A N D Haksar, an Indian scholar, has written a revised version of the ancient Kama Sutra by
adapting it to modern lives and relationships and presenting as a 'lifestyle guide for the modern man and woman'.
Haksar's version to be published by Penguin in February 2011, sees the ancient text updated from a sex guide to a lifestyle reference guide.
According to a preview in the 'Sunday Telegraph', gone are the erotic drawings and sexual illustrations that accompanied earlier translations.
Haksar's edition will be a text-only pocket-sized handbook, described as a "classy" manual "covering every aspect of love and relationships".
Previous English versions of the Kama Sutra have been widely based on the 19th-century translation by the explorer and orientalist, Sir Richard Francis Burton, often featuring
erotic illustrations to enhance Burton's old-fashioned language.
Haksar, a leading translator of Sanskrit texts, has chapter headings such as "Making a Pass", "Why Women Get Turned Off", "Girls to Avoid", "Is he Worthwhile?", "Getting rid of him", "Easy Women", "Moves towards sex," and "Some Dos and Don'ts". Haksar said, "The common perception of the Kama Sutra is that it is only about sex, but any honest reading of the book shows that it is about lifestyle and social relations between human beings".
He added, "My effort with the new translation has been to stay as close as possible to the original text but to present it in a contemporary language which reflects the contemporary issues within the book".
Alexis Kirschbaum, editorial director at Penguin, said that the new version of the book, would be "less pornographic, and more a lifestyle guide for the urbane and modern gentleman and woman".
She said, "This is the most accurate, authentic version to date. Until now, the Kama Sutra has always been presented as a scandalous, 1960s hippie-influenced pornographic sex book. But it was originally written as advice to a courtly gentleman on how to live a well-rounded life, not just a passionate life".
She added, "We are therefore stripping away all of those pornographic interpretations people have put on it and presenting the book as a modern and savvy guide for how to live well".
The Kama Sutra is believed to have been written in the third century (AD) by the Indian sage Vatsyayana, as a guide for the courtly gentleman of the time.