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The Ascetic of Desire
The time is the fourth century AD, the golden age of Indian history. The locale: an ashram in the woods a little outside Varanasi. Every morning, Vatsyayana, the author of the Kamasutra, recounts stories from his childhood and youth to a young pupil who plans to write the great sage’s biography. Little is known of Vatsyayana’s life, and the young scholar puts the pieces together in his mind along with relevant slokas of erotic wisdom from the Kamasutra, which he has learnt by heart.
The story that unfolds is fascinating. Vatsyayana’s mother Avantika and her sister Chandrika are famous courtesans in a brothel at Kausambi. From them and their various lovers Vatsyayana gains his first indelible impressions of sexual artifice. With characteristic insight, Kakar plumbs the psychological depths of a plethora of characters who are at various stages of discovering their sexual identities. What emerges is a powerful narrative of lust and sensuality imbued with an old-world charm and a surprising sense of irony.
The story that unfolds is fascinating. Vatsyayana’s mother Avantika and her sister Chandrika are famous courtesans in a brothel at Kausambi. From them and their various lovers Vatsyayana gains his first indelible impressions of sexual artifice. With characteristic insight, Kakar plumbs the psychological depths of a plethora of characters who are at various stages of discovering their sexual identities. What emerges is a powerful narrative of lust and sensuality imbued with an old-world charm and a surprising sense of irony.
- GenresFictionEroticaLiterature
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 27, 2000
9 people are currently reading
347 people want to read
About the author
Sudhir Kakar
56 books84 followersSudhir Kakar is a psychoanalyst and writer who lives in Goa, India.
Kakar took his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Gujarat University, his Master’s degree (Diplom-Kaufmann) in business economics from Mannheim in Germany and his doctorate in economics from Vienna before beginning his training in psychoanalysis at the Sigmund-Freud Institute in Frankfurt, Germany in 1971. Between 1966 and 1971, Sudhir Kakar was a Lecturer in General Education at Harvard University, Research Associate at Harvard Business School and Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
After returning to India in 1975 , Dr. Kakar set up a practice as a psychoanalyst in Delhi where he was also the Head of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology. He has been 40th Anniversary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Study of World Religions at Harvard (2001-02), a visiting professor at the universities of Chicago (1989-93), McGill (1976-77), Melbourne (1981), Hawaii (1998) and Vienna (1974-75), INSEAD, France (1994-2013). He has been a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study), Berlin, Centre for Advanced Study of Humanities, University of Cologne and is Honorary Professor, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam.
A leading figure in the fields of cultural psychology and the psychology of religion, as well as a novelist, Dr. Kakar’s person and work have been profiled in The New York Times, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Neue Zuricher Zeitung, Die Zeit and Le Nouvel Observateur, which listed him as one of the world's 25 major thinkers while the German weekly Die Zeit portrayed Sudhir Kakar as one of the 21 important thinkers for the 21st century. Dr. Kakar's many honors include the Kardiner Award of Columbia University, Boyer Prize for Psychological Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association, Germany ’s Goethe Medal, Rockefeller Residency, McArthur Fellowship Bhabha, Nehru and ICSSR National Fellowships and Distinguished Service Award of Indo-American Psychiatric Association. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Board of Sigmund Freud Archives in the Library of Congress, Washington and the Academie Universelle des Culture, France. In February 2012, he was conferred the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the country's highest civilian order.
Sudhir Kakar’s twenty books of non-fiction and six of fiction, include The Inner World (now in its 16th printing since its first publication in 1978), Shamans, Mystics and Doctors , (with J.M. Ross ) Tales of Love, Sex and Danger,Intimate Relations, The Analyst and the Mystic, The Colors of Violence,Culture and Psyche, (with K.Kakar) The Indians: Portrait of a People, (with Wendy Doniger), a new translation of the Kamasutra for Oxford world Classics, Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern world and Young Tagore: The makings of a genius. His fifth novel, The Devil Take Love will be published by Penguin-Viking in August 2015.
Sudhir with Katharina Poggendorf Kakar
Sudhir Kakar is married to Katharina, a writer and a scholar of comparative religions and artist. He has two children, a son Rahul who is in financial services, and a daughter Shveta, a lawyer, both in New York.
