is making advances, and neither comes to meet him nor refuses him, because of her pride in herself and her regard for his importance, she can be won only with difficulty, through great intimacy. He wins her over through a female messenger who knows her vulnerable spots. 8If she refuses him roughly when he makes advances, he should scorn her, 9but even if she acts roughly, he can win her if she shows her love.

  10 If a woman lets him touch her on some excuse but pretends not to notice it, because her mind is divided, she can be won by constancy and patience. 11When she is lying down near him, he pretends to be asleep and puts his hand on her. And she, too, pretends sleep, though she notices him. But when she wakes up, she pushes him away, longing for more advances. 12This also applies to the placing of a foot on a foot. 13When this has progressed, he makes approaches to her by embracing her when she is asleep.* 14If she will not put up with that and gets up, but on the next day acts in her usual manner, he knows that she wants him to make advances to her. If, however, she does not let him see her, he knows that he can win her only through a female messenger. 15Even if she does not let him see her for a long time but then comes to meet him and acts as usual, and gives him signs and sends him signals, he makes approaches to her.

  16 Even if he has not made advances to her, she sends signals, and she reveals herself to him when they are alone. She trembles and stammers when she speaks. Her fingers and toes perspire, and her face perspires. She offers to rub the man’s head and massage his thighs. 17Simultaneously the patient and the masseuse, with one hand she massages hi
m and with the other arm she embraces him and indicates that she might touch him. As if astonished 18or blind with sleep, she remains still, closely embracing him with her two thighs and her two arms. She allows one place on her forehead to fall upon his two thighs. When asked to massage the place where his thighs join his torso, this does not rub her the wrong way.* She puts one hand right there and does not move it. When he squeezes it hard with the pincer made of his legs, after a long time she takes it away. 19When she has accepted the man’s advances in this way, she comes to him the next day to massage him again.

  20 She does not get too close to him, nor does she push him away. 21When they are alone, she reveals her feelings to him openly and for no reason, and does not hide them even in places that are not concealed. 22If she is being enjoyed by a servant close to her, and she keeps on with that, even though she has understood the man’s signals, then she can be won through a female messenger who knows her vulnerable spots. 23But if she still resists, then her intentions are questionable. That is how to test her feelings.

  24 And there are verses about this:

  At first, he achieves intimacy,

  and then a conversation.

  And in the course of the conversation

  they understand one another’s signals.

  25 If a man sees, through a woman’s replies,

  that she has grasped and accepted his signals,

  then, with no further hesitation,

  he makes advances to her.

  26 If a woman immediately reveals

  her feelings through her signals,

  he can make advances to her

  quickly, right at first sight.

  27 If a woman is given slippery signals

  but returns a candid answer, he realizes,

  ‘She, too, can be won in a moment’,

  for she longs ardently for sexual pleasure.

  28 This subtle method has been prescribed

  for a woman who is firm, not bold,

  and who takes care to make tests.

  Candid women can simply be won.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  [46] The Duties of a Female Messenger

  1 If a woman has revealed her gestures and signals but lets him see her only at infrequent intervals and has not done this before, he seduces her by means of a female messenger. 2The messenger gets access to the woman through her good character and then charms her by showing her little stories in pictures painted on a cloth, teaching her ways to become lucky in love, gossiping about people, reciting stories told by the poets and stories about men who have seduced other men’s wives, and praising her beauty, intelligence, skill, and good character. 3The messenger inspires regret in the woman by saying, ‘How could a girl like you have a husband like that?’ 4And she says, ‘You are lucky in love, but he is not fit even to be your servant.’ 5And in the woman’s presence, when true feelings are being revealed, she speaks relentlessly of the husband’s dull sexual energy, jealousy, dishonesty, ingratitude, disinclination for enjoyment, stinginess, fickleness, and other things hidden in him. 6When she notices that a particular flaw disturbs the woman, that is the one she insists upon. 7If the woman is a ‘doe’, then it is not a flaw for him to be a ‘hare’, 8and similar arguments can be made for a ‘mare’ or an ‘elephant cow’.

  9 Gonikaputra says: ‘When he has won the woman’s trust in this way, if this is her first rash act or if she has a delicate nature, he seduces her through a female messenger.’* 10The messenger tells the woman about the man’s accomplishments, how well he suits her, his sexual moves.* 11And as the woman reveals more and more of her true feelings, the messenger talks about the real purpose of her mission in a devious manner, with the following argument: 12‘Listen, you are lucky in love, but this is an extraordinary thing. That man over there, the son of such a good family, is a lover who fell madly in love with you at first sight. Since he is very delicate by nature, and has never been afflicted like this before, by anyone else, he is suffering terribly, burning up. It is therefore quite possible that he will even die of this today.’ That is how she describes him. 13If she succeeds in this, on the next day she tells her stories again, marking the favourable response in the woman’s speech, face, and eyes.

  14 As the woman listens, the messenger tells her well-known, relevant stories, about Ahalya, Avimaraka, Shakuntala, and others. 15She speaks of the man’s sexual powers, his knowledge of the sixty-four arts, and his luck in love, and she describes how he has made love secretly with some praiseworthy woman, which may or may not have happened in the past. 16She notes the woman’s signals, 17and when she sees her smile, she converses with her, 18and invites her to sit down. 19She asks her, ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Where did you sleep? Eat?’ ‘Where did you spend time?’ or ‘What did you do?’ 20She reveals herself to her when they are alone together. 21She gets her to tell little stories. 22She sighs and yawns, thoughtfully. 23She gives her love-gifts. 24She remembers her at sacrifices and festivals. 25She lets the woman go only after she has promised to let the messenger see her again.

  26The woman keeps the conversation going by saying to the messenger, ‘You speak so well, but why are you telling me these terrible things?’ 27The woman lists the man’s faults, his dishonesty and fickleness. 28She herself does not tell how she saw him before or spoke with him, but she longs for the messenger to talk about it. 29When the messenger is telling her about the man’s wishes, she laughs scornfully but does not scorn him.

  30 When the messenger has understood the woman’s signals she strengthens her resolve with recollections of the man. 31But if the woman is not familiar with him, the messenger snares her with stories about his good qualities and stories about his love for her.

  32 Auddalaki says: ‘Two people who have not become familiar with one another and have not sent one another signals have no use for a messenger.’ 33The followers of Babhravya say: ‘Two people who have sent one another signals, even if they are not familiar with one another, can use a messenger.’ 34Gonikaputra says: ‘Two people who are familiar with one another, even if they have not sent one another signals, can use a messenger.’ 35Vatsyayana says: Even two people who have not sent one another signals and are not familiar with one another can use a messenger, because of their confidence in the messenger.

  36 To such women, the messenger shows gifts that the man has sent, gifts that steal the heart, such as betel, perfumed oils, a garland, a ring, or a garment. 37These bear the traces of the man’s nails and teeth, and various other marks, as his possessions. 38On the garment he draws, in saffron, hands cupped together in supplication. 39The messenger shows the woman leaves cut into shapes with the forms of various intentions, and ear ornaments and chaplets with letters written on leaves concealed within them, 40letters in which he tells of his own wishes. And she gets the woman to send back gifts in return. 41When two people have accepted one another’s gifts in this way, their meeting depends on their confidence in the female messenger.

  42 The followers of Babhravya say: ‘This meeting can take place on the occasion of visiting the gods, at a festival, playing in a park, bathing or swimming, at a wedding, a sacrifice, disaster, or festival, the spectacle of a house on fire, the commotion after a robbery, the invasion of the countryside by an army, at theatrical spectacles, or in various sorts of activities.’* 43Gonikaputra says, ‘A meeting is easy to arrange in the houses of a girlfriend, a beggar woman, a Buddhist nun, or a female ascetic.’ 44Vatsyayana says: But in the woman’s own house, where he knows the exits and entrances and where it is possible to devise in advance counter-measures against potential dangers, his arrival and departure are secured even at an unpredictable time, and the meeting is reliable and easy to arrange.

  45 The types of female messengers are the fully authorized messenger, the messenger with limited authority, the letter carrier, the messenger acting for herself, the foolish messenger, the wife as messenger, the mute messenger, and the wind messenger.

  46 The fully authorized messenger underst
ands the goal that is in the minds of both the man and the woman and then by her own intelligence undertakes to bring it about. 47She is generally used by a man and a woman who are familiar with one another and have spoken together. 48She may be employed by the woman even if the couple are not familiar with one another and have not spoken together; 49or she may be employed, out of erotic curiosity, by two people who are suited to and appropriate for one another, even though they are not familiar with one another.

  50 The messenger with limited authority knows just one part of the task and one part of the courtship, and completes the rest. 51She is used by two people who have sent one another signals but have seen one another only at long intervals.

  52 The letter carrier just brings communications. 53She reports the time and place of the meeting for two people who are familiar with one another and whose feelings are deep.