Embraces

Chapter Two

E m b r a c e s

[àliògana]

There are sixty-four elements in loveplay prior to copulation.

1 It is claimed that the preliminaries to sexual intercourse involve sixty-four elements, probably because they were originally described in sixty-four chapters.

We repeat this figure because in the opinion of the masters of old, the ancient treatises had sixty-four chapters.

2 According to certain authors, it is the body of erotic treatises that is divided into sixty-four parts.

Why did the authors of old speak of sixty-four forms of amorous preliminaries? Knowing the meaning of words, such authors must have had a reason for using this figure. It could have to do with a particular aspect of this science, or the body of theories.

Is it a local opinion, or a part of the science itself?

3 The arts number sixty-four, and are considered as forming part of the practice of love. As a body, they are mentioned as the “sixty-four.”

The Rig Veda, comprising ten chapters, is mentioned as “the ten.” Such an interpretation could also be valid in this case. The disciples of Babhru, who came from Pañcala country, used this number out of respect.

Why did the people of Pañcala use this figure, if not for the same reason that one speaks of “the ten” in the case of the Rig Veda? This is particularly the case here, in this chapter of preliminary practices, which comprise ten elements: caresses, kisses, bites, scratches, sighs, blows, stretching out against one another, inversion of roles [purushayitam], buccal coition, and intercourse with boys [naràyitam],

The great sages of Pañcala divided the Rig Veda into sixty-four parts. The Bàbhravyas, according to the tradition of Pañcala, speak of sixty-four parts of the Rig Veda, and of the same number of erotic practices. These various authors were natives of Pañcala, and it is out of respect for erotic science that they compare it with the Rig Veda.

The Bàbhravyas try to consider embraces as something sacred, though there is nothing virtuous about them, and explain why they should be honored, remarking that they are practiced by cultivated people as well as by the humble and by the courtesans’ corporation. Who does not worship a young girl [nandini]?

The Bàbhravyas also mention the different kinds of embrace suited to married people and those practiced by men without ties.

5 Division into eight categories would not appear to be acceptable. Blows, cries, sodomy [puruûopasåpta], bizarre tastes [citra rata] belong to other categories. 

Here we are dealing with penetration [pravesha]. For Vàtsyàyana, it is merely a manner of speaking, as when one speaks of “a seven-leafed tree,” or offerings with five ingredients.

6 Before copulation [samagama], in order to arouse the penis with desire, the following four kinds of caress [àliògana] are practiced: contact [spåûþaka], bruising [viddhaka], baring [uddhåûþaka], and squeezing [pìditaka].

7 These four actions are known as external or preparatory acts.

Each of these caresses is defined below.

8 Contact [spåûþaka]

It is termed contact when the boy and girl are face to face, body pressing against body, uniting the areas involved. Although in contact, there is no question of penetration.

9 Bruising [viddhaka]

In an isolated spot, finding her seated or standing, he seizes her breasts. Since the boy hurts her by catching hold of her, it is called bruising.

The girl does not refuse the advances of the enterprising boy and does not go away. She allows him to continue, but there is no question of sleeping together, since they are not yet lovers. Even in an isolated spot, she is reluctant to uncover her breasts. What can he do in order to knead them? Having drawn close, he finds some pretext to place his hands on her breasts. If she resists, the boy puts his arms around her and, uncovering his own sex, presses it against her from behind. Then, freeing her from his embrace, he kneads her breasts until she experiences a certain pleasure, sliding his penis between them and bruising them.

10 These two practices may be performed by lovers who only just know each other.

If they are not excited and do not speak, it will not work.

11 Baring [uddhåûþaka]

In the darkness, if people are present, or otherwise in an isolated place, they stroll slowly, showing their bodies to each other, not just for an instant, but for some time.

The boy shows his body, the girl only the area involved. They caress each other and are both excited. Or else, he only exposes himself, while she remains covered.

12 Squeezing [pìditaka]

Leaning against a wall or pillar, he presses his erect organ against her.

13 These two last contacts are practiced by lovers who have not yet passed on to the act.

14 Four kinds of embrace are employed in preliminary loveplay: encircling like a liana [latàveûþitaka], climbing the tree [våkûàdhirudhaka], rice and sesame [tilatan-dulaka], and milk and water [kûirajalaka].

15 Encircling like a liana

Encircling her lover like a liana around a sal tree [Shorea robusta], she bends her face toward him for a kiss and then withdraws with a small sigh. Assured and showing off her beauty, she seems to entwine around him like a liana.

