Skip to content

The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text Paperback - 1993

by Alain Daniélou

  • Used

This edition of the definitive modern translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra is the first to include two essential commentaries--the Jayamangala of Yashodhara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Danielou spent four years comparing versions of the Kama Sutra, drawing on his intimate experience of India to preserve the full explicitness of the original.

Description

Inner Traditions International, Limited. Used - Very Good. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.
Used - Very Good
NZ$12.09
FREE Shipping to USA Standard delivery: 4 to 8 days
More Shipping Options
Ships from Better World Books (Indiana, United States)
The BIBLIO Guarantee | Ask Seller a Question

Details

About Better World Books Indiana, United States

Biblio member since 2005
Seller rating: This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Better World Books is the world's leading socially conscious online bookseller and has sold over 100 million books. Each sale generates funds for global literacy and education initiatives. We offer low prices, fast shipping, and have a 100% money back guarantee, if you are not completely satisfied.

Terms of Sale:

Better World Books wants every single one of its customers to be happy with their purchase. If you are not satisfied your purchase or simply find out that it was not the book you were looking for, please e-mail us at: help@betterworldbooks.com. We will get back to you as soon as possible with directions on how to return the book to our warehouse. Please keep in mind that because we deal mostly in used books, any extra components, such as CDs or access codes, are usually not included. CDs: If the book does include a CD, it will be noted in the book's description ("With CD!"). Otherwise, there is no CD included, even if the term is used in the book's title. Access Codes: Unless the book is described as "New," please assume that the book does *not* have an access code.

Browse books from Better World Books

From the rear cover

LITERATURE / SEXUALITY "Danielou's new and complete translation of the Kama Sutra is one of his masterpieces. It is all enchantment, a world of refined sensation totally without humbug. Our debt to his scholarship and humanity is immeasurable." --The Times Literary Supplement The world's oldest and most widely read guide to the pleasures and techniques of sex, the Kama Sutra was compiled in the fourth century A.D. by a Brahmin and religious scholar name Vatsyayana, who worked from texts dating back to the fourth century B.C. Until the present, the only English translation of his Hindu love classic was that of the famous English explorer Sir Richard Burton, published in 1883. Unlike Burton's version, Alain Danielou's new translation preserves the numbered verse divisions of the original and includes two essential commentaries: the Fayamangala commentary, written in Sanskrit by Yashodhara during the Middle Ages, and a modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Whereas Burton's Victorian reluctance to translate certain terms obscured our understanding of the philosophy and techniques of the Kama Sutra, Danielou has preserved the full explicitness of the original, dealing with everything from the art of scratching to relations with the wives of others. Realistic and pragmatic in its approach, the Kama Sutra deals without ambiguity or hypocrisy with all aspects of sexual life--including marriage, adultery, prostitution, group sex, sadomasochism, male and female homosexuality, and transvestism. The text paints a fascinating portrait of an India whose openness to sexuality gave rise to a highly developed expression of the erotic. ALAIN DANIeLOU, in a career spanning six decades, has elucidated for thousands of readers the meanings of the art, music, and religious traditions of both East and West. His numerous books include The Myths and Gods of India, Gods of Love and Ecstasy, and Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation.

Categories

About the author

Alain Danilou (1907-1994) was without question a Renaissance man. Following his early years as an artist, dancer, and musician in Paris (Cocteau, Diaghilev, and Stravinsky were among his friends), Danilou settled in India, where he spent fifteen years in the study of Sanskrit, philosophy, and music. After numerous university appointments in India, he returned in 1963 to Europe, establishing the Institute of Comparative Music Studies in Berlin for the reevaluation of Asian music. Danilou wrote more than thirty books about the philosophy, religion, history, and arts of India, including Gods of Love and Ecstasy; Myths and Gods of India; Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation; While the Gods Play; The Phallus; and Music and the Power of Sound.

Hang on… we’re fetching the requested page.