Kakar took his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Gujarat University, his Master’s degree (Diplom-Kaufmann) in business economics from Mannheim in Germany and his doctorate in economics from Vienna before beginning his training in psychoanalysis at the Sigmund-Freud Institute in Frankfurt, Germany in 1971. Between 1966 and 1971, Sudhir Kakar was a Lecturer in General Education at Harvard University, Research Associate at Harvard Business School and Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
After returning to India in 1975 , Dr. Kakar set up a practice as a psychoanalyst in Delhi where he was also the Head of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology. He has been 40th Anniversary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Study of World Religions at Harvard (2001-02), a visiting professor at the universities of Chicago (1989-93), McGill (1976-77), Melbourne (1981), Hawaii (1998) and Vienna (1974-75), INSEAD, France (1994-2013). He has been a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study), Berlin, Centre for Advanced Study of Humanities, University of Cologne and is Honorary Professor, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam.
A leading figure in the fields of cultural psychology and the psychology of religion, as well as a novelist, Dr. Kakar’s person and work have been profiled in The New York Times, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Neue Zuricher Zeitung, Die Zeit and Le Nouvel Observateur, which listed him as one of the world's 25 major thinkers while the German weekly Die Zeit portrayed Sudhir Kakar as one of the 21 important thinkers for the 21st century. Dr. Kakar's many honors include the Kardiner Award of Columbia University, Boyer Prize for Psychological Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association, Germany ’s Goethe Medal, Rockefeller Residency, McArthur Fellowship Bhabha, Nehru and ICSSR National Fellowships and Distinguished Service Award of Indo-American Psychiatric Association. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Board of Sigmund Freud Archives in the Library of Congress, Washington and the Academie Universelle des Culture, France. In February 2012, he was conferred the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the country's highest civilian order.
Sudhir Kakar’s twenty books of non-fiction and six of fiction, include The Inner World (now in its 16th printing since its first publication in 1978), Shamans, Mystics and Doctors , (with J.M. Ross ) Tales of Love, Sex and Danger,Intimate Relations, The Analyst and the Mystic, The Colors of Violence,Culture and Psyche, (with K.Kakar) The Indians: Portrait of a People, (with Wendy Doniger), a new translation of the Kamasutra for Oxford world Classics, Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern world and Young Tagore: The makings of a genius. His fifth novel, The Devil Take Love will be published by Penguin-Viking in August 2015.
Sudhir with Katharina Poggendorf Kakar
Sudhir Kakar is married to Katharina, a writer and a scholar of comparative religions and artist. He has two children, a son Rahul who is in financial services, and a daughter Shveta, a lawyer, both in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 19, 2022
Un roman superb despre erotism, sexualitate si psihologia umana vazute prin scrierile lui Vātsyāyana, autorul Kama Sutra dar si prin lentila autorului care este si psihanalist, nu doar scriitor. Foarte multe detalii interesante si despre istoria si obiceiurile Indiei stravechi.
November 28, 2013
What a marvelous read this novel is! I have given it 4 stars, rather than 5, as a penalty to the proofreader. I'll forgive one error, but not a dozen. Outside of that, though ...
The title refers to Vatsyayana, the author of the Kamasutra. Vatsyayana was a scholar of erotics, and his book is a survey of literature in the field. As a comparison, we might say he was an astronomer, not an astronaut. The novel has two narrative frames. The outer frame contains the story of the narrator, who adopted Vatsyayana as his guru and spent many days, over years, in the company of the guru and his beautiful wife. The inner frame contains the life of the guru, beginning with his birth to a beautiful courtesan and his childhood in a brothel.
I want to summarize the movement of the stories, but I don't have the psychoanalytic vocabulary to do so. The men and women who populate the story are spiritual creatures who are motivated by their biological characteristics no more than by their circumstantial experiences.
If discussion of our sexual nature and practice makes you giggle or frown, then you can't enjoy this book. (Or sex, I'm guessing.) If you recognize sex as a central concern of our biological, spiritual and emotional lives, then I recommend this erudite, compassionate novel. Its treatment of relationships between generations, genders, deities and mortals, castes and nations is likely to provoke new thought and understanding.
The title refers to Vatsyayana, the author of the Kamasutra. Vatsyayana was a scholar of erotics, and his book is a survey of literature in the field. As a comparison, we might say he was an astronomer, not an astronaut. The novel has two narrative frames. The outer frame contains the story of the narrator, who adopted Vatsyayana as his guru and spent many days, over years, in the company of the guru and his beautiful wife. The inner frame contains the life of the guru, beginning with his birth to a beautiful courtesan and his childhood in a brothel.
I want to summarize the movement of the stories, but I don't have the psychoanalytic vocabulary to do so. The men and women who populate the story are spiritual creatures who are motivated by their biological characteristics no more than by their circumstantial experiences.
If discussion of our sexual nature and practice makes you giggle or frown, then you can't enjoy this book. (Or sex, I'm guessing.) If you recognize sex as a central concern of our biological, spiritual and emotional lives, then I recommend this erudite, compassionate novel. Its treatment of relationships between generations, genders, deities and mortals, castes and nations is likely to provoke new thought and understanding.
