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Vātsyāyana

Ancient Indian philosopher and scholar

Vātsyāyana was an ancient Indian philosopher and religious scholar, known as the author of the Kama Sutra.

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Vātsyāyana
Photo: Unknown photographer, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

About Vātsyāyana

Vātsyāyana lived in India no later than the fourth century CE. He wrote the Kama Sutra, building on the work of earlier authors such as Babhravya. The closing lines of the text describe him as a religious student at Benares. He urged readers to keep virtue (Dharma), worldly wealth (Artha) and pleasure (Kama) in balance, and not to treat the work merely as a tool for satisfying desire. The Complete Kama Sutra is his book in our catalog.

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