The 7 Strangest Tips from the Real Kama Sutra

Sex is a science. Just ask Vatsyayana, the man who wrote the world’s greatest technical sex manual.

Well, you actually can’t ask him, since he died 1,700 years ago. But you can pick up the original Kama Sutra and discover that love in the 3^rd century CE was a lot like love today.

Yes, some parts of it are outdated. Really outdated. But on the whole, the Kama Sutra was ahead of its time, providing a surprisingly modern glimpse of love and relationships. The original text showed that love was more than just mechanics.

Below are some pointers from Vatsyayana himself.

1.) Know Your Weak Points

Ever wonder about the character flaws that destroy relationships? Here are a few:

• Weakness of intellect
• Excessive pride
• Excessive simplicity
• Recklessness
• Influence of evil genius

2.) Men, Ask Questions

A man should “ask her questions about things of which he knows or pretends to know nothing, and which can be answered in a few words.”

“Though a man loves a girl ever so much, he never succeeds in winning her without a great deal of talking.”

3.) Women, Be Skilled in the 64 Arts

Here are four:

• Playing on musical glasses filled with water
• Artistic splashing of water while playing in water
• Making and solving puzzles and enigmatical problems
• Art of cock, quail and ram fighting

4.) Learn from the Greats

The Kamasutra includes a partial list of which men have success with women. Notice how they haven’t changed since 300 CE.

• Men skilled in telling stories
• Men who have secured their confidence
• Men who know their weak points
• Men who are desired by good women
• Enterprising and brave men
• Men who like picnics and pleasure parties
• Men who are celebrated for being very strong (Bull men)

5.) Go Slowly.

…the man should begin to win her over, and to create confidence in her, but should abstain at first from sexual pleasures.”

 Women, being of a tender nature, want tender beginnings, and when they are forcibly approached by men with whom they are but slightly acquainted, they sometimes suddenly become haters of sexual connection, and sometimes even haters of the male sex.”

6.) Know Whom to Marry

Vatsyayana tells men what kind of woman they should avoid.

• One who has an ill-sounding name
• One who has her nostril turned up
• One who is formed like a male
• One who has crooked thighs
• One who is a younger sister
• One who is a friend
• One who has fully arrived at puberty

Word of caution: please marry someone who has fully arrived at puberty.

7.) Know how to finish the job.

As she lies in his lap, looking at the moon, he points out the rows of constellations to her; they look at the Pleiades, the Pole Star, and the garland of Seven Sages that form the Great Beat. That is the end of sex.”

***

While modern Western culture has republished the Kama Sutra as porn with a fancy title, the original version had a much more profound goal. In addition to providing a technical guide to sex, the Kama Sutra was a treatise on how to live a life, and how to value love as a partnership. Its popularity and endurance today is a testament to the constancy of human relationships.