December 2, 2018
Romanul e despre o cultura complet diferita, cu obiceiurile ei, care fascineaza. E o cu totul alta lume. Erotica era, in acele vremuri, o stiinta. Curtezanele erau cunoscatoarele unei adevarate arte, sau, mai bine spus, cunosteau 64 de arte. Beneficiau de educatie inclusiv in domeniul literaturii, artei... Personajul principal e un tanar care povesteste intalnirea sa cu acela care ii va deveni guru, Vatsyayana, autorul Kamasutrei. Aflam amanunte din viata acestuia, amanunte care se impletesc cu modul in care acesta a descris anumite lucruri in Kamasutra. Unele amanunte lipsesc si vor ramane in cartea autorului tanar, cel care va deveni comentatorul Kamasutrei. Cel care a devenit studentul lui Vatsyayana va deveni in cele din urma iubitul sotiei lui Vatsyayana, Malavika. Vatsyayana urmarea ca Malavika sa se transforme intr-o zeita insa ea va fi tentata de studentul sau. Ea mai fusese in trecut amanta unui poet pe care la inceput nu-l placuse. Ei doi vor trai impreuna si vor avea si o fetita, stergandu-si trecutul, plecand intr-un loc unde nimeni nu stia ce se intamplase de fapt. Vatsyayana insusi fusese amantul nevestei gurului sau. Vatsyayana povesteste despre copilaria sa in casa de toleranta a mamei sale si a surorii acesteia. Chandrika va fi studiata de Vatsyayana si se va baza pe experientele cu ea in scrierea Kamasutrei. Tatal sau, un negustor, il va lua cu el in calatoriile sale insa dupa moartea sa calatoriile vor lua sfarsit, spre regretul baiatului.
Cateva citate:
- "Citatele ne leaga de stramosii nostri, la fel ca riturile pe care le savarsim regulat, cand e luna plina, mi-a spus odata. Putem sa gandim doar ce s-a mai gandit inaintea noastra. Daca vreodata o sa ai impresia ca ti-a venit o idee noua, aminteste-ti ca doar ai uitat de unde provine."
- "In functie de fiecare kavi cu care vorbea, prima prezentare a lucrarii lui Vatsyayana despre sexualitatea femeilor fusese considerata ori un succes rasunator, ori un scandal imens. Cele doua notiuni erau identice, in ceea ce-lprivea pe Udayana, iar in anul 88 Vatsyayana a fost admis in randul liuteratilor din Kausambi. Argumetele lui Vatsyayana (pe care le atribuise, desigur, inteleptilor antici) despre autonomia sexuala a femeii, despre reactiile ei din timpul actului sexual, nedeterminate exclusiv de activitatea sexuala a barbatului, faptul ca incuraja casatoriile din dragoste si nu pe cele traditionale, dar si admiratia sa nedisimulata pentru curtezane si pentru talentele lor au facut inevitabila reactia negativa a savantilor conservatori, atragandu-si totodata si aparatori devotati din randul celor moderni."
- "Corpul e un templu [...] Trebuie pastrat stralucitor, dulce si parfumat pentru salasluirea zeilor."
- "Poate ar fi trebuit sa ma surprinda faptul ca savantul a carui lucrare isi propune sa accentueze dorinta barbatilor si a femeilor cauta linistea. [...] Ajunsesem sa suspectez ca exista ceva contradictoriu, sau macar discontinuu, intre ce-mi povestise despre viata lui si ce facea ca profesie."
- "Sunt surprins cat de usor e sa construiesti un trecut diferit, fara sa fie neaparata nevoie sa minti, numai prin anumite omisiuni, necorectand prezumtiile false, evitand sa spui adevarul cu o voce prea tare."
- "Asemeni unui yoghin care nu separa meditatia de viata de zi cu zi, ci incearca sa transforme toate clipele vietii sale intr-o meditatie, continua Chandrika, meditatia lui Vatsyayana despre kama trebuie sa aiba loc inauntrul domeniului eroticii, nu in afara sa."
Cateva citate:
- "Citatele ne leaga de stramosii nostri, la fel ca riturile pe care le savarsim regulat, cand e luna plina, mi-a spus odata. Putem sa gandim doar ce s-a mai gandit inaintea noastra. Daca vreodata o sa ai impresia ca ti-a venit o idee noua, aminteste-ti ca doar ai uitat de unde provine."
