Mallanaga Vatsyayana Kama Sutra Details and Facts

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Mallanaga V?tsy?yana is the name of a Hindu philosopher in the Vedic tradition who is considered to have lived during time of the Gupta Empire (4th to 6th centuries CE) in India. His name appears as the author of the Kama Sutra and of Ny?ya Sutra Bh?shya, the first commentary on Gotama’s Ny?ya Sutras.

Hardly anything is known about him. His real name is supposed to be Mallinaga or Mrillana, Vatsyayana being his family name. At the close of the work this is what he writes about himself:

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After reading and considering the works of Babhravya and other ancient authors, and thinking over the meaning of the rules given by them, this treatise was composed, according to the precepts of the Holy Writ, for the benefit of the world, by Vatsyayana, while leading the life of a religious student at Benares, and wholly engaged in the contemplation of the Deity. This work is not to be used merely as an instrument for satisfying our desires. A person acquainted with the true principles of this science, who preserves his Dharma (virtue or religious merit), his Artha (worldly wealth) and his Kama (pleasure or sensual gratification), and who has regard to the customs of the people, is sure to obtain the mastery over his senses. In short, an intelligent and knowing person attending to Dharma and Artha and also to Kama, without becoming the slave of his passions, will obtain success in everything that he may do.’

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It is impossible to fix the exact date either of the life of Vatsyayana or of his work. It is supposed that he must have lived between the first and sixth century of the Common era, on the following grounds. He mentions that Satakarni Satavahana, a king of Kuntal, killed Malayevati his wife with an instrument called Katamari by striking her in the passion of love, and Vatsya quotes this case to warn people of the danger arising from some old customs of striking women when under the influence of this passion. Now this king of Kuntal is believed to have lived and reigned during the first century A.D., and consequently Vatsya must have lived after him. On the other hand, Varahamihira, in the eighteenth chapter of his `Brihatsanhita’, treats of the science of love, and appears to have borrowed largely from Vatsyayana on the subject. Now Varahamihira is said to have lived during the sixth century A.D., and as Vatsya must have written his works previously, therefore not earlier than the first century A.D., and not later than the sixth century A.D., must be considered as the approximate date of his existence