The 64 Arts Of The Kama Sutra

At the outset let me assure you this is a child safe article.So please don’t navigate away on that account.I was inspired to writ it after reading about The Beijing Moral Education Center for Women here : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/15/us-china-billionaires-idUSTRE76E0QP20110715

I suppose that advancing oneself by marrying well is a time honoured way to make one’s fortune, no matter how politically incorrect it might be today.In a bygone era girls’ schools offered home science or home economics courses.There were Womens’ Academys and Finishing Schools and at the pinnacle the Swiss Finishing schools like the one here :http://www.ivpworld.com/EN.html .Mostly the idea was to equip young girls with the skills to attract well- to- do partners and to skillfully manage their husbands’ households.

Today women have the opportunity to attend university on par with men.And many of today’s billionaire wives are no slouches in the mental department.Examples are Melinda Gates,Priscilla Chan,Anne Wojcicki ,Wendi Deng Murdoch etc.but that’s not to say a little charm might not help.

Vatsayana lists out 64 arts to be cultivated to make a person more attractive.Incidentally his recommendations are gender neutral.I have listed the 64 arts below and followed it up with a quote from the Kama Sutra.

The 64 Arts Of The Kama Sutra are:-

1. Singing
2. Playing a musical instrument
3. Dancing
4.  A combination of singing, using musical instruments and dancing
5. Writing and drawing
6.The Art of Tattooing
7.Adorning an idol with flowers
8. The art of spreading flowers on a bed or on the ground
9. Coloring fabrics, nail and body with colors from plants
10. Fixing colored glass tiles on floor
11.The art of making a bed
12.Producing music by striking glasses of water
13. The art of storing water in reservoirs
14. The art of picture making and decorating
15. Making rosaries, necklaces, garlands
16. Tying turbans
17. Stage playing
18. The art of making ear ornaments
19. The art of making perfumes
20. Proper care of jewels, decorations and ornaments
21. Magic (sorcery)
22. Manual skills
23. Cooking (culinary skills)
24. Making combination drinks and flavored drinks i.e.– lemonades, sherbet etc
25. Tailoring and sewing
26. Making handicrafts e.g.– parrots, flowers etc. from thread
27. Skilsl to solve riddles, puzzles and covert speeches
28. The skill of Antakshari (a singing game were one must start with the letter with which other person’s song ended)
29. The skill of imitating natural sounds
30. Reading, chanting and intoning
31. Mastering tongue twisters
32. Skills at martial arts (the skills to use sword, stick, bow and arrow)
33. Skill to reach logical conclusions based on given facts
34. Carpentry
35. Architecture
36. Knowledge about gold, silver and gems
37. Chemistry (knowledge of properties of materials)
38. The art of coloring jewels or beads
39. Knowledge of mines
40. Gardening
41.The art of cock fighting (getting cocks, quail or rams to fight and make the fowl/animal victorious)
42.Teaching parrots or starlings to talk
43.Applying perfumes on body and hair
44. Understanding of code language
45. Spoonerism (purposefully interchanging position of letters of words while speaking)
46. Knowledge of languages
47. Knowledge of making flower chariots
48. Knowledge of making mystical graphics, spells and charms and ways to avoid spells
49.Mental exercises
50. Composing poems
51. Knowledge of dictionaries and vocabulary
52. The art of impersonation
53. Impersonation of materials i.e.– make common things appear fine rare substances (make cotton appear to be silk)
54. Knowledge of gambling
55. Using mantras (enchantments) to take away others’ possession
56.Skills in sports and games
57.The art of social conduct, paying respect and sending compliments
58. Knowledge of war, arms and army deployment
59. Knowledge of gymnastics
60. The skills of knowing a person’s real character from his conduct
61. The skill of reading and composing verses
62. The skills of enjoying arithmetic puzzles
63. Making artificial flowers
64. Making images with clay

“A public woman, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in the above arts, obtains the name of a Ganika, or public woman of high quality, and receives a seat of honour in an assemblage of men.She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favour being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard. The daughter of a king too as well as the daughter of a minister, being learned in the above arts, can make their husbands favorable to them, even though these may have thousands of other wives besides themselves.If a wife becomes separated from her husband, and falls into distress, she can support herself easily, even in a foreign country, by means of her knowledge of these arts. Even the bare knowledge of them gives attractiveness to a woman, though the practice of them may be only possible or otherwise according to the circumstances of each case.A man who is versed in these arts, who is loquacious and acquainted with the arts of gallantry, gains very soon the hearts of women, even though he is only acquainted with them for a short time.”

Why not cultivate a few of these interests as per our tastes and talents?Being attractive is always a plus.