The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text
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Book Summary Information
Translator: Alain Dani?louEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Unabridged
Published: 1994-01-01
ISBN: 0892814926
Number of pages: 564
Publisher: Park Street Press
Book Reviews of The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text
Book Review: Outstanding translation of a classic text
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't doubt that many people buy this work because of the Kama Sutra's racy reputation. Despite the fact that Danielou is not shy about translating issues of same-sex intercourse, seduction of other men's wives, and such, the overall work here is of immense historical value.
First Dalielou provides a remarkably straight-forward translation to the text itself, preserving is structure to a large degree. This changes the feel of the work to more closely match the original.
More significantly, however, Danielou includes the two most important commentaries on the text, providing more information as to how the thought evolved and how different scholars interpreted it. This is significant as well.
All in all, the work appears to me to be one which aimed at happy married life (despite the sections which seem counterproductive to that). A great deal of time is spent on questions of courtship, marriage, duties in marriage and the like.
For those interested in Tantra, this book is also a useful starting point.
Overall, I would highly recommend this work.
More The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text reviews:
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Summary of The Complete Kama Sutra : The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text
This definitive volume is the first modern translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra to include two essential commentaries: the Jayamangala of Yashodhara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Alain Danilou spent four years comparing versions of the Kama Sutra in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, and English, drawing on his intimate experience of India, to preserve the full explicitness of the original. I wanted to demystify India, he writes, to show that a period of great civilization, of high culture, is forcibly a period of great liberty.The galaxy of pleasures in Alain Daniélou's translation of the Kama Sutra takes you back to an India where sexuality was an integral part of life and an avenue to spiritual bliss. As Devadatta Shastri says in his commentary: "At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitudes of being." Daniélou's elegant rendering includes not only the entire sutra, much of which is excluded in other versions, but two essential commentaries as well. More than just a pillow book, the Kama Sutra is a guide to the labyrinth of sexual etiquette, from how to bathe before meeting a lover to how lovers should entertain each other after making love. Admittedly, the text is dated and culture bound in places; it can be chauvinistic, bizarre, and even violent. The commentators are careful to point out, however, that the work is an overview of all sexual practices, some of which are not recommended. Take from this encyclopedia of amour what you will and let it keep you moving down the path of spiritual practice. --Brian Bruya
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