201753 VtsyyanaWikipedia

Vtsyyana
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VtsyyanaisthenameofanIndianphilosopherintheVedic
traditionwhoisbelievedtohavelivedaround2ndcentury Vtsyyana
AD[1][2]inIndia.HisnameappearsastheauthoroftheKama Occupation Philosopher
Sutra.NottobeconfusedwithPakilasvminVtsyyana,the Nationality Indian
authorofNyyaSutraBhshya,thefirstpreservedcommentary
Period Guptaera
onGotama'sNyyaSutras.[3][4]
Notableworks KamaSutra
HisnameissometimesconfusedwithMallanaga,theprophetof
theAsuras,towhomtheoriginoferoticscienceisattributed.ThisisanerrorasDanilousays:[5]

TheattributionofthefirstnameMallanagatoVatsyayanaisduetotheconfusionofhisroleaseditor
oftheKamaSutrawiththatofthemythicalcreatoroferoticscience.

Hardlyanythingisknownabouthim,althoughitisbelievedthathisdiscipleswentonhisinstructions,onthe
requestoftheHinduKingsintheHimalayanrangetoinfluencethehilltribalstogiveupthepagancultof
sacrifices.HeissaidtohavecreatedthelegendofTaraamongthehilltribesasatantricgoddess.Laterasthe
worshipspreadtotheeastGarohills,thegoddessmanifestofa'yoni'goddessKamakhyawascreated.Hisinterest
inhumansexualbehaviorasamediumofattainingspiritualitywasrecordedinhistreatiseKamaSutra.

AtthecloseoftheKamaSutrathisiswhathewritesabouthimself:

AfterreadingandconsideringtheworksofBabhravyaandotherancientauthors,andthinkingoverthe
meaningoftherulesgivenbythem,thistreatisewascomposed,accordingtothepreceptsoftheHoly
Writ,forthebenefitoftheworld,byVatsyayana,whileleadingthelifeofareligiousstudentat
Benares,andwhollyengagedinthecontemplationoftheDeity.Thisworkisnottobeusedmerelyas
aninstrumentforsatisfyingourdesires.Apersonacquaintedwiththetrueprinciplesofthisscience,
whopreserveshisDharma(virtueorreligiousmerit),hisArtha(worldlywealth)andhisKama
(pleasureorsensualgratification),andwhohasregardtothecustomsofthepeople,issuretoobtain
themasteryoverhissenses.Inshort,anintelligentandknowingpersonattendingtoDharmaand
ArthaandalsotoKama,withoutbecomingtheslaveofhispassions,willobtainsuccessineverything
thathemaydo.

ItisimpossibletofixtheexactdateeitherofthelifeofVatsyayanaorofhiswork.Itisbelievedthathemusthave
livedbetweenthe1stand6thcenturyAD,onthefollowinggrounds:HementionsthatSatakarniSatavahana,a
kingofKuntal,killedMalayevatihiswifewithaninstrumentcalledKatamaribystrikingherinthepassionof
love.Vatsyayanaquotesthiscasetowarnpeopleofthedangerarisingfromsomeoldcustomsofstrikingwomen
whenundertheinfluenceofsexualpassion.ThiskingofKuntalisbelievedtohavelivedandreignedduringthe
1stcenturyAD,andconsequentlyVatsyayanamusthavelivedafterhim.Ontheotherhand,anotherauthor,
Varahamihira,intheeighteenthchapterofhis"Brihatsanhita",discussesofthescienceoflove,andappearstohave
borrowedlargelyfromVatsyayanaonthesubject.Varahamihiraisbelievedtohavelivedduringthe6thcentury,
andthereforeVatsyayanamusthavewrittenhisworksbeforethe6thcentury.

Vatsyayana'sKamaSutradescribestechniquesofcryptography.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%81tsy%C4%81yana 1/3
201753 VtsyyanaWikipedia

Contents
1 Seealso
2 Notes
3 References
4 Externallinks

Seealso
Vatsyayanacipher

Notes
1.http://www.readbookonline.net/read/19129/54819/
2.http://www.alternet.org/story/86582/a_brief_history_of_the_kama_sutra
3.SuresChandraBanerji.ACompaniontoSanskritLiterature.MotilalBanarsidassPub.,1990,p.104105.
4.https://books.google.co.in/books?
id=JkOAEdIsdUsC&lpg=PP1&vq=paksilisa&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q=kamasutra&f=false
5.Danielou,p.4
6.DavidKahn,TheCodebreakers,1967,ISBN0684831309.

References
Fosse,LarsMartin,TheKamasutra.YogaVidya.com,WoodstockNY,2012
Doniger,Wendy&Kakar,Sudhir,Vatsyayana'sKamasutra.OxfordUniversityPress,USA,2009

Externallinks
WorksbyVtsyyana(https://www.gutenberg.org/author/Vatsyayan
Wikisourcehasoriginal
a)atProjectGutenberg workswrittenbyorabout:
WorksbyoraboutVtsyyana(https://archive.org/search.php?query Vtsyyana
=%28%28subject%3A%22Vtsyyana%22%20OR%20creator%3
A%22Vtsyyana%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Vtsyyana%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Vtsyyan
a%22%20OR%20%28V%2Atsy%2Ayana%29%29%29%20AND%20%28mediatype:software%29)at
InternetArchive
WorksbyVtsyyana(http://librivox.org/author/1248)atLibriVox(publicdomainaudiobooks)
VatsyayanaKamasutraCompletetranslationinenglish(http://www.bharatadesam.com/literature/vatsyayan
a_kamasutras/vatsyayana_kamasutra_index.php)
OriginalintroductiontoLarsMartinFosse'stranslationoftheKamasutra(http://www.yogavidya.com/Yoga/
Unedited%20Kamasutra%20Intro.pdf)

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Categories: 2ndcenturyIndianphilosophers Indianlogicians Nyaya Philosophyoflove

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