Plan of the Thesis

Barring the preface and conclusion, the thesis has been divided into five chapters in the following manner:

I. Rise of Urbanization and Luxury Life in India;
II. An Appraisal of Kāmaśāstra Works in Sanskrit;
III. Thematic Analysis of Vātsyāyanakāmasūtra;
IV. Positioning Kāma Among the Puruṣārthas;
V. Looking for Alternatives: Possibilities in Kāmaśāstra.

Chapter one deals with the background of luxury life which emerged from the urbanization process of ancient India. The rise of early Indian urbanization and major cities, fall of Gupta period with its contribution, formational backdrop of the society reflected in Kāmaśāstra and the institutionalization of sexuality are discussed. This is intended to be a key chapter to the whole thesis other than preface and it highlights the urban process and its developmental aspects that happened in ancient India leading to the formation of a city-centered culture called erotic culture in Indian history.

Chapter two is a survey on the literary enormity of Kāmaśāstra genre and it is mainly intended for a general awareness on the concerned area. In this chapter, apart from the analysis of Kāmaśāstra tradition, a descriptive account of more than twenty one post-Kāmasūtra works is furnished. The chapter is wound up discussing the textual insufficiency of Kāmaśāstra branch of knowledge.

Chapter three is comparatively long in its structure. It is concentrated on the content-wise analysis of Vātsyāyana’s Kāmasūtra. Authorship and date, commentaries and textual framework of Kāmasūtra are explained here as an introduction. Afterwards, elaborate descriptions on each of the seven Adhikaraṇas of Kāmasūtra are furnished. The chapter concludes by explaining Kāmasūtra’s methodology, scope and its place among the genres of Kāmaśāstra. There exists a misconception that Kāmasūtra is a work which entirely deals with various postures of sexual intercourse and purely a pornographic text. This is because of the absence of proper textual analysis of Kāmasūtra. This chapter is an attempt to explore the content of Kāmasūtra.

Chapter four is an attempt to determine the position of Kāma among the four Puruṣārthas. Here, the Puruṣārthas are taken to a detailed analysis. Definition, meaning, tradition, transitional aspects and significance of Dharma and Artha are described. The chapter highlights the importance and the position of Kāma among the Puruṣārthas. For this purpose, different aspects of Kāma have been taken for analysis. A short description of Mokṣa is also provided here. The chapter concludes with a finding that deliberations on Puruṣārthas confirm that the term Mokṣa is contradictory to Kāma.

The fifth chapter entirely focuses upon the core concepts of life and body described in the works of Kāmaśāstra. The chapter starts with an account of ancient literary references on sexuality. It is meant for creating awareness on the nature of sexuality in early India. Along with this, the sexual concept of Tāntric tradition is also discussed considering Tantra as a system of knowledge which treats sexuality with more importance. After that, the conceptual transition of human life through spiritual as well as sexual streams has been described in detail in connection with the advent of Kāmaśāstra. The subtitle ‘Ancient Indian Social Life: Excerpts from Kāmaśāstra’, discusses the social life of the people where Kāmaśāstra played its pivotal role. Class and caste in Kāmaśāstra, marriage systems, identity of women as ideal wife and courtesan, sexual minorities, importance of sexual education, livelihood and entertainments of people and significance of arts are all described here. Another important topic discussed in this chapter is the significance of material body. Here an attempt has been made to go through the thematic enormity of Sahṛdayalīlā which advocates a better knowledge as to how the body is to be cared and represented with due aesthetic sense. Topics like the body in Kāmaśāstra, divisions of body and body as the chief prop of beauty are also discussed here. The chapter concludes by analyzing the alternative outlook towards life in ancient Indian scenario with reference to Kāmaśāstra.

The conclusion provides a summary of what has been done as well as the findings of the research.

I extend profound gratitude and indebtedness to Dr. Dharmarajan P. K., Professor, Department of Sanskrit Sahitya, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady who has supervised my research work. His illuminating insight was of great help to me at every stage of the preparation of my thesis.

I am grateful to Dr. V. R. Muralidharan, HOD, Department of Sanskrit Sahitya, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady for providing me all the necessary facilities and requirements to do my research successfully.

I also thank Dr. P. V. Ramankutty, Visiting Professor, Department of Sanskrit General, Dr. T. Mini, Member Syndicate and Associate Professor, Department of Sanskrit Sahitya, Dr. Reeja B. Kavanal, Professor, Department of Sanskrit Sahitya and all other teachers for their valuable suggestions and encouragements. I convey my gratefulness to all the statutory members of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady for providing sufficient funding in this course of time. And finally my hearty thanks are due for all my well-wishers who have been extremely supportive during the course of my preparation of the thesis.

Nidheesh Kannan B.