4.1. Summary of Kāma-sūtra Book 2: Sāmprayogika

[Full title: Kāma-sūtra Adhikaraṇa II—Sāmprayogika (sāmprayogikam)]

Sāmprayogika [sāmprayogikam] or Amorous Advances is the second book of Kāmasūtra where the first chapter on stimulation of erotic desire is discussed. There are two chapters in this book.

The first chapter is on stimulation of erotic desire. Here there are two chapters or prakaraṇas. According to the size of sexual organ man was classified into three types viz; hare, bull and stallion and woman also three as doe, mare and female elephant^[1]. According to the satisfaction at the end of the intercourse, they are again classified as feeble, middling and passionate temperaments. Similarly, as far as the duration of the act is concerned, there are rapid, average and slow. Here, an elaborate controversial discussion about the pleasure acquisition of men and women on or after intercourse raised by the ancestral authors and Vātsyāyana establishes his theory by analyzing all the arguments on the problem.

His opinion is that:

“Both men and women experience the same sexual enjoyment from start to finish, because they are belonging to the same species and seek the same pleasure in sexual relations. This is why desire must first be stimulated by preliminary attentions”^[2].

Then, the demonstration of nine forms of sexual act according to the moment, desire and the size of organs are described here^[3]. The chapter ends with the fourfold reasons from which love is generated viz; love born from practice, imaginary or intellectual love, substitute love and mercenary love respectively^[4].

Chapter two is on embraces. It is said by Bābhravya that there are eight broad divisions for sexual union, they are embrace, kissing, scratching with nails, biting, lying down, making various sounds, playing as the part of a man and the mouth congress^[5]. Of them the present chapter has taken embraces as the focal subject. Vātsyāyana states that the embrace which indicates the mutual love of a man and woman who have come together and is of four kinds according to Bābhravya. They are; touching. piercing, rubbing and pressing. Each of these is specifically defined. At the time of intercourse between the pairs, the following four kinds of embraces are used; encircling like a liana, climbing the tree, sesame and rice, milk and water. Suvarṇanābha classifies another four kinds of embraces concerning a part of the body. They are; embracing the thighs, embracing the sexual area, embracing the breasts and finally embrace of the forehead respectively.

Vātsyāyana accepts all these eight types of embraces and concluding the chapter, it has been said thus:

“The rules of the śāstra apply as long as the passion of man is middling, but when the wheel of love is once set in motion, there is no śāstra and no order”^[6].

Third chapter in this book is on kissing. It is one of the imperative foreplay in the sexual intercourse. It will inflame the sexual aspiration gradually from its beginning.

In this chapter, the sensitive places of the body for the arousing the desire by kissing are pointed out.

“Kisses can be placed on the brow, the cheeks, the throat, the eyes, a boy’s chest, a women’s breast, the lower lip and inside the mouth. The people of Gujarat also lick the labia of vagina, the crotch, the underside of the arms and the pubis. Vātsyāyana’s opines: In the heat of passion and following local custom, people like these parts and places which does not, however imply that everyone should do the same”^[7].

After that the varieties of kisses” namely nominal, vibrant, rubbing, straight, bent turned and pressed kiss, greatly pressed kiss, kiss of the upper lip, clasping kiss, fighting of the tongue, kiss that kindles love, kiss that turns away, kiss that awakens, kiss that showing the intention, transferred kiss and demonstrative kiss are described with the explanation about the situtions when they are to be used.

Chapter four is about scratching. According to Vātsyāyana,

“The nails are used for scratching and scraping in the heat of passion, or by contrast to show vigor. When enthusiasm is lacking or on the evening of an amorous encounter, on returning from a journey or prior to departure. This practice is also a sign of anger, joy or intoxication, but it cannot be practiced in every circumstance”^[8].

It is of eight types, viz; sounding, half moon, a circle, a line, a tiger’s nail or claw, a peacock’s foot, the jump of a hare and the leaf of a blue lotus. The cheeks, the breasts, the neck, the thighs and the crotch are the suitable parts of the body for scratching”^[9].

Along with this, eight qualities of fingernails are described.

“They should be bright, well set, clean, entire, convex, soft and glossy in appearance”^[10].

According to their size, it is categorized as small, middling and large. It is also stated before concluding the chapter that, the marks of the nails should not be made on other man’s woman, but particular kinds of marks may be made on their private parts for remembering and increasing the love^[11].

Chapter five deals with biting and it contains two prakaraṇas or sub chapters. The first prakaraṇa is about the ways of biting and the second is on different customs from different regions. The places for kissing are also for biting, except for the upper lip, inside of the mouth and eyes. Qualities of teeth-both good and bad-are described here^[12]. Hidden, swollen, dot, garland of dot, coral and jewel, garland of jewels, scattered clouds and gnawing of the wild boar are the eight kinds of biting categorized herewith. Followed by the description of biting, regional characteristics of females in their sexual behavior also explained in this chapter. After analyzing the characteristics, Vātsyāyana has adopted the opinion of Suvarṇanābha in this subject, He opines that; “the nature of the individual is more important than the nature of the region”^[13].

Chapter six is on copulation, which comprises of two prakaraṇas. While taking into account local mores, personal inclinations, entwining and the other means of excitation, the various methods of penetration etc. are envisaged in this chapter. Here, woman is directed to open or contract her sexual organ depending upon the size of penis. It is said that the women can control the width of her organ in the following three ways-blossoming, expanding and queen of heaven respectively^[14]. Four kinds of penetration are recommended to bring small or very small organs to orgasm. They are; box, great pressure, envelopment and mare accordingly^[15]. These positions are said by Bābhravya. Suvarṇanābha introduces eleven types of postures, viz; bent, gaping, high pressure, half pressure, broken flute, implement, crab, tight, lotus position, spin and making love in water^[16]. But, Vātsyāyana disagrees Suvarṇanābha’s opinion about the posture in water^[17]. The clarification for this argument can be seen in the Jayamaṅgalā commentary on Kāmasūtra.

Where, Yaśodhara Indrapāla states,

“To say that it is easier means nothing, since it is forbidden by any author. According to Gautami, copulation in the water leads to hell, while, the Bhārgavas (disciples of Bhṛgu) indicate the penances to be performed after such an act:

“When sperm comes into contact with water as a penance one should fast for a month (Cāndrāyana)”.

For this reason, one should make love when dry”^[18].

Thus, the first prakaraṇa ends by describing thirteen methods of penetration. Now, the second prakaraṇa on special sexual practices. Some of the important of them are; supported congress, suspended congress, congress of a cow, congress of herd of cows etc. A short description on group sex and anal sex are subjected here.

Chapter seven is on various modes of slapping and on the sounds appropriate to them. This chapter starts with a statement that:

“Sexual relations can be conceived of as a kind of combat, and eroticism as a contest and perverse behavior”^[19].

So, slapping is considered as a part of pleasure in sexual intercourse. It can be made use on the shoulders, head, between the breasts, on the back, between the legs, and on the sides by four ways like with the back of the head, the outstretched hand, the first and the flat palm of the hand respectively. Followed by this, appropriate sounds or erotic articulations arise out are described. Mainly there are eight kinds of sounds, they are; whimpering, groaning, babbling, crying, panting, shrieking, sobbing and various other sounds of meaning “oh mother”, “stop”, “let go”, “enough” etc. The women produce articulations related with the voice of pigeon, cuckoo, turtle dove, parrot, bee, nightingale, goose, duck and partridge when she groans under her lover’s blows described here occasionally. Then, the usage of four types of slapping other than the explained ones according to the Dākṣiṇātyas with the characteristics of each are explained. They are the nail, the knife, the borer and the princes respectively^[20]. The harmful effects due to the usage of such slapping methods are also described and the chapter ends with a disclaimer that these modes of enjoyments should be used only at the proper time and in the proper countries and places.

The eighth chapter has two prakaraṇas. Of them, the first prakaraṇa named “puruṣāyitaprakaraṇa” or the women playing the man’s part and is one of the most important topics in Kāmasūtra.

“When the woman sees that man become exhausted by the continuous repetition of sexual intercourse, but his desire is still never quenched, women may with his permission, roll him under her and give him some help by playing the man’s part herself”^[21].

This is the general information regarding puruṣāyita in Kāmasūtra. Usually, there are two ways of doing this: the first is during intercourse women turns round and gets on top of man, in such a manner as to continue the intercourse without obstructing the pleasure of it; and the second is when she acts the man’s part from the beginning. The second prakaraṇa of this chapter explains sodomization of men. It is of two types viz; exterior and interior. These may lead women to accessible, cooperating and hostile. Then, ten types of men’s sexual strokes are mentioned, viz; normal, churning, rod, devastator, cruel, thunderbolt, wild boar’s thrust, bull’s attack, bird’s amusement and box with definitions of each^[22]. One should choose from these sexual strokes and use the one particularly suited for each woman. But, when woman plays like man, in addition the tongs, the spinning top and the swing are to be used^[23]. At the end of this chapter, it is directed that such roles of inversion should not be done when women are undergoing their period, who are about to give birth, are too narrow, who are pregnant or are too big etc^[24].

