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One of the answer in this question indirectly cites Kama Sutra as an authentic source. Is Kam Sutra considered authentic source? If it's not why it's persisting there? Can it be deleted for lack of authentic source if it's not?

According to answerer logic anything written by Hindu is Hindu text!

*Note 2:- Vātsyāyana the writer of Kama Sutra was hindu/Indian making it Hindu treatise which doesn't means to be a religious text. Religious text are which represent God not sex. And hindu text doesn't means religious text only. There are so many text which are presented as hindu text but that doesn't make them religious just because they are hindu. *

Does this fuzzy logic open the door for multitude of sources which are hindu in nature (written by Hindu) ?

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    It is not a text we can cite here. Also since the answer is citing from such a text it arrived at a wrong conclusion. If posted now such answers will probably be deleted for not having the the appropriate sources.
    – Rickross
    Sep 15, 2018 at 7:09
  • Actually, sex and sexuality is not a matter we want to discuss here. So, the question of citing it is secondary question. Who will ask questions about sex here? Actually some users are in support that it is a religious text. A question about Hindu doesn't make it on-topic for us similarly, a text written by Hindu doesn't make it a religious text. Sep 15, 2018 at 10:29
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    @Rickross I m puzzled on this..Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are 4 attainable goals in Hinduism..now if not Kamasutra then what are the texts for Kama?? I hv asked this Q on main site too..few posts in this site mention that Adi Shankara learned Kama Shastra to debate with Bharati..did he wrote down Kama Shastra somewhere?..if so is it authentic here which can be used for reference in such Qs?...
    – YDS
    Sep 15, 2018 at 11:31
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    Kama does not only mean sex.. it means desire.. how the sexual life shd be is well described in many Hindu scriptures predominantly in the Smritis and Puranas.. @YDS On the other hand Kamasutra probably (probably because I have not read it) teaches how to be good at sex :P.. So which Qs according to u shd be answered using that text as a reference?
    – Rickross
    Sep 15, 2018 at 11:36
  • @Rickross so u mean, Kamasutra is only about sex? It's also on Kama... sex is just a subtopic of it...
    – YDS
    Sep 15, 2018 at 11:41
  • There is Kamashastra in the Tantras.. I have some verses from the Text.. but that is a scripture... the words are those of Lord Shiva.. Kamasutra is not a religious text..@YDS
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 5:57
  • @Rickross so as per u only text on Dharma is religious text...anything on Artha, Kama & Moksha is not..? Or u r deciding it by author or timeline?
    – YDS
    Sep 17, 2018 at 9:56
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    Have u ever chanted any Mantras/Stotras? Numerous such Mantras have in the Viniyoga "Chaturvarga Prapatyarthe Jape Viniyogah".. Do u knw what that means? Do u think our scriptures help us attaining only Dharma among the 4 goals? No way.. They are Chaturvarga Phalaprada i.e giver of all the 4 goals. @YDS
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 10:54
  • @YDS Some user quotes from Mahabharath the following in one of his answers: "It contains much useful instruction on Artha and Kama. This sacred history maketh the heart desire for salvation." This is talking about Mahabharath. So why do u think that scriptures do not have anything on Kama?
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 14:35
  • @Rickross I too quoted that in my Q and in some answer too...but issue is it's in pieces through out the text...and not specifically in some portion...And I don't think that scriptures don't hv anything on Kama (see my old post hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/23407/12304 )..they do hv but I want to know if some specific part of scripture or scripture is there which is entirely dedicated on Kama in case we don't consider Kamasutra as authentic text...
    – YDS
    Sep 17, 2018 at 15:08
  • If we allow Kamasutra as an authentic text for this site then we have to allow Qs based on it too (as Rohit said). Now, obviously more than 90% of the users won't be happy with that.. But the question is, will those persons, who are in favor of allowing Kamasutra, can digest such Qs being asked on this site or not.. @YDS
    – Rickross
    Sep 18, 2018 at 6:04

2 Answers 2

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Kamasutra should be considered Hindu text.
Because there are not enough reasons to say it otherwise.

  • Timeline-wise it falls between ancient works of various Smriti-s and modern works of various recent Acharya-s
  • It's written by a Hindu native in the Indian subcontinent
  • Whatever have I personally read in that, it is written with equal sincerity as any other religious works.
  • Probably it discusses an aspect viz. human sexuality, for which we are not very accustomed to conversate openly in post Victorian era; but that doesn't make it anti Hindu

Till now no Moderators or no community posts have declared it to be non authentic source.

Personally I would request the community to keep an open mind for such answers, because they are not posted on regular basis.


It takes courage to post such things and is no cakewalk. I would definitely not recommend that [highly upvoted] answer to be deleted as it doesn't violate any rules. I had one such post deleted in past, but restored later. See a related meta: Answer wrongly deleted - 6 [resolved]

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    You can definitely consider it as a Hindu text as it was written by a Hindu in the Sanskrit language. But it is definitely not a religious text. And, this site is about religious matters (Hinduism). So how can it be considered a valid reference to cite here?
    – Rickross
    Sep 15, 2018 at 7:39
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    @Rickross, the question specifically mentioned about "sexuality". In such case Kamasutra can be an authentic source. Moreover if we consider sexuality as off-topic from religion, then that could be a reason to close the question but not to delete an answer. But in this site, we ask many aspects of life which are off-religion.
    – iammilind
    Sep 15, 2018 at 10:06
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    Yes Qs on sexuality but within the scope of Hinduism .. some Qs on sex will be on topic here like the one discussed here.. It is for such Qs OP is asking. If the Q itself has nothing to do with Hinduism we know what it's fate will be. I agree that there hardly will be any Qs for answering which one can use the text as reference and that's why till date we have only two such answers..
    – Rickross
    Sep 15, 2018 at 11:15
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    Dharma artha kama and moksha are important aspects. So one of the aspects of kama is kama sutra which is helpful for happy married life and marital bliss Sep 15, 2018 at 11:53
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    @RakeshJoshi So Hindu scriptures are incapable of bestowing only one Varga among the ChaturVargas? For that we need Kama Sutra?
    – Rickross
    Sep 15, 2018 at 15:25
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This is a site on religion. And so the accepted references include mostly Hindu scriptures which include Vedas, Vedangas, Upavedas, Upanishads, Smritis, Upasmritis, Puranas, Itihasas, Tantras, Agamas, Darshanas etc.

We also accept the works of Acharyas (like say Adi Shankara) who are/were well-versed in scriptures and works/sayings of saints/Yogis (like say Ramakrishna Paramhamsa) who have direct perception of truths.

Now, KamaSutra is not a religious text. And, that's why it is not an accepted book to cite here.

Any text that is written by a Hindu, and which is written in Sanskrit does not become a valid reference to cite here.

Take for example the great poet Kalidasa and his works.

Those works are literary works of the highest order in Sanskrit. The contents also are sometimes fictional versions of stories which are found in Hindu scriptures. The content also is not objectionable like it is in case of Kama Sutra.

But still such works are not accepted here to be cited as references. Then how can we accept a book like Kamasutra which is not based on religion?

Regarding Kamashastra then I have seen few verses from one such text in one of the Tantra books that I have. But that is a scripture. The verses there, like any other Tantras, are spoken by Lord Shiva.

Those verses deal with sexuality alright but they are not sexually explicit and pornographic in nature as is the case with Kamasutra.

So, bottomline is, since Kamasutra isn't a text on religion and this is a site on religion. it can't be accepted as a valid reference here.

Another thing to note here is that the nature of our site is such that those questions which can be answered only by citing Kamasutra as reference will be closed as off-topic. And, that's why we have till date only two such answers which use the text as reference.

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    Religious works of Kalidasa are accepted under the section of Subhashitas, modern shlokas. There was a separate meta discussion which turned to faq about Kalidasa. You took a wrong example you took. Susruta, Charaka is apt than Kalidasa in your example. Sep 17, 2018 at 6:32
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    How can Kalidasa become a authority in religion? That's not correct in opinion.. Ayurveda on the other hand is an Upaveda.. so works on that subject are valid references. @Sarvabhouma
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 6:35
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    How can own work of Sushruta become valid referece? Ayurveda is on-topic but only limited. Kalidasa wrote many works like Raghuvamsham, Abhignana Shakuntalam based on epics, puranas and added poetry to it. They are not fiction. Purely fictional works will not be valid but poems which are about religion, which are showing way of living (which can be used in philosophical answers) are valid. There are thousands of Subhashitas like that. So, they are valid references. Sep 17, 2018 at 6:38
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    Those are fictional works.. although based on scriptural stories (this I have already mentioned). @Sarvabhouma
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 6:39
  • Well, opinion of a single person doesn't become valid. Does it? Community should decide its usefulness. Write a meta answer. Were you not aware of the faq all these days? This is not the first time you spoke against the faq. You were member when that made faq. Sep 17, 2018 at 6:46
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    No I was not aware of it.. Who has all the time to go thru all the stuffs that are posted here? We do something IMP in our real life too. @Sarvabhouma What we do here is out of love and not out of compulsion.
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 6:49
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    If Kaam Sutra turns out to be valid scripture here then I will flood the site with questions on sex and sexuality, which are answerable by Kama Sutras. 😍 Sep 17, 2018 at 10:25
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    then the Qs will be marked as off-topic... I have downloaded this book today and was going thru it's content ... One Q that came to my mind is this " What are the different methods of kissing your lover during love making as per Hindu scriptures?" @Rohit.
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 10:50
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    No, community can't be indecisive. Either kaam Sutra is on topic or off topic. I'm happy with both the decisions, but can't tolerate conflicts or hypocrisy arising out of dilemma.. Sep 17, 2018 at 11:46
  • Yes I also agree.. I am also with community's decision (means decision taken by 10 users).. You're free to ask my sample Q after the decision has been taken.. :D @Rohit.
    – Rickross
    Sep 17, 2018 at 11:51

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