- "In functie de fiecare kavi cu care vorbea, prima prezentare a lucrarii lui Vatsyayana despre sexualitatea femeilor fusese considerata ori un succes rasunator, ori un scandal imens. Cele doua notiuni erau identice, in ceea ce-lprivea pe Udayana, iar in anul 88 Vatsyayana a fost admis in randul liuteratilor din Kausambi. Argumetele lui Vatsyayana (pe care le atribuise, desigur, inteleptilor antici) despre autonomia sexuala a femeii, despre reactiile ei din timpul actului sexual, nedeterminate exclusiv de activitatea sexuala a barbatului, faptul ca incuraja casatoriile din dragoste si nu pe cele traditionale, dar si admiratia sa nedisimulata pentru curtezane si pentru talentele lor au facut inevitabila reactia negativa a savantilor conservatori, atragandu-si totodata si aparatori devotati din randul celor moderni."
- "Corpul e un templu [...] Trebuie pastrat stralucitor, dulce si parfumat pentru salasluirea zeilor."
- "Poate ar fi trebuit sa ma surprinda faptul ca savantul a carui lucrare isi propune sa accentueze dorinta barbatilor si a femeilor cauta linistea. [...] Ajunsesem sa suspectez ca exista ceva contradictoriu, sau macar discontinuu, intre ce-mi povestise despre viata lui si ce facea ca profesie."
- "Sunt surprins cat de usor e sa construiesti un trecut diferit, fara sa fie neaparata nevoie sa minti, numai prin anumite omisiuni, necorectand prezumtiile false, evitand sa spui adevarul cu o voce prea tare."
- "Asemeni unui yoghin care nu separa meditatia de viata de zi cu zi, ci incearca sa transforme toate clipele vietii sale intr-o meditatie, continua Chandrika, meditatia lui Vatsyayana despre kama trebuie sa aiba loc inauntrul domeniului eroticii, nu in afara sa."
July 4, 2024
‘The Ascetic of Desire’ is a great re-imagination of the live and times of Vatsyayana, the author of the great Indian book on the study and research on the idea of ‘desire’.
The book doesn’t follow western form of creative writing but heavily lends from the storytelling principles from ancient India. That’s why there is as much ‘telling’ in the book as ‘showing.’
In the form of a fiction tale on the life of Vatsyayana, Sudhir ji has also engaged in a great commentary on Kamasutra.
I would say that this book is a must-read for a modern Indian audience showing deep interest in English literature, to get aquatinted with the idea of morality, desire, sex, love, poetry, and courtesanship in an India of the Gupta Period when Vatsyayana lived.
This book is an exercise in breaking apart the modern urban Indian morality borrowed from Victorian middle class morality.
My many thanks to Sudhir ji for engaging in this exercise and contributing greatly to our thought process.
The book doesn’t follow western form of creative writing but heavily lends from the storytelling principles from ancient India. That’s why there is as much ‘telling’ in the book as ‘showing.’
In the form of a fiction tale on the life of Vatsyayana, Sudhir ji has also engaged in a great commentary on Kamasutra.
I would say that this book is a must-read for a modern Indian audience showing deep interest in English literature, to get aquatinted with the idea of morality, desire, sex, love, poetry, and courtesanship in an India of the Gupta Period when Vatsyayana lived.
This book is an exercise in breaking apart the modern urban Indian morality borrowed from Victorian middle class morality.
My many thanks to Sudhir ji for engaging in this exercise and contributing greatly to our thought process.
May 18, 2017
Charming and learned novel detailing the life of Vatsyayana, author of the Kamasutra, through the eyes of a young man aspiring to be his disciple who eventually becomes enamored of Vatsyayana's wife.
it's a slow read but it grows on you, the way that historical fiction seeps under your skin, rich in detail, highly textured, filled with scents and aromas.
ironically, the many references to sexual practices are very clinical, much in the spirit of Vatsyayana, the unquestioned master of the erotic arts in ancient India.
worth the read.
And I learned a lot about the Gupta empire.
it's a slow read but it grows on you, the way that historical fiction seeps under your skin, rich in detail, highly textured, filled with scents and aromas.
ironically, the many references to sexual practices are very clinical, much in the spirit of Vatsyayana, the unquestioned master of the erotic arts in ancient India.
worth the read.
And I learned a lot about the Gupta empire.
May 31, 2020
Several commentaries about the novel said that the way Sudhir Kakar present the novel is boring. I don't think so. I enjoy it not only as a novel but also as its "didactic" content: the reconstruction of how Vatsyayana composed Kama Sutra. Okay, there are actually several scenes which are possible to be developed, but in general there is nothing to be protested about the style of the novel. The book could serve two purposes: a desire for a story about the past and a curiosity about the history of kama sutra.
