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The Kama Sutra Essay examples

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What is Vatsyayana’s targeted demographic of readers when he wrote the Kama Sutra? Was it exclusive to the leisure class of the Indian society? Or did it also include the lower class? There is evidence that suggests that the text is biased for the aristocrats, as the practices described require time and money that the peasants don’t have. The fact that Vatsyayana is likely a member of the elite class, deduced from his sophisticated knowledge of Hinduism and what a nobleman’s day is like, could be another sign that his written work is biased towards the upper class. These facts lead to the question: if the Kama Sutra is partial to the aristocrats, did Vatsyayana retain the rudimentary principles of Hinduism throughout his work so that it …show more content…

In this quote he explicitly reaffirms that all four castes in Indian culture, even the lower classes, are included and are encouraged to follow the core laws of Hinduism and observe the Kama Sutra. Furthermore, his firm belief in the practice of dharma further demonstrates that his book doesn’t exclude the serfs in India. By definition, dharma is the “obedience to religious and moral laws,” and in the Indian society, the caste system assigns specific moral duties which are strictly confined by the Hindu religion to each class (Bentley 184). And, according to the Bhagavad Gita, as long as one submissively takes responsibility within his caste, he will achieve dharma, the greatest teaching of the three principles before reaching moksha (Bentley184). Moreover, while explaining how a the daily life of citizen should be, he subtly suggests that one does not necessarily be affluent to acquire moksha. He states: “[h]aving thus acquired learning, a man, with the wealth that he may have gained by gift, conquest, purchase, deposit, or inheritance . . . should become a householder, and pass the life of a citizen” (Vatsyayana 67). While this could easily be interpreted as a goal only the wealthy can attain, the footnote states that “[g]ift pertains to Brahmans, conquest to Kshatriyas, purchase etc. to Vaishiyas” (Vatsyayana 67), verifying that all classes of wealth are

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