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Erotic Literature (Sanskrit), by Devangana Desai

bharata's nATyashAstra refers to kAmatantra, which may be a general name for
a subject, or a treatise composed before vatsyayana's kAmasUtra (dated 3d-4th
c.)

The science of erotics grew in association with esoteric religious practices
in the late vedic period but acquired independent status later.

[In Hinduism, religion, earthly life, and salvation are treated equally;
neglecting one component makes human life incomplete - and knowledge of
sexual mores was an important part of the individual's role, and society
would suffer if this was not strong.  Erotics also related to married life
and conception. ]

BABHRAVYA: of the Panchala region, a pre-vAtsyayana authority on the subject
who traces his work to nandikeshvara and uddalaka shvetaketu.  Babhravya's
work, now lost but referred to by V, consisted of 150 chapters arranged into
seven sections.  The scheme of these sections, retained by V, are:
	1) sAdhAraNa: general observations
	2) samprayogika (union of man and woman)
	3) kanyasamprayuktaka (selection of the bride)
	4) bharyadhikarika (position and conduct of the wife)
	5) paradarika (extramarital relations with wives of others)
	6) vaishika (dealing with courtesans)
	7) supanishadika (secret formulae, tonic medicines, etc)
Babhravya's disciples also contributed to this work -


DATTAKA: at the request of courtesans of Pataliputra, focused on the
vaishikam_, the sixth section of Babhravya.
The way Dattaka is mentioned in Kamasutra, it can be safely assumed that
[Dattaka preceded Vatsyayana by a couple of centuries. But Bana of
Harshacharita quotes Dattaka, so the book was still in existence during Bana
Period.  - http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/dating-vatsyayanas-kamasutra.html]

specialized writing on other sections:
	charayana, (also cited in kauTilya's arthashAstra)
	suvarnanabha,
	ghoTakamukha, (cited in arthashAstra)
	gonardiya   (cited in Mahabhasya of Patanjali)
	goNikaputra (cited in Mahabhasya of Patanjali, also in the later kAnchinAtha)
	kuchumara

Vatsyayana, while condensing the commentaries of Dattaka and others, retained
the general scheme of Babhravya in his comprehensive work kAmasUtra, which
became the standard and definitive work on the subject for centuries.

dating kamasutra:
Shama Shastri says that Vatsyayana flourished between 137 AD to 209 AD, while
Bhandarkar places him around 100 AD, and Keith before 4th century
AD. A.K. Warder suggests that Kamasutra was probably produced in 3rd century
AD. Doniger and Kakar (2003) almost agree with Warder by assuming that
kamasutra must have been composed after 225 AD. Vatsyayana has referred king
Satakarni by name. According to Puranas Kuntala Satakarni was 13th Andhra
king in Satavahana dynasty. He was son of Mrgendra Svatikarna and he ruled in
Kali era 2487-2481 (615-607 BC). The Satavahanas flourished till second
century BC. So what is the date let us find out.

[Batuknath Bhattacharya says it is hard to believe that kamasutra was later
than Natyasastra. He says considering the style in which it is composed-
distinctly Aphoristic in nature and reminiscent of Sutra
period(600-200BC). Vatsyayana divides men into sasa , vrsa , Asva and woman
into Mrgi,Badava, Hastini from their different capacities of
Samproyoga. While Bhrarta in Natyasastra divides women into 24 varieties
based on Aestheic, intellectual and Moral Standards. Kamasutra does not
mention Natyasastra. - dating-vatsyayanas-kamasutra.html]

commentaries on kAmasUtra:
jayamangala:  by Yashodhara (11-12th c.)
ratirahasya (10-12th c.)
nagara-sarvasva by Buddhist monk padmashri, abt 11th c. - 18 verse
	chapters on the amorous life of a prince
panchasayaka by jyotirshvara of Mithila (early 14th c.)
ratimaNjarI - summarizing erotics in sixty verses, by Jayadeva 15th c.
anangaranga of kalyanamalla who wrote for king Ladkhan of the Lodi
	dynasty (16th c.)
kandarpachuDamaNi of king virabhadradeva of the Vaghela dynasty (1577??)
	[Gujarat; the Vaghela dynasty was overcome by Alauddin Khalji in
	1299; could it be S. Indian?]
ratiratnapradIpika of maharaj devarAja (17th c.)
smaradipika from S. India
kAmasamuha by court physician ananga, to guide polymous royal patron (1457)

kAmashAstra as part of traditional curriculum

The study of kAmashAstra was incorporated into the traditional educational
curriculum and taken up as seriously as dharmashAstra and arthashAstra.
The prince SiddhArtha learned it as one of the subjects, according to
ashvaghoSha.  This tradition continued till the medieval period.

Poets were required to be proficient in the knowledge of erotics.
[kAvya literature - flourished under court patronage].
artificiality and elegance of courtly life.

audience: cultured nAgaraka and rasika (man of taste);
knowledge displayed in descriptions of love making
	- sambhoga-shringara (love in union)
	- vipralambha-shringara (love in separation)
		- ten stages of longing (from nATyashAstra, ch24-25)

treatises of poetics and dramaturgy incorporate elements of kAmashAstra.

Ashvaghosha: buddhacharita - includes details of the coquetries by harem
	girls trying to win Siddhartha.
   saundarAnanda - the love-dalliance of Nanda with his wife Sundari

other kAvyas:
	meghadUta - yaksha's wife's svapnasamagama (union in dream)
		    urumUla samvAhana - massage of thighs - II.36
	ritusamhAra - pleasures of lovers in different seasons
	mayurashatakam - 7th c. AD - sambhoga-shringara in 8 verses - young
		girl coming out of a guhyashala (secret chamber) - preparing
		for surata (coition).
	chaurapanchAsika - minute details of physical love - poet is about to
		be executed..  limb-to-limb close embrace (verse 6),
		viparitarata (verse 12) other postures (v. 48) etc.

Kalidasa's detailed description, in kumArasambhava of the Shiva-Uma
union, invited criticism from medieval theoreticians on propriety
(auchitya).

Erotics became a matter of display and erudition in Sanskrit
... urumula-samvahana (shampooing/massage of the upper thigh), surata
(coition) and surata-shrama (exhaustion due to surata).

The description of the sex-life of patron kings became a convention in
eulogies.  In a prashasti composed by Mayura, meant to be read aloud in the
court of Harsha (7th c.), the king's conquests of many lands and his
love-making are merged:
		Yet we regard you, Your Highness alone
		indeed 	as the real husband of the earth.
		for having touched her person (anga)
		and caressed her hair (kuntala)
		and thrown aside her long robe (chola)
		and taken possession of her central region (madhya-desha)
		your hand is now laid on her girdle (kanchi)

Bibliography:
Alex Comfort, The koka-shAstra: Being the ratirahasya of kokkoka and other
	medieval indian writings on love, 1964
Devangana Desai: Erotic sculpture of India, a socio-cultural study, Delhi 1975
H C CHakladar: Social life in Ancient India: studies in Vatsyayana's
	kAmasUtra (Calcutta 1929)
Narendranath Bhattacharya, History of Indian erotic literature (1975)
Rakesh Gupta: Studies of Nayaka-nAyika bheda (Allahabad 1967)
R. Schmidt: Beitrage zur Indischen Erotik (Berlin 1922)
SK De: Ancient Indian erotics and erotic literature (Calcutta 1959)
SK De and SN Dasgupta: A history of Sanskrit literature, v.1 classical
	period, 1947
WG Archer: Preface to kokashAstra by A. Comfort, 1964