Here end the forms of Upavishta, or sitting-posture. The next is:
(D) Utthita, or the standing posture, which admits of three sub-divisions:
1. Janu-kuru-utthitha-bandha (i.e., “knee and elbow standing-form”), a posture which also requires great bodily strength in the man. Both stand opposite to each other, and the husband passes his two arms under his wife’s knees, supporting her upon the saignee, or inner elbow; he then raises her as high as his waist, and enjoys her, whilst she must clasp his neck with both her hands.
2. Hari-vikrama-utthita-bandha; in this form the husband raises only one leg of his wife, who with the other stands upon the ground. It is a position delightful to young women, who thereby soon find themselves in gloria.
3. Kirti-utthita-bandha; this requires strength in the man, but not so much as is wanted for the first sub. division. The wife, clasping her hands and placing her legs round her husband’s waist, hangs, as it were, to him, whilst he supports her by placing his forearms under her hips.
Here end the forms of Utthita, or standing-posture; and we now come to the:
(E) Vyanta-bandha, which means congress with a woman when she is prone, that is, with the breast and stomach to the bed or carpet. Of this A’sana, there are only two well-known sub-divisions:
1. Dhenuka-vyanta-bandha (the cow-posture): 4 in this position the wife places herself upon all fours, supported on her hands and feet (not her knees), and the husband, approaching from behind, falls upon her waist, and enjoys her as if he were a bull. There is much religious merit in this form.
2. Aybha-vyanta-bandha (or Gajasawa, the elephant posture). 5 The wife lies down in such a position that her face, breast, stomach, and thighs all touch the bed or carpet, and the husband, extending himself upon her, and bending himself like an elephant, with the small of the back, much drawn in, works underneath her, and effects insertion.
“O Rajah,” said the arch-poet Kalyana Malla, “there are many other forms of congress, such as Harinasana, Sukrasana, Gardhabasana, and so forth; but they are not known to the people, and being useless as well as very difficult of performance, nay, sometimes so full of faults as to be excluded or prohibited, I have, therefore, not related them to you. But if you desire to hear anything more about postures, be pleased to ask, and your servant will attempt to satisfy your curiosity.”
“Right well!” exclaimed the king. “I much wish to hear you describe the Purushayitabandha.”
“Hear, O Rajah,” resumed the poet, “whilst I relate all that requires to be known concerning that form of congress.”
Purushayitabandha 6 is the reverse of what men usually practise. In this case the man lies upon his back, draws his wife upon him and enjoys her. It is especially useful when he, being exhausted, is no longer capable of muscular exertion, and when she is ungratified, being still full of the water of love. The wife must, therefore, place her husband supine upon the bed or carpet, mount upon his person, and satisfy her desires. Of this form of congress there are three subdivisions:
1. Viparita-bandha, or “contrary position,” is when the wife lies straight upon the outstretched person of her husband, her breast being applied to his bosom, presses his waist with her hands, and moving her hips sharply in various directions, enjoys him.
2. Purushayita-bhramara-bandha (“like the large bee”): in this, the wife, having placed her husband at full length upon the bed or carpet, sits at squat upon his thighs, closes her legs firmly after she has effected insertion: and, moving her waist in a circular form, churning, as it were, enjoys her husband, and thoroughly satisfies herself.
3. Utthita-uttana-bandha. The wife, whose passion has not been gratified by previous copulation, should make her husband lie upon his back, and sitting cross-legged upon his thighs, should seize his Linga, effect insertion, and move her waist up and down, advancing and retiring; she will derive great comfort from this process.
Whilst thus reversing the natural order in all these forms of Purushayita, the wife will draw in her breath after the fashion called Sitkara; she will smile gently, and she will show a kind of half shame, making her face so attractive that it cannot well be described. After which she will say to her husband, “O my dear! O thou rogue; this day thou hast come under my control, and hast become subjected to me, being totally defeated in the battle of love!” Her husband manipulates her hair according to art, embraces her and kisses her lower lip; whereupon all her members will relax, she will close her eyes and fall into a swoon of joy.
Moreover, at all times of enjoying Purushayita the wife will remember that without an especial exertion of will on her part, the husband’s pleasure will not be perfect. To this end she must ever strive to close and constrict the Yoni until it holds the Linga, as with a finger, 7 opening and shutting at her pleasure, and finally, acting as the hand of the Gopala-girl, who milks the cow.
This can be learned only by long practice, and especially by throwing the will into the part to be affected, even as men endeavour to sharpen their hearing, 8 and their sense of touch. While so doing, she will mentally repeat “Kamadeva! Kamadeva,” in order that a blessing may rest upon the undertaking. And she will be pleased to hear that the art once learned, is never lost. Her husband will then value her above all women, nor would he exchange her for the most beautiful Rani (queen) in the three worlds. So lovely and pleasant to man is she who constricts.
Let it now be observed that there are sundry kinds and conditions of women whom the wise peremptorily exclude from Purushayita, and the principal exceptions will here be mentioned. First, the Karini-woman. Second, the Harini. Third, she who is pregnant. Fourth, she who has not long left the lying-in chamber. Fifth, a woman of thin and lean body, because the exertion will be too great for her strength. Sixth, a woman suffering from fever or other weakening complaint. Seventh, a virgin; and, eighth, a girl not yet arrived at puberty.
And now having duly concluded the chapter 9 of internal enjoyments, it is good to know that if husband and wife live together in dose agreement, as one soul in a single body, they shall be happy in this world, and in that to come. Their good and charitable actions will be an example to mankind, and their peace and harmony will effect their salvation. No one yet has written a book to prevent the separation of the married pair and to show them how they may pass through life in union. Seeing this, I felt compassion, and composed the treatise) offering it to the god Pandurang.
The chief reason for the separation between the married couple and the cause which drives the husband to the embraces of strange women, and the wife to the arms of strange men, is the want of varied pleasures and the monotony which follows possession. There is no doubt about it.
Monotony begets satiety, and satiety distaste for congress, especially in one or the other; malicious feelings are engendered, the husband or the wife yield to temptation, and the other follows, being driven by jealousy. For it seldom happens that the two love each other equally, and in exact proportion, therefore is the one more easily seduced by passion than the other. From such separations result polygamy, adulteries, abortions, and every manner of vice, and not only do the erring husband and wife fall into the pit, but they also drag down the names of their deceased ancestors from the place of beatified mortals, either to hell or back again upon this world.
Fully understanding the way in which such quarrels arise, I have in this book shown how the husband, by varying the enjoyment of his wife, may live with her as with thirty-two different women, ever varying the enjoyment of her, and rendering satiety impossible. I have also taught all manner of useful arts and mysteries, by which she may render herself pure, beautiful and pleasing in his eyes. Let me, therefore, conclude with the verse of blessing:
“May this treatise,
Ananga ranga, be beloved
of Man and Woman,
as long as the Holy River Ganges
springeth from Shiva, with his
wife Gauri on his left side; as long as
Lakshmi loveth Vishnu; as long as
Bramha is engaged in the study
of the Vedas; and as long
as the Earth, the Moon
and the Sun endure.”
