The Kama Sutra by Mallanaga Vātsyāyana

"Even when a stranger sees at a distance a young woman with the marks of nails on her breasts, he is filled with love and respect for her.  A man also, who carries the marks of nails and teeth on some parts of his body, influences the mind of the a woman, even though it be ever so firm.  In short, nothing tends to increase love so much as the effects of markings with the nails, and biting." 

I had a lot of preconceived notions of this text but what I discovered was a bit of a surprise.   My expectation of The Kama Sutra was that it would be about sex and about how to go about it in order to achieve the most amount of pleasure possible - but there was more to the subject matter than that.

Yes there is "On Sexual Union" and "About Courtesans."  But there is also "Observations on the three worldly attainments of virtue, wealth, and love."  This book visits the world of human sexuality but also attempts to create a philosophy for living well in other areas of your life.

For me, Indian philosophy is expressed through their three aims:

1. Dharma : obedience of holy writ.

2. Artha : acquisition of land, wealth, etc. and the protection of those acquisitions.

3. Kama : the enjoyment of appropriate objects by the 5 senses.  The peculiar contact between the organ of sense and the object.  The awareness of the pleasure that arises from that contact is KAMA. 

Actions that conduce to the practice of any two or even one of these three should be performed.  But the action should not be performed if it's at the expense of the others.

So Indians do believe that pleasure is a priority in life, but "pleasures are to be followed with moderation and caution."   The relationship between the means of attaining the goal and the goal itself as it applies to all endeavors in life is really the central life issue that the book is exploring. 

"the application of the proper means may be said to be the cause of gaining all our ends, and this application of proper means being thus necessary, it follows that a person who does nothing will enjoy no happiness...The man who is ingenious and wise...who knows the intentions of others, as well as the proper place and time for doing everything, can gain over, very easily, even a woman who is very hard."

It encourages creativity and play in this exploration of the right means to attain your goal.  For instance, with sex, it explores quite a few different playing fields to toy with:

1. The embrace

2. Kissing

3. Scratching with the nails or fingers

4. Biting

5. Lying Down

6. Making various sounds

7. Playing the part of a man, and on the work of a man

8. Mouth Congress

9. Striking

10. Crying

11. The acts of a man during congress 

12. The various kinds of congress (i.e. the twining of a creeper, climbing a tree, the mixture of sesame seed with rice, milk and water)

That is the playing field of the bedroom, but it is also concerned with that of the relationship at large - what to do when you meet someone you like, how to pursue them, ways in which attraction can blossom or wither, etc.  

A good book.