1.3 ON THE STUDY OF THE SIXTY-FOUR ARTS.

Man should study the Kama Sutra and the arts and sciences subordinate

thereto, in addition to the study of the arts and sciences contained in

Dharma and Artha. Even young maids should study this Kama Sutra along

with its arts and sciences before marriage, and after it they should

continue to do so with the consent of their husbands.

Here some learned men object, and say that females, not being allowed to

study any science, should not study the Kama Sutra.

But Vatsyayana is of opinion that this objection does not hold good, for

women already know the practice of Kama Sutra, and that practice is

derived from the Kama Shastra, or the science of Kama itself. Moreover,

it is not only in this but in many other cases that though the practice

of a science is known to all, only a few persons are acquainted with the

rules and laws on which the science is based. Thus the Yadnikas or

sacrificers, though ignorant of grammar, make use of appropriate words

when addressing the different Deities, and do not know how these words

are framed. Again, persons do the duties required of them on auspicious

days, which are fixed by astrology, though they are not acquainted with

the science of astrology. In a like manner riders of horses and

elephants train these animals without knowing the science of training

animals, but from practice only. And similarly the people of the most

distant provinces obey th