Mouth congress otherwise called oral sex is treated in the ninth chapter. This chapter is specifically aimed at the sexual minorities like gays, lesbians, transgenders etc. Vātsyāyana calls such people as tṛtīyaprakṛti (third gender). They are of two kinds in the form of both man and woman^[25]. Both of them will get sexual satisfaction and means of livelihood by doing oral sex to men. Their life is same as a sex-worker. The mouth congress is classified as external and internal. Of them, the external is of three types viz; casual, biting the sides and outer tongs. Inner tongs, kissing, polishing, sucking the mango and swallowing are the five types of internal mouth congress. Oral sex also performed by promiscuous women, loose women, servant girls and masseuses. But ancient scholars and law texts restricted this.

Vātsyāyana says that:

“The orders of the law treatises do not restrict the contact with courtesans and the above mentioned people included in the class of courtesans. So, there is no unusualness in doing oral sex with them. At the same time, according to the norms of law texts, oral sex with married women is strictly prohibited”^[26].

The chapter concludes by explaining the mouth congress of men and women with their own genders.

The last chapter of book two, comprised of three prakaranas, deals with the beginning and end of sexual intercourse, different kinds of intercourse and love quarrels. In the room -specially dedicated to sexual activities-where citizen with his friends will receive the lady and create an atmosphere for making pleasure in her through different ways like amusing conversations on various subjects, playing musical instruments, persuade each other to drink and many more. This is the beginning of sexual union^[27]. At the end of sex, both of them with modesty, not looking each other will go separately to the toilets. After that, they sit together and eat or drink anything, which may vary in different regions and are known to be sweet, soft and pure. They may also sit on the terrace of the house, enjoy the beauty of sky with moonlight, and tell stories that suit their mood. While women lies in his lap, with facing towards the moon, citizen should points out the rows of the constellation to her, look at the Pleiades, Polestar, and Seven stars that form the great bear^[28]. In the verses, some general remarks on the topic are described^[29]. The next prakaraṇa is about different kind of sex. It is categorically of seven types. They are; passionate sex, excitable passion, sex with a coarse servant, sex with peasant and unfettered sex respectively. Definitions for each of them is also described^[30]. The third prakaraṇa and the end of the second book is on details about love quarrels. In Kāmasūtra, lovers’ quarrels is pictured as it is born from mutual understanding between the pairs. The main reasons for such quarrels is that a woman who is very much in love with a man cannot bear to hear the name of her co-wife, or to have any conversation regarding her, or to be addressed by her name through mistake etc^[31]. Understanding woman’s response and expressions, the man is directed to make compromise with her. When man is coming to solve the problem, she may grab his hair and pull his face up, kick him once, twice or thrice on his arms, head, chest or back^[32]. It is said that the kick of women to men at the time of love quarrel is not harm and at the same time, the elder citizens consider it as a sign of fortune^[33]. These are said about the ideal wives, women etc. In the case of courtesans or other women, the hero may engage libertines, panders and clowns to assuage her anger^[34].

Thus the second book of Kāmasūtra concludes in six verses, where it is said that:

“if a man does not know the sixty-four divisions of erotics, no respect is paid to him in the assembly of the learned”^[35].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 1. 1

[2]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 1. 23-30

[3]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 1. 31-32

[4]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 1. 40-44

[5]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 2. 4

[6]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 2. 31

[7]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 3. 4-6

[8]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 4. 2

[9]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 4. 4-5

[10]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 4. 7

[11]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 4. 2-6

[12]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 5. 2-3

[13]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 5. 34

[14]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 6. 7

[15]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 6. 15

[16]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 6. 23-34

[17]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 6. 35

[18]:

Trans. Alain Danīlou

[19]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 7. 1

[20]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 7. 24

[21]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 8. 1

[22]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 8. 20-30

[23]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 8. 32

[24]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 8. 41

[25]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 9. 1

[26]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 9. 26-27

[27]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 1-5

[28]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 6-9

[29]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 10-13

[30]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 14-15

[31]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 27

[32]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 30

[33]:

Yaśodhara Indrapāla in the Jayamaṅgalā commentary on Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 30

[34]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 34

[35]:

Kāmasūtra, 2. 10. 35