This annotated version of The Kama Sutra also includes the following bonuses:
- Literary critique - Biography of the author - Historical context of the book
The world renowned Kama Sutra is the oldest and most notable of a group of texts known generically as Kama Shastra (Sanskrit: KÄma ÅšÄstra).Traditionally, the first transmission of Kama Shastra or "Discipline of Kama" is attributed to Nandi the sacred bull, Shiva's doorkeeper, who was moved to sacred utterance by overhearing the lovemaking of the god and his wife Parvati and later recorded his utterances for the benefit of mankind.
The work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses. "KÄma" means sensual or sexual pleasure, and "sÅ«tra" literally means a thread or line that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual.