Description: This edition of the definitive modern translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra is the first to include two essential commentaries--the Jayamangala of Yashodhara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Danielou spent four years comparing versions of the Kama Sutra, drawing on his intimate experience of India to preserve the full explicitness of the original.
Brief description: Alain Daniélou (1907-1994) spent more than 15 years in the traditional society of India, using only the Sanskrit and Hindi languages and studying music and philosophy with eminent scholars. He was duly initiated into esoteric Shaivism, which gave him unusual access to texts transmitted through the oral tradition alone. He is the author of more than 30 books on the religion, history, and arts of India and the Mediterranean.
Review Quotes: "Daniélou's new and complete translation of the Kama Sutra is one of his masterpieces. It is all enchantment, a world of refined sensation. Our debt to his scholarship and humanity is immeasurable."-- "Times Literary Supplement"