The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, a Sanskrit book of about the third century A.D., has for long been honoured in India as the earliest Indian treatise on the science and art of sex and love. It describes social customs in early India, analyses sexual techniques and comments on the many different situations in which men and women of the day might find themselves involved and how best these should be dealt with. Its purpose is to discover in what ways happiness and enjoyment can be best achieved. While sharing the Indian attitude to love as an ecstatic experience, it assumes that sexual happiness is founded on scientific knowledge and to this end it provides a series of chapters based on the practical experience of sex. In this respect it was a forerunner of the modern marriage guidance book. The Kama Sutra underlies all later Indian writings on love including Sanskrit love poetry and is a classic contribution to Indian culture.

The present English text is the 'Richard Burton' translation, first first printed in London in 1883 but only widely available since the early 1960s. The Preface by W. G. Archer, O.B.E. late Keeper Emeritus, Indian Section, Victoria and Albert Museum, discusses the circumstances in which the translation was made, its place in Western studies of Indian culture and the respective roles of Sir Richard Burton and his friend, Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot. Sardar K. M. Panikkar, Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, explains in his Introduction how the Kama Sutra is valued and appreciated in India.

'One of the most socially significant events of this century.' The Daily Mirror
'Delights with its clear, poetical candour.' - The Daily Mail
'This edition gains much from the spirited and informative introductory essays! - The Sunday Times
'One of the world's great books! - The Guardian