What the Kama Sutra Says About Love

The Kama Sutra discusses love in-depth and focuses heavily on marriages as the best type of union. With that said, however, it does acknowledge that not all sexual relations happen within the confines of marriage, and it does discuss the varying types of relationships that can occur.
One part of the Kama Sutra that is important to take note of, is the fact that the author makes sure to point out that love alone is not enough to sustain a relationship, nor is it enough to make a person happy within their life. While love is an important part of pleasure and being satisfied, it cannot be the only thing that you rely on in order to make you happy. If you pin all of your hopes and expectations onto one person, you are going to find yourself let down and dissatisfied, as one person cannot possibly meet all of your needs and desires. Instead, you should look at love as one piece of the puzzle that is fitted with other aspects in order to create a beautiful image.
From a historical perspective, the concept of monogamy was not as enforced as it is in today’s society, and instead, there were many courtesans, or prostitutes, that were utilized without judgment. The Kama Sutra makes many notes towards courtesans, as their role in providing the ultimate sexual pleasure was very important even though it may not have involved love. Since this isn’t as applicable in today’s world, however, we can adapt these teachings as more of a personal guide on how to behave. The reason why courtesans were so desirable is because they were generous lovers who focused on their partner’s pleasure and had qualities about that that made them engaging and entertaining. While you should never be something you are, not just to please someone else, the idea of working on your own personality and qualities to enhance them and make yourself more interesting is certainly not a negative. We should all work towards building up who we are, being confident in ourselves, and feeling free enough to express our innermost desires.