June 27, 2021
A good one time read for anyone who perceive sex as critical to both biological and psychological well being… A solicitously well informed and thought provoking life story in form of a novel of Vatsyayana (the author of Kamasutra) by Indian psychoanalyst Dr. Sudhir Kakar. I studied many of his writings on cultural and religious psychology during my grad and post grad. This is for the first time I picked up his novel. Although I found it a slow read, it’s quite rich in details about the Gupta Empire (a period known as the Golden Age of India) and full of aromas of the erotic arts in the ancient Indian culture. Poor proofreading was a major disappointment.
October 2, 2017
Unexpected litarary delight...
August 6, 2020
Just amazing...
August 2, 2025
“La dernière partie du corps à vieillir, c’est le cœur”…
June 1, 2015
Fantastic book. Sudhir Kakar invokes a beautiful imagery of love and eroticism through the eyes and landscape of the author of Kamasutra (Vatsyayana) and his complex biographer. The book certainly holds sway even in the 21st century where desire may have assumed a different language but continues to hold a lot of the same principles as ever before.
Vatsyayana, a rebel of his times challenged the conservative views of sages and scholars on the erotic arts. But the ascetic was also a man of deep solitude who was eternally trapped yet incredibly unforgiving of the Lord Kama's influence on his life. The book at the end teaches a wonderful lesson when it states that the purpose of desire is its cessation, as we witness in all our lives. A few may stand out and beat the odds but the overwhelming nature of desire is in its eventual surrender to the state of solitude.
The book is full of anecdotal gems narrated by Vatsyayana and each of them holds the reader with rapt attention. For anybody interested or fascinated by eroticism, this book is a must read. The reality of the battle of conservative ideals with progressive ones will never cease to exist but its fascinating nonetheless, to observe the same albeit in vastly different landscapes than this century, in the world of Kamasutra.
Vatsyayana, a rebel of his times challenged the conservative views of sages and scholars on the erotic arts. But the ascetic was also a man of deep solitude who was eternally trapped yet incredibly unforgiving of the Lord Kama's influence on his life. The book at the end teaches a wonderful lesson when it states that the purpose of desire is its cessation, as we witness in all our lives. A few may stand out and beat the odds but the overwhelming nature of desire is in its eventual surrender to the state of solitude.
The book is full of anecdotal gems narrated by Vatsyayana and each of them holds the reader with rapt attention. For anybody interested or fascinated by eroticism, this book is a must read. The reality of the battle of conservative ideals with progressive ones will never cease to exist but its fascinating nonetheless, to observe the same albeit in vastly different landscapes than this century, in the world of Kamasutra.
March 31, 2016
Sex is notoriously difficult to write about, not only in India but also abroad... as cited by Lee Siegel's postmodern take on the book, Love in a Dead Language .....All Indian were silent about SEX for a long time and also it will be for many more years to come ,,, see the SEX EDUCATION fiasco ... some states implemented ..... some didnot.....This book treats sex as prevalent in the GUPTA period when India was a Culturally superior country in the whole Globe & other dominating countries like Europe was far behind in the dark ages.....No one knows what happened to sage/writer Vatsayana after writing Kamasutra... not even a sketch of him exists as that of Chanakya .. the writer of Arthasashtra ...
July 9, 2012
When I saw the book and bought it to read, I never realized what the author might be really trying to say. It is another one which I would rate with eleven minutes. Nicely done. after reading it, I am definitely going to read more of sudir kakar's books. One thing is for sure now, atleast I would like to assume that "Kushwant Singh and sudhir Kakar" must be best of buddies (if not in real life then in literate sense).
This book is strictly Adult affair.
This book is strictly Adult affair.
January 9, 2011
For school. I'm glad I accidentally read this fiction piece before starting the translations of the Kama Sutra. It is a quick read that gives an accessible overview of the general historical (and a bit of geographical) context of India during the era in which Vatsayana wrote as well as offering a thumbnail understanding of the Kama Sutra.
October 30, 2016
The book weaves a rich fictional history of a period in the sub-continent that isn't spoken of much. The content is both conceptually scholastic and sexual; an educational learning in writing historical fiction well.
Read
October 7, 2008A very good book. About the life and times of Vatsayayana the author of Kamasutra. Well researched and well written .
October 21, 2011
booooriiiing. though informative.
May 21, 2012
You might not expect it, but is also a good historical account of India from the lens of desire and sexuality.
April 6, 2013
It is a commentary on Kama Sutra but written in the form of a novel.
May 5, 2014
Very Good One,
Informative...
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews