The Mauryan Polity c12.69

c12.69

(1) The style followed and the method adopted in the Kāmasūtra are exactly the same as are met with in the extant Arthaśāstra. (2) The style is didactic, midway between that of the sūtra and the bhāṣya. (3) The sections end invariably with verses in the manner of the Arthaśāstra.¹ Vātsyāyana like Kauṭalya seems to have composed aphorisms (sūtra) and comments (bhāṣya). (4) Both authors claim to base their teachings on experience or usage.² (5) Of the previous writers quoted by Kauṭalya, Gotamukha and Cārāyaṇa find mention in the Kāmasūtra. (6) Both refer to Vaiśika, apparently the work of Dattaka of Pāṭaliputra, written according to Jacobi, at the earliest in the second half of the 5th century B.C.³ (7) The aim of both seems to be the realisation of the three objects of human pursuit, dharma, artha and kāma. (8) The Kāmasūtra ends with a secret chapter as in the Arthaśāstra.⁴ (9) The morality of the Kāmasūtra is that of the Arthaśāstra “all is fair in love and war.”⁵ (10) As Kauṭalya often refers to an ācārya so also Vātsyāyana refers to an ācārya. (11) Both refer to a work of Parāśara as an authority.