The Kamasutra is the oldest extant textbook of erotic love. But it is more than a book about sex. It is about the art of living--about finding a partner, maintaining power in a marriage, committing adultery, living as or with a courtesan, using drugs--and also, of course, about the many and varied positions available to lovers in sexual intercourse and the pleasures to be derived from each.
The Kamasutra was composed in Sanskrit, the literary language of ancient India, sometime in the third century, probably in North India. It combines an encyclopedic coverage of all imaginable aspects of sex with a closely observed sexual psychology and a dramatic, novelistic narrative of seduction, consummation, and disentanglement. Best known in English through the highly mannered, padded, and inaccurate nineteenth-century translation by Sir Richard Burton, the text is newly translated here into clear, vivid, sexually frank English. This edition also includes a section of vivid Indian color illustrations along with three uniquely important commentaries: translated excerpts from the earliest and most famous Sanskrit commentary (thirteenth century) and from a twentieth-century Hindi commentary, and explanatory notes by the two translators.
The lively and entertaining introduction by translator Wendy Doniger, one of the world's foremost Sanskrit scholars, discusses the history of The Kamasutra and its reception in India and Europe, analyses its attitudes toward gender and sexual violence, and sets it in the context of ancient Indian social theory, scientific method, and sexual ethics.
" This] new translation is fascinating, thought-provoking and occasionally even amusing."--Salon.com
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The fifteen essays included in this volume celebrate three streams of knowledge-psychoanalysis, culture, and religion-and their confluence in Kakar's work. From the role of empathy in psychoanalysis, male-female relationships, and Indian sexuality to modern mysticism, religious conflict, Hindu childhood, and the significance of imagination-these writings represent a breakthrough in Indian social consciousness and indigenous knowledge systems. In the Preface, Ramin Jahanbegloo looks at the depth and influence of Kakar's ideas, while the Introduction by Manasi Kumar critically comments on how Kakar's ideas fit the larger context of psychoanalytic theory and culture. An interesting inclusion is a conversation between Sudhir Kakar and Madhu Sarin which explores the evolution of Kakar's relationship with psychoanalysis-from being influenced by psychoanalysis to playing a formative role in the psychoanalytic culture in India.

It is 1925 and India's struggle for independence is in disarray, impeded by factionalism among its leaders and rising incidents of unrest across the country. Meanwhile, having withdrawn himself from active politics, Mahatma Gandhi is in an ashram immersed in what he considers the most important undertaking of his life--the creation of a community that is wholly dedicated to the highest standards of self-discipline, tolerance, and austerity.
Into this world comes a young British woman named Madeline, the daughter of a British admiral. Madeline has set her heart on becoming Gandhi's greatest disciple. Madeline's wish to serve him soon becomes an all-consuming desire to be near him at all times. Because her adoration of the great teacher is in direct conflict with his exacting moral and spiritual codes, Gandhi struggles with wanting to distance himself from her, yet wanting not to let go of her love and friendship.
Using words preserved in their letters and diaries, and drawing on the reminiscences of others, the author has created a compelling fictional narrative based on the extraordinary friendship that lasted over two decades between these two people.
To learn more about the author, Sudhir Kakar, go to www.sudhirkakar.com.

Sudhir Kakar, a psychoanalyst and scholar, brilliantly illuminates the ancient healing traditions of India embodied in the rituals of shamans, the teachings of gurus, and the precepts of the school of medicine known as Ayurveda. With extraordinary sympathy, open-mindedness, and insight Sudhir Kakar has drawn from both his Eastern and Western backgrounds to show how the gulf that divides native healer from Western psychiatrist can be spanned.--Rosemary Dinnage, New York Review of Books Each chapter describes the geographical and cultural context within which the healers work, their unique approach to healing mental illness, and . . . the philosophical and religious underpinnings of their theories compared with psychoanalytical theory.--Choice

In this bold, enlightening, and readable study, psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar and anthropologist Katharina Kakar investigate the nature of "Indian-ness," that sense of unity that underlies modern India's tremendous diversity, beyond ethnic or social differences. Focusing on what constitutes a common Indian identity, the authors examine in detail the complex hierarchical organization of Indian social life, based on the caste system; strong familial ties, founded upon the concept of extended family; the ayurvedic influence on health and body image; the modest attitude toward sex and marriage; the role of women in society; and the concept of the "other," especially as it applies to Hindu-Muslim relations. Drawing upon three decades of research and sources as varied as the Mahabharata, the Kama Sutra, the writings of Gandhi, Bollywood movies, and popular folklore, the Kakars have created here a rich and colorful portrait of Indian society.
"En este solido, esclarecedor y ameno estudio, el psicoanalista Sudhir Kakar y la antropologa Katharina Kakar investigan la naturaleza de la "indianidad," esa unidad que subyace en la gran diversidad de la India moderna, mas alla de las diferencias etnicas o sociales. Centrandose en lo que constituye una comun identidad india, los autores examinen en detalle el complejo mundo jerarquico de las relaciones sociales indias, basado en la institucion de la casta; la particular concepcion de los vinculos familiares, derivada de la idea de familia extensa; la influencia del ayurveda en la imagen del cuerpo humano y la salud; la pudorosa actitud hacia el sexo y el matrimonio; el papel de la mujer en la sociedad; y la percepcion del "otro," con especial enfasis en el conflicto hindu-musulman. Apoyados en tres decadas de investigacion y fuentes tan variadas como el Mahabharata, el Kamasutra, los escritos de Gandhi, las peliculas de Bollywood y el folclore popular, los Kakar han creado con esta obra un riquisimo y cromatico retrato de la sociedad india."

Gesellschaftliche VerAnderungen der letzten Jahrzehnte, die gemeinhin als Globalisierung, von Soziologen auch als "reflexive Modernisierung" bezeichnet werden, haben auch die Psychotherapie nicht unberA"hrt gelassen. Allerdings wird Psychotherapeuten gelegentlich bescheinigt, sich wenig mit aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Themen zu befassen.In den BeitrAgen geht es unter anderem um die Akonomisierung von Psychotherapie, die kulturellen Grenzen psychotherapeutischen Handelns und der Erinnerung und um den Einfluss neuer Medien auf die IdentitAt des Menschen. Das Buch, in dem Autoren aus unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen zu Wort kommen, will eine "Selbstreflexion von auAen" anstoAen.