Indian tradition includes following the "four main goals of life", [11] [12] known as the purusharthas: [13] 1) Dharma: Virtuous living 2) Artha: Material prosperity 3) Kama: Aesthetic and erotic pleasure. [14] [15] 4) Moksha: Liberation In childhood, Vātsyāyana says, a person should learn how to make a living, youth is the time for pleasure, as years pass one should concentrate on living virtuously and hope to escape the cycle of rebirth. [17] Of the first three, virtue is the highest goal, a secure life the second and pleasure the least important. When motives conflict, the higher ideal is to be followed. Thus, in making money virtue must not be compromised, but earning a living should take precedence over pleasure, but there are exceptions. For the Dharma Śāstras as discussing the "four main goals of life" (dharma, artha, kāma, and moksha) see: Hopkins, p. 78.

Alain Daniélou contributed a translation called The Complete Kama Sutra in 1994. This translation featured the original text attributed to Vatsayana, along with a medieval and modern commentary. Kama ( काम kāma) is a Sanskrit word that has the general meanings of "wish," "desire," and "intention" in addition to the specific meanings of "pleasure" and "(sexual) love". [5] Used as a proper name it refers to Kama, the Hindu god of Love. The following definition of Kama is given in chapter two of the Kama Sutra, as translated by Richard Burton:

A recent translation is that of Indra Sinha, published in 1980. In the early 1990s its chapter on lovemaking positions began circulating on the internet as an independent text and today is often assumed to be the whole of the Kama Sutra. [19]

Sutra ( सूत्र sūtra) signifies a thread, or discourse threaded on a series of aphorisms or concise rules. [7] By definition a sutra is a brief, aphoristic statement. [8] Sutra was a standard term for a technical text, thus also the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Ludo Rocher categorizes the Kama Sutra as a typical example of a work written in sutra style. [9] Content Due to its association with sexual intimacy, many stereotypes about the text have developed in the western popular culture. However, Indra Sinha states, “The Kama Sutra is neither a sex-manual nor, as also commonly believed, a sacred or religious work. It is certainly not a tantric text. In opening with a discussion of the three aims of ancient Hindu life—dharma, artha and kama—Vatsyayana's purpose is to set kama, or enjoyment of the senses, in context. Thus dharma or virtuous living is the highest aim, artha, the amassing of wealth is next, and kama is the least of the three.” [4] Etymology Sudhir Kakar and Wendy Doniger. 2003. Kamasutra (Oxford World's Classics). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283982-9Dharma, Artha and Kama are aims of everyday life, while Moksha is release from the cycle of death and rebirth. The Kama Sutra (Burton translation) says: For definition of the term पुरुष-अर्थ ( puruṣa-artha) as "any of the four principal objects of human life, i.e. धर्म, अर्थ, काम, and मोक्ष" see: Apte, p. 626, middle column, compound #1. Daniélou, Alain. 1993. The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text. Inner Traditions. ISBN 0-89281-525-6 The Kama Sutra is sometimes wrongly thought of as a manual for tantric sex. While sexual practices do exist within the very wide tradition of Hindu tantra, the Kama Sutra is not a tantric text, and does not touch upon any of the sexual rites associated with some forms of tantric practice.

The most widely known English translation of the Kama Sutra was made by the famous traveler and author Sir Richard Francis Burton and compiled by his colleague Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot in 1883. Historian Burjor Avari has criticized Burton's translation as "inadequate," having had the result that the book gained a reputation in the West of being a pornographic work. [18] Flood, Gavin. 1996. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0Apte, Vaman Shivram. 1965. The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4 For definition of sutra as a brief, aphoristic statement see: Ludo Rocher, "The Dharmaśāstras," in Flood, 2003, p. 104. The Mallanaga Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra has 36 chapters, organized into seven parts. [10] Both according to Burton and Wendy Doniger translations, the contents of the book are structured into seven parts like the following: Dharma is better than Artha, and Artha is better than Kama. But Artha should always be first practised by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only. Again, Kama being the occupation of public women, they should prefer it to the other two, and these are exceptions to the general rule." (Kama Sutra 1.2.14) [16] For Nandi reporting the utterance see: Alain Daniélou, The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text (Inner Traditions: 1993, ISBN 0-89281-525-6), 3.