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Conjugal Love in India
RatiÅÄstra and RatiramanÌ£a. Text, Translation, and Notes
Series: - Sir Henry Wellcome Asian Series, Volume: 1
Author:
The purpose of RatiÅÄstra was to provide instruction and advice to young Hindu couples before and after they cohabit as a couple. The desired outcome of lovemaking has always been, according to Hindu law and custom, the production of male issues. Conjugal love or âRatiÅÄstraâ is the means to assure that auspicious result.
Kenneth Zyskâs Conjugal Love in India is a study of traditional Hindu ideas about love in the domestic abode, and deals with the two principal Sanskrit treatises on the subject, RatiÅÄstra and RatiramanÌ£a. These two works, leaving no stone unturned, cover every aspect of conjugal life, from the finding and selection of a suitable pair to procreation. With an introduction that situates the doctrine of conjugal love (ratiÅÄstra) and the texts that explain it in the history of brahminic scholasticism.
This work will help to elucidate aspects of Indian history and culture in the medieval and modern periods, and will provide a good basis for comparative studies with similar themes in other cultures.
Kenneth Zyskâs Conjugal Love in India is a study of traditional Hindu ideas about love in the domestic abode, and deals with the two principal Sanskrit treatises on the subject, RatiÅÄstra and RatiramanÌ£a. These two works, leaving no stone unturned, cover every aspect of conjugal life, from the finding and selection of a suitable pair to procreation. With an introduction that situates the doctrine of conjugal love (ratiÅÄstra) and the texts that explain it in the history of brahminic scholasticism.
This work will help to elucidate aspects of Indian history and culture in the medieval and modern periods, and will provide a good basis for comparative studies with similar themes in other cultures.
Kenneth G. Zysk, Ph.D., Australian National University, and Dphil, University of Oslo, is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Indology at Copenhagen University. He has been Senior Fulbright Fellow to India, and a Wellcome Fellow in the History of Medicine in London, and has served as Director of Dharam Hinduja Centerâs Indic Traditions of Healthcare project at Columbia University and taught at New York University. He has published two books and numerous articles on the themes pertaining to the history and practice of Indian medicine and Äyurveda, both inside and outside of India, is co-editor of a series on Traditional Indian Medicine, and is managing editor of the Critical Pali Dictionary.
"â¦a useful addition to the literature on âeroticsâ." â Edwin Gerow, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2004
Those interested in the history, culture and literature of India, and in the history of medicine.