This definitive volume is the first modern translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra to include two essential commentaries: the Jayamangala of Yashodhara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Alain Danilou spent four years comparing versions of the Kama Sutra in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, and English, drawing on his intimate experience of India, to preserve the full explicitness of the original. I wanted to demystify India, he writes, to show that a period of great civilization, of high culture, is forcibly a period of great liberty.

Danielou's masterpiece on the erotic nature of the sacred symbolism of the Hindu temple.

- Includes stunning photographs from the major temple complexes of India.

- By Alain Danielou, one of the greatest authorities on Hinduism.

Ancient Indian architectural treatises state that a temple lacking erotic imagery would be ineffective and maleficent. The erotic statues and representations that cover the outer and inner walls of the Hindu temple serve both a magical and an instructional purpose. Through the power of the "yantras"--the magical diagrams created by the placement of the erotic imagery--the architect made the temple a faithful reflection of the divine. At the same time this imagery educated the faithful about the fundamental aspects of the Hindu religion, wherein the union of opposites in the sexual act is the perfect image of the creative principle, and erotic enjoyment is a reflection of divine bliss.

Alain Danielou's masterpiece on the Hindu temple, now translated for the first time into English, provides a stunningly illustrated tour of the major temple complexes of India. The erotic sculptures that cover the walls of these temples are not merely symbolic portrayals of voluptuous acts but serve as profound reminders that man is closest to the divine during the instant of sexual transcendence.

What is the Nature of the social order that unquestionably produced one of the greatest and longest lasting civilizations known to humankind? Alain Danielou, distinguished Orientalist, musicologist, and linguist, reveals the foundations of India's culture and the four aims of human life as they are viewed in the traditional Hindu society: virtue on a moral plane; success on the material and social planes; pleasure on a sensual plane; and liberation on a spiritual plane. Coexistent with these aims are the four stages of life: quest for knowledge, family life, retreat into the forest, and renunciation.
A four-fold division can be found in all traditional societies throughout the world, symbolically representing the progression of creative consciousness into physical reality. In India, this division is reflected in the caste system, a social order that differs profoundly from those accepted in the contemporary Western world. Exploring he fundamental concepts of the caste system, the author addresses issues of race, individual rights, sexual mores, martial practices, and spiritual attainments. In this light, he exposes the inherent flaws and hypocrisies of our modern egalitarian governments and shows how the shadow side of the ancient caste system persists, disguised and unacknowledged, beneath contemporary economic regimes. Danielou explains how Hindu society has served as a model for the realization of human potential on many levels, addressing sociological and human problems that are both timeless and universal.

Based on original Sanskrit sources, this book gives an authentic account of the methods of yoga in its different forms, including the challenging "left-hand" paths, as well as practices best suited to Western students.

RELIGION / HINDUISM In Shiva and the Primordial Tradition, Alain Danielou explores the relationship between Shaivism and the Western world. Shaivite philosophy does not oppose theology, cosmology, and science because it recognizes that their common aim is to seek to understand and explain the nature of the world. In the Western world, the idea of bridging the divide between science and religion is just beginning to touch the edges of mainstream thought. This rare collection of the late author's writings, selected and edited by Jean-Louis Gabin, contains several never-before-published articles and offers an extensive examination of the underpinnings of Shaivism. It provides an in-depth look at the many facets of the Samkhya, the cosmologic doctrines of the Shaivite tradition. Danielou provides important revelations on subjects such as the science of dreams, the role of poetry and sexuality in the sacred, the personality of the great Shankara, and the Shaivite influence on the Scythians and the Parthians (and by extension, the Hellenic world in general). Providing a convincing argument in favor of the polytheistic approach, he explains that monotheism is merely the deification of -individualism--the separation of humanity from nature--and that by acknowledging the sacred in everything, we can recognize the imprint of the primordial tradition. ALAIN DANIeLOU (1907-1994) spent more than fifteen 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 ortranslator of more than thirty books on the religion, history, and arts of India and the Mediterranean, including The Complete Kama Sutra, The Myths and Gods of India, and A Brief History of India. JEAN-LOUIS GABIN, Ph.D., began collecting and editing the various texts in this volume in collaboration with Danielou while he was still alive. He is working on an additional Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Indology on the subject "Tradition and Modernity in the works of Alain Danielou." He also has edited and published five posthumous collections of Alain Danielou's work in French as well as serving as editor of the English edition of India: A Civilization of Differences.

HINDUISM / MYTHOLOGY "Alain Danielou was a man whose vast and curious learning in the fields of literature, music and the Orient was unequalled in our time. His beautifully written works remain to console us in our increasingly barbaric continent. Our debt to Alain Danielou's scholarship and deep humanity is immeasurable." --James Kirkup, The Independent "The physical aspects of this book and its arrangements are beyond reproach. The style is lucid; the lack of polemic is particularly attractive. The total result is a volume that is a pleasure to behold and an invigorating experience to read." --American Anthropologist "Danielou is one of the greatest Western authorities on Hinduism. . . . His talents seem unending." --Mohini Kent, Times of India "Danielou's books are remarkable for their clarity, scholarship, and uninhibited celebration of erotic and mystical ecstasy." --Interview Magazine This study of Hindu mythology explores the significance of the most prominent Hindu deities as they are envisioned by the Hindus themselves. Referred to by its adherents as the "eternal religion," Hinduism recognizes for each age and each country a new form of revelation--and for each person, according to his or her stage of development, a different path of realization. This message of tolerance and adaptability, the very heart of Hindu polytheism, resounds clearly throughout Alain Danielou's work. Photographic plates by Raymond Burnier further illustrate the many facets of Hindu teaching and trace the significance of the Gods of the Vedas, as well as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Kali, Shakti, and other deities. ALAIN DANIeLOU was an intimate of Stravinsky, Cocteau, and Nabokov in his early years, thenspent twenty years in India studying music and philosophy with eminent scholars of the Hindu tradition. He is the author of more than thirty books on the religion, history, and arts of India and the Mediterranean, including While the Gods Play, Gods of Love and Ecstasy, Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe, and The Complete Kama Sutra. Danielou was the founder and director of the International Institute for Comparative Musicology in Berlin, and was a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and Officier du Merite National.

Shiva and Dionysus are the Hindu and Greek gods of magical power, intoxication, ecstatic sexuality, and transcendence who initiate us into communion with the creative forces of life. Revealing the earliest sources of the traditions of Shiva and Dionysus, Alain Danielou reconstructs the fabric of our ancient relationship with creation, vividly relating practices that were observed from the Indus Valley to the coasts of Portugal at least six thousand years ago.

Revealing the influence of Saivism on the Western world, this rare collection of articles offers an in-depth look at the many facets of the Samkya, the cosmologic doctrines of the Saivite tradition. An oftentimes poetic discussion of sexuality, the science of dreams, and polytheism, the book illuminates the relationship between Saivism and the Western world. "Revelando la influencia del Shiva en el mundo occidental, esta unica coleccion de articulos ofrece una detallada exploracion de las doctrinas cosmologicas del Shivaismo. Una discusion poetica de la sexualidad, la ciencia de los suenos y del politeismo, el libro ilumina la relacion entre el Shivaismo y la cultura occidental."

HINDUISM / SOCIOLOGY In India: A Civilization of Differences Alain Danielou builds a bold and cogent defense of the Hindu caste system, viewing it not as racist inequality but as a natural ordering of diversity. Instead of being a hierarchy with some who are privileged and others who are despised, it is an organizing principle of a society wherein differences are embraced rather than ignored. Danielou argues the point that negative stereotypes about the inequality of Indian society were invented by Westerners to justify the goals of colonialism. In classical India, social ethics are based on each individual's functional role in society. These ethics vary according to caste in order to maximize the individual's effectiveness in the social context. In the caste system it is up to the individual to achieve perfection in the state to which he or she has been born, since to a certain extent that state also forms part of a person's nature. All people must accomplish their individual spiritual destinies while, as members of a particular social group, ensuring the continuity of the group and collaborating in creating a favorable framework for all human life--thereby fulfilling the group's collective destiny. The notion of transmigration provides an equalizing effect on this prescribed system in that today's prince may be reborn as a woodcutter and the Brahman as a shoemaker. Danielou thoroughly explores this seldom-heard side of the caste debate and argues effectively in its favor. This rare collection of the late author's writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the structure of Indian society before and after Western colonialism. ALAIN DANIeLOU(1907-1994) spent twenty years in India studying music and philosophy with eminent scholars of the Hindu traditions. He is the translator and author of more than thirty books on the religion, history, and arts of India and the Mediterranean, including The Complete Kama Sutra, The Myths and Gods of India, and A Brief History of India.

Dani鬯u's powerful rebuttal to the conventional view of India's history, which calls for a massive reevaluation of the history of humanity
- Explores historical occurrences from each major time period starting with the first appearance of man 30,000 years ago
- Couples the clarity and perspective of an outsider with the unique and specific knowledge of an insider
- By the internationally recognized Hindu scholar and translator of "The Complete Kama Sutra" (200,000 copies sold)
Alain Dani鬯u approaches the history of India from a new perspective--as a sympathetic outsider, yet one who understands the deepest workings of the culture. Because the history of India covers such a long span of time, rather than try to create an exhaustive chronology of dates and events, Dani鬯u instead focuses on enduring institutions that remain constant despite the ephemeral historical events that occur. His selections, synthesis, and narration create a thoroughly engaging and readable journey through time, with a level of detail and comprehensiveness that is truly a marvel.
Because of the continuity of its civilization, its unique social system, and the tremendous diversity of cultures, races, languages, and religions that exist in its vast territory, India is like a history museum. Its diverse groups maintained their separate identities and never fully supplanted the culture and knowledge of their predecessors. Even today one may encounter in India primitive Stone Age people whose technology has remained at what is considered prehistoric levels. Thus Dani鬯u's examination of India reveals not only the diversity and historical events and trends of that country, but also the history of all mankind. Through Dani鬯u's history of India we learn from whence we came, what we have discovered over the years in the fields of science, arts, technology, social structures, religions, and philosophical concepts, and what the future may hold for us.

Never before translated into English, the Manimekhalai is one of the great classics of Indian culture. A second-century Tamil verse epic, it is a sequel to the Shilappadikaram (New Directions, 1965), which was also masterfully translated into prose by the acclaimed musician and scholar of Hinduism, Alain Danielou. Rich with details of the period's arts, customs, and religions, the Manimekhalai provides an extraordinary picture of an age that suddenly comes back to life. It is the story of a beautiful young dancer who decides to forego her looming career as a courtesan in order to dedicate her life (with the aid of gods, demigods, and a magic bowl called the Cow of Abundance) to charity and to attaining the "bright light of knowledge."