16 Climbing the tree

Resting one of her feet on the man’s and with the other attacking his thigh, she embraces him with her arm across his back. Her other arm clings to his shoulder and neck. With a slight sigh, she makes an effort to climb onto him to kiss him, just as if she were climbing a tree.

17 These two embraces are done initially.

Before passing on to the act.

18 Rice and sesame

Both lying with arms and legs entwined, they rub against each other and become deeply entangled.

If the man is on the right, he places his left leg between the woman’s thighs and his left arm on her right side. The woman clasps him. Arms and legs are entangled like rice with sesame, whence the name.

19 Milk and water

Blinded by desire, unable to wait, they press against each other with the same passion, face to face, whether seated or lying down.

This is possible when the woman is sitting on the man’s lap, facing him, encircling his waist with her legs, breast to breast, or else when they are both stretched out on a bed.

20 These two embraces are done in moments of passion [ràga].

21 Such are the preliminary embraces described by the Bàbhravyas.

22 Suvaróanàbha indicates a further four kinds of embrace concerning a part of the body.

25 Embracing the thighs [uru upagùhana.] Squeezing one or both thighs of the other party as hard as possible in the grip of one’s own is called embracing the thighs.

24 Embracing the sexual area [jaghana upagùhana] Thrusting his groin firmly against the girl’s pubis, he seizes her by the hair and stays crouched over her in order to scratch, bite, and strike her.

Lying on his side, either he rests his best limb [varàòga] on her as on a brood mare, or else lying on top of her, the part of his body below the navel resting on the woman’s pubis, he presses his instrument against her without penetrating her. At that moment, the women’s sex opens out, overexcited, particularly if she has a large organ. He seizes her by the hair and, if she wishes, scratches and bites her, lying on top of her for a long time.

25 Embrace of the breasts [stanàliògana]

Inserting her breasts between the boy’s thighs and resting there with all their weight, is known as the embrace of the breasts.

Either seated or lying, she lowers the top part of her body and pushes her breasts strongly between the boy’s thighs. Feeling their mass between his thighs, he experiences pleasure at the contact.

 

26 Joining brows [lalàtikà]

Face to face, gazing into each other’s eyes, their brows join, the one against the other.

27 Sundry caresses [samsparsha]

Some deem that caresses should be counted among embraces.

So long as me feels pleasure at the contact.

28 But, according to Vàtsyàyana, since they take place at other times, have another scope, and are an ordinary action, caresses do not belong to erotic play properly so-called.

For him, caressing is not enjoyment but fatigue. Not being a means of enjoyment, it cannot be termed an embrace.

Caresses are mostly practiced by men and submitted to by women. They are thus not common to both. The sixty-four arts, singing, etc., are also erotic stimulants, as well as pulling hair, slapping, and kissing, which will be dealt with as variants.

29 Asking questions, whether hearing or talking about embraces, immediately excites sexual ardor in men.

And they will experience pleasure if they put the same into practice.

30 Other kinds of stimulating contact exist, which are not described in the texts. They are perfectly honorable and may be practiced by those that like them.

All kinds of practices are encountered in various countries, serving to arouse amorous excitement. One should not hesitate to try them, according to circumstances and place.

31 The subject of this treatise does not concern men who lack a sexual temperament. The texts and methods indicated for an erotic nature are not for them.

Vàtsyàyana has described the sixty-four arts considered to be the best introduction for love.

In his Nàgarasarvasva, Padmashri mentions sixteen feminine states or mind (bhàva) during the preliminaries of love. A woman can be tender, restive, contemptuous, excited, perplexed, mocking, relaxed, seductive, importunate, disagreeable, vain, bored, complaining, incapable, anxious, or charming.

These sixteen states of mind appear when a woman is in love. It is in understanding them that the man must practice the embraces, kisses, etc., that are the prelude to copulation (maithuna). If he does not Perceive the woman’s emotional state and, when he is burning with desire, begins his effusions without worrying about the woman’s reaction, a man will always meet with failure. Neither he nor the woman will experience true satisfaction.

When the first experience takes place at a tender age, and the god of love agitates the heart most deeply, love’s troubles are manifested in signs, marks, and indications: this is known as amorous feeling (bhàva).

In the Ujjvala Nìlamaói, agitation and the desire to seduce (hàva) and gestures of affection (hela) are a young girl’s charms. Beauty, courage, bloom, radiance, perspicuity, gentleness, and wiles are the qualities that make women attractive, to which are added ten attitudes or states of mind (svabhàva), which are as follows:

Feeling (bhàva)

When one is seized by the taste for love (úåògara rasa) and desire (rati) awakes, the first confusion the god of love sows in the heart is called amorous feeling (bhàva). The implementation of the feelings established in one’s consciousness is called experience (Anubhàva).

Affection (hela)

When a woman embraces a man forcefully, drawing him toward her, begins to twine around him, and lays her trembling thighs on those of the stretched-out man, showing that her state of mind is disposed toward erotic activities, this is called affection.

Refusal (vicchitti)

When a woman is angry with her lover, throws away her ornaments, and spurns his love, this is refusal.

Contempt (bibboka)

Even if her lover brings gifts that please her, she rejects them with contempt.

Excitement (kilakinchita)

Seeing her lover return from a journey, the woman is full of joy and weeps without shedding tears, or even starts laughing.

Perplexity (vibhrama)

When the woman sometimes smiles, sometimes loses her temper, throws away the flowers she asked for, then picks them up again, goes to sleep at a girlfriend’s house while her lover is looking for her, or walks about here and there.

Amusement (lìlà)

Imitating all her lover’s words and making faces.

Flirtation (vilàsa)

Approaching her lover, then going away, getting angry when he calls, then smiling at him, turning away with a grimace when her lover calls, pointing the finger of scorn at him, pacing up and down.

Seduction (hàva)

Fluttering her eyelashes, making her eyes dance, laughing, talking, and interrupting herself, feeling a deep love for her lover and behaving accordingly.

Inopportunity (vikûepa)

When her lover is not in the mood, approaching him and showing all the signs connected with desire.

Boredom (mottàyita)

When, while talking, the woman yawns on several occasions or stretches herself.

Moaning (kuttamiti)

The woman feigns pain.

Stupidity (mugdhatà)

When difficulties in sexual life are due to ignorance.

Anxiety (tapana)

When her lover is late in arriving, contesting her friends and weeping.

Charm (lalita)

Moving her lashes, eyes, hands, and feet artfully is called lalita bhàva. Such behavior is frequent in women, with the aim of exciting the man.

A man must not let himself be led by his desire, but take into account the woman’s mood. In the presence of such behavior as described, a woman’s state of mind can be easily understood and met. In order to understand these states of mind, it is necessary to interpret the slightest signs. Padmashri explains that, for a man possessing every quality and expert in the sixty-four arts, a woman will drop her unmannerly husband without subtlety, like a garland of faded flowers.

According to Padmashri, however expert a man may be in arts and science, however famous and important, if he is scorned by women in the art of love, he is a dead man.

In his Nàgarasarvasva, Bhikûu Padmashri describes the symbols (sanketa) used to communicate in secret language (vakrabhàûà).

Thus, the man is called “the fruit,” the woman “the flower,” the family “root.” If he is a Bràhmaóa, he is called “pomegranate,” if a Kûatriya “gourd,” if a Vaiúya “banana,” and if a Úùdra “mango.” A prince is called a “half-moon,” the king “cloud”; a girl with no family is known as a “black flower”; someone who criticizes everything is called an “arrow.” A young man is called “midday,” a child “raw,” an old man “cooked.” A Bràhmaóa woman is called “flower of the pool,” the King’s daughter “chameli flower,” a courtesan’s daughter “jasmine flower,” a girl of low caste “water lily,” a merchant’s daughter “pink lotus,” a minister’s daughter “blue lotus.” The lover is known as a “bee,” his beloved as a “mango shoot.” To call, the word “ankusha” (elephant goad) is used; to stop, the word “wall.” Candra, the moon, means a “nocturnal meeting”; Sùrya, the sun, “during the day.” Early in the morning is “shellfish,” during the morning “conch.” “Lotus” means midday, “great lotus” the afternoon, “passion” late in the afternoon, “tranquility” (Ràma) the evening, “rest” (viràma) the beginning of the night, “renewal” midnight, “dawn” the night’s end. When the boy lurks around the house and the messenger encounters him and says, “Why does the bee (the boy) stay on the wall, even if the moon is hidden; the mango shoot, like a lotus flower, will blossom at the renewal,” he understands that he can meet his girlfriend during the third watch of the night.

Besides spoken language, there is also a language of the parts of the body (aòga sanketa). If one takes care while asking a question or saying something, one can also use body language. Touching the ears means “silence.”

Touching the hair indicates erotic desire. Touching the breasts with both hands signifies “love.” To ask the time or circumstance, place the middle finger on the little finger; when the time arrives, join both hands (anjali) and, to call, lift joined hands.

To indicate directions, the thumb signifies east, the little finger south, the middle finger west, and the index north. From the base of the little finger to the line beneath the thumb, there are three lines for each finger, making fifteen lines, which represent the days of a fortnight, from the first day of the moon to full moon. For the clear half,, use the left hand, and for the dark half, the right.

Small symbolic packets (potali sanketa)

To indicate love, they contain betel nut and catechu together with scented ingredients; for passionate love, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves; to indicate the end of a love affair, a piece of coral; after a long relationship, two pieces of coral; in love’s fever, a bamboo object; for an immediate love call, a bunch of grapes. A cotton fruit means, “I am all yours.” Cumin means, “I give you my life”; bilva (wood apple) means “attention”; turmeric (haldi) means, “nothing to fear.” Small packets containing a little ball of wax, marked with the nails of all five fingers, bound with a red thread, are used as a message in the games of the god of love. The wax indicates attraction (anuràga), the red thread a love relationship, the nail marks represent the wounds inflicted by the god of love.

There are also clothing signs (vastra sanketa). To indicate the state of one whose body has been lacerated by the arrows of the god of love, clothes of good quality are worn, but torn. To show violent love, one must wear yellow- or orange-colored clothes, and torn clothes in the case of separation. For refound love, resewn clothes are worn; for a single love, a single garment; for two loves, a garment of two pieces.

There are also five kinds of symbolic betel (tambula), made up into little packets: the first is without points or seal (shalàkà); the second in the shape of a hook (ankusha); the third is triangular; the fourth rectangular or square. To indicate strong affection, an open betel should be used, the inside being filled with care; the hook-shaped betel is used for quarrels. To indicate the wounds of love (madanavyathà), an arrow shape is used. To sleep together, a rectangular betel is given, while the square shape indicates that one is not free.

If one is not in love, the betel is prepared without nutmeg (supari); but to indicate sincere feelings, betel with cardamom is offered.

As a sign of breaking off, tie the betel with black thread and present it upside down.

To ask for a meeting, put a betel in your mouth and touch your mouth with another betel tied with red thread, which is to be offered.

To indicate that you are leaving, break the betel in two and tie it with black thread.

To indicate the moment of death, tie the betel with red thread. In cases of intense passion, cut the betel nut into small pieces, place saffron (kesara) inside, and smear sandalwood on the outside.

The meaning of flower garlands (puûpa màlà)

To indicate passion, use red flowers; orange flowers are used for separation. For absence or disaffection, the garland is tied with knots of black ribbon.

The authors of erotic treatises compare woman to the opal (Candrakànta). Just as the opal, touched by the fresh rays of the moon, becomes damp, so the woman becomes moist (dravita) on contact with a man. An intelligent man must take great care in enjoying a woman: a man in love must not behave like an animal. Even if he is under pressure, he must retain his human discernment. The scope of the works of the Kàma Úàstra is to prevent a man in love from behaving like a beast. He must reach the moment of action after studying the signs, contacts (kisses, caresses, etc.), and behavior of the woman from both physical and psychological points of view.

Bhikûu Padmashri explains that the lover who wishes to possess or seduce another man’s wife must be very careful. According to the signs, he must understand whether or not the woman is accessible. Padmashri goes on to explain that, apart from the fact that seducing other men’s wives is a sin, one must know in advance whether the woman with whom the man wants to make love has already been led astray or not, and moreover, whether the woman is easy or reached only with difficulty. Knowing that she cannot be reached even with a great effort, it is pointless to run after her. If, on seeing a man, a woman lets her arms drop, hides her eyes, thrusts out her belly, arranges herself so that her breasts can be seen in some way, then one knows that she can be easily had; and also, if she has a child with her, she caresses and kisses it; if she several times muddles and rearranges her hair. If in bending and straightening out, she allows her body to be seen. If she arranges her clothes, makes up her eyes, polishes her nails. If she coughs, spits, or yawns on several occasions. If she becomes attentive when she hears the voice of the man she desires; if she stretches, stops her ears, speaks and looks while laughing.

