Ananga Ranga Introduction

Ananga Ranga Introduction

The Ananga Ranga - meaning A Boat in the Sea of Love is an Indian sexual manual written by Kalyana Mala in the 15th or 16th Century.

The author, being a poet wrote this book in honour of Lad Khan, son of the famous Ahmed Khan Lodi. The great princely sage and arch-poet Kalyana Malla, expert in many art forms, composed the book with a view to please his sovereign and to provide proper knowledge to have a healthy sex life.

According to commentators, the book was aimed at preventing the separation of a husband and wife. The work is often compared with Kamasutra, an ancient sexual manual that is world famous. The book was translated into English in the year 1885 by Sir Richard Francis Burton.

The book promotes love and insists on monogamous relationships. According to AnangaRanga, men who go after different women are no more than an animal as they have perspective of an animal. Author ridicules such men as foolish and spiritless. According to him, those who are ignorant and misinterpret Kamashastra only go behind women and they are weak and would never be able to give full satisfaction to the women.

The book provides instructions about how a husband can win the love of his wife through proper sexual pleasure. If the husband is able to enjoy properly with his wife, it is equivalent to having physical pleasure with 32 different women. Men marry because of peaceful gathering and experience love and comfort in the company of their women. 

Deriving varied sexual pleasures can only lead to harmony and preventing married couple from getting tired of each other. The book preaches that enjoying uninhibited sex can only lead