Outstanding translation of a classic text

books:

	• The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text Inner Traditions, 1993 - 576 pages average customer review:based on 30 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

WARNING!

I purchased this book after it being recommended by a friend of mine. While reading it, my husband comments "there sure aren't a lot of pictures. So if you're buying this book for "pictures" you will be disappointed. However if you have an actual interest in the history and meaning behind the Sutra, this books fer you!

My Favorite...Sorry Sir Richard

I have read both Sir Richard Burton's translation and this one, and I'm sorry to say that I like this one best (sorry because I have enormous admiration for Burton). It seems as though Danielou's version is much more accessible to modern readers, while Burton's translation is handicapped by the Victorian mindset under which he toiled.

I'd hasten to point out, however, that some of the ideas in this book are no longer viable. For example, biting and scratching are probably not the best means of expressing your appreciation for your partner.

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The Complete Kama Sutra

An excellent informative book.
Must be approached as a religion and not a list of sexual positions.
otherwise you will be disappointed.

D

Great Book

This is a great book my husband is actually reading it with me and he hates to read. It has also improved our marrige and love life

Outstanding translation of a classic text

I don't doubt that many people buy this work because of the textlinks">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.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

This definitive volume is the first modern translation of Vatsyayana's textlinks">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.

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