Not much effort is needed to seduce a woman whose husband is sick, without resources, cruel, or deformed, or else a woman whose husband lives abroad or is very inconstant. Highly modest or virtuous women, or those who fear public opinion, must be considered beyond reach. The favors of those who suffer or are not interested in money can never be attained. Padmashri considers that adolescents and very young women are a good catch (patya). In his view:

an adolescent (bàlà) is a girl of sixteen;

a young woman (taruóì) is from sixteen to thirty;

a mature woman (praudhà) is from thirty to fifty;

and an old woman (buddhà) is over fifty.

In summer and autumn, intercourse with a young girl (bàlà) is beneficial; in spring and winter, a taruóì; in spring and the rainy season, the praudhà.

The author of the Rati Rahasya explains that, before making love with a girl, the lover should know how to make her moist (dravita). Just as the moon grows and wanes in sixteen crescents, just so, during the clear fortnight and the dark fortnight, the influence of the god of love grows and wanes in the woman’s special parts. During the clear fortnight, starting from the very first day (pratipakûa), the god of love installs himself successively on the toe, the foot, the thigh, the navel, the breast, the armpit, the neck, the cheek, the lips, the eyes, the eyebrows, and the forehead; then from the first day of the dark fortnight, he descends from the head to the feet. This is why, according to the days indicated, the astute man seizes the woman’s hair, kisses her brow and eyes, bites her lips, kneads her breasts, and pats her torso and belly to awaken the god of love. The fifteen places mentioned corresponding to the digits (kalà) of the moon are those where the god of love dwells more particularly. For this reason, before enjoying her, it is essential to kiss and embrace these places. Embraces make a woman moist and then, with a joyful heart, she is ready to pass on to the act itself.

The five arrows of Eros are represented by the letters A, I, U, E, and O. Five parts of the woman’s body are the targets of these arrows. The target of arrow A is the heart; the target of I is the breast; the third, U, is aimed at the eyes; the fourth, E, at the forehead; and the fifth, O, at her vagina. The man must clasp the woman, taking these zones into account, since her desire is then aroused.

According to the Úuúruta, the treatise on medicine, a man’s semen comes from his whole body, like the juice of the sugar cane, butter in milk, oil in the sesame seed, which come forth when the cane is cut, the milk churned, the seed crushed. When a man thinks of a woman, sees, hears, and caresses her, he feels pleasure. The semen then leaves the various parts of the body to gather in his testicles, whence, during copulation, it penetrates the woman’s belly and the fetus is formed.

Sperm is the essence of the living being, through which the invisible, inconceivable, indescribable soul materializes and is made manifest. The seed contained in the sperm is the support of the soul, and should not be put to bad use. This is why the sages have defined the activities that precede and follow that of procreation.

According to Bhikûu Padmashri, twenty-four differently placed nerves arouse the desire for copulation. One is located in the woman’s

vagina, hidden by the parasol of Eros, which must be gently massaged with a finger. If the girl is young, this must be done with a finger. With a mature woman, the neck of the uterus should be caressed with the fingers or with the penis. Of the other nerves that stimulate eroticism, two are found in the mouth; two in the eyes; one in the neck; one at the base of the index finger. By pressing these spots, sexual desire is rapidly aroused. In the same way, by driving one’s nails into the ears, the thighs, beneath the shoulder blades, or into the brow, desire is aroused.

Six great nerves called satì, asatì, subhagà, durbhagà, putrì, and duhitrinì, which are located in the vagina, provoke violent desire. Putrì and duhitrinì are to the right, at the very bottom. Satì is to the left, and asatì to the right. At the entrance, subhagà and durbhagà are to the right and left respectively. If satì is pressed, asatì flares up; if asatì is pressed, satì is contented. By stimulating subhagà, the woman has good luck, while by stimulating durbhagà, she has troubles. She becomes red, weak, and ages prematurely. By stimulating putrì, a woman stays young. With duhitrinì she bears sons, while with putrì, daughters. If both centers are activated at the same time, the child will be homosexual. Abortion is caused by massaging satì heavily. By caressing the woman’s sides, asatì is stimulated. In kissing her posterior (adhara), subhagà is stimulated; in caressing her waist, durbhagà; in kissing her mouth, putrì. By caressing her buttocks, duhitrinì becomes restive and eroticism is kindled.

These particulars about embraces are mentioned by Charaka in Àyurveda medicine.

Thus, prior to the ritual of coition, Kàma, the god of love, must be invoked, and having installed him in every part of the body, copulation may be performed.

End of the Second Chapter

Embraces

of the Second Part entitled Amorous Advances