The Kama Sutra


Read by Mark F. Smith

(3.8 stars; 61 reviews)

The Kama Sutra, or Aphorisms on Love, has survived at least 1400 years as a dominant text on sexual relations between men and women. Vatsyayana claimed to have written the Kama Sutra while a religious student, “in contemplation of the Deity” - but references to older works, shrewd disputations by Vatsyayana of those authors' recommendations, and careful cataloging of practices in various of the Indian states indicate much more emphasis on kama, or sensual gratification.

Part of the book discusses the 64 arts of love employed by masters of coitus. Learning each of these and when and how to practice them, Vatsyayana affirms, not only leads to the best gratification, but makes the artist a person of great desirability.

Once the means of sexual congress are discussed, the many types of male-female relationships and their proper prosecution are covered. Some of these have small relevance to the modern world, such as how to sneak into the King's harem, but are interesting nonetheless. Others, such as how to get money from a lover, will probably remain useful as long as there are humans in the world.

The translator's concluding remarks call the book primitive; so might also modern women who are told that if their name ends in “l” or “r” they should not be married, because they are worthless. But in tackling the subject of human sexuality, Vatsyayana nevertheless will always attract readers (or, in this case, listeners!).

(Summary by Mark F Smith) (6 hr 15 min)

Chapters

01 - Introduction and Part 1, Chapter 1 17:35 Read by Mark F. Smith
02 - Part 1, Chapter 2 11:11 Read by Mark F. Smith
03 - Part 1, Chaps 3 & 4 27:08 Read by Mark F. Smith
04 - Part 1, Chapter 5 10:29 Read by Mark F. Smith
05 - Part 2, Chapters 1 & 2 22:18 Read by Mark F. Smith
06 - Part 2, Chapters 3 & 4 13:49 Read by Mark F. Smith
07 - Part 2, Chapters 5 & 6 15:29 Read by Mark F. Smith
08 - Part 2, Chapters 7 & 8 13:57 Read by Mark F. Smith
09 - Part 2, Chapters 9 & 10 17:51 Read by Mark F. Smith
10 - Part 3, Chapters 1 & 2 16:19 Read by Mark F. Smith
11 - Part 3, Chapters 3, 4, & 5 25:55 Read by Mark F. Smith
12 - Part 4, Chapters 1 & 2 24:10 Read by Mark F. Smith
13 - Part 5, Chapters 1 & 2 20:03 Read by Mark F. Smith
14 - Part 5, Chapters 3 & 4 21:34 Read by Mark F. Smith
15 - Part 5, Chapters 5 & 6 21:02 Read by Mark F. Smith
16 - Part 6, Intro, Chap 1 & 2 22:30 Read by Mark F. Smith
17 - Part 6, Chapters 3 & 4 18:42 Read by Mark F. Smith
18 - Part 6, Chapters 5 & 6 22:47 Read by Mark F. Smith
19 - Part 7, Chapter 1 13:27 Read by Mark F. Smith
20 - Part 7, Chapter 2 & Concluding Remarks 19:42 Read by Mark F. Smith

Reviews

Much more than sexual positions.


(5 stars)

I thought this was about sexual positions since I was a kid but it's much more than that, it's wisdom in a way I never knew, great audiobook.

hi bill


(5 stars)

Good read and interesting book. To the previous reviewer, Bill, the title is correct, as is the pronunciation. Its commendable that people take time to do these recording. I'd suggest you do another version of this yourself with your "version" of the title.


(2 stars)

Mark Smith is great as usual. This should be titled as a tech paper and not a story. It's interesting in its own right but not casual listening

Help


(4 stars)

So I really like the reading but when I try to download it, it says 'decompression failed' any ideas??

Thanks for your effort.


(5 stars)

As an Indian, I never had the chance to read this book. Although written in ancient language, and I have no knowledge about it, I can say you have mispronounced the title and the authors name. caamasoothra and whatsawyana. But I really appreciate the efforts and the precious time you spent for us. thank you

zip problems


(0 stars)

I often see problems with zip files from archive.org, and this file is no exception. At a guess, someone at archive.org is using an odd version that I can't always deal with. I'm on ubuntu linux, using: UnZip 5.52 of 28 February 2005

No Problem With Files


(0 stars)

newpolsvoices apparently tried the zip of the book, but it worked perfectly for me! He should find a zip extractor or replace the one he has.


(5 stars)

Waited most of my adult life for this---it was well worth it!