Vātsyāyana

Who is Vātsyāyana?

Vātsyāyana is the name of a Hindu philosopher in the Vedic tradition who is believed to have lived during 4th to 3rd centuries BCE in India. His name appears as the author of the Kama Sutra and of Nyāya Sutra Bhāshya, the first commentary on Gotama's Nyāya Sutras.

His name is sometimes confused with Mallanaga, the prophet of the Asuras, to whom the origin of erotic science is attributed. This is an error; as Daniélou says:

The attribution of the first name Mallanaga to Vatsyayana is due to the confusion of his role as editor of the Kama Sutra with that of the mythical creator of erotic science.

Hardly anything is known about him, although it is believed that his disciples went on his instructions, on the request of the Hindu Kings in the Himalayan range to influence the hill tribals to give up the pagan cult of sacrifices. He is said to have created the legend of Tara among the hill tribes as a tantric goddess. Later as the worship spread to the east Garo hills,the goddess manifest of a 'yoni' goddess Kamakhya was created.His interest in human sexual behavior as a medium of attaining spirituality was recorded in his treatise Kama Sutra.

At the close of the Kama Sutra this is what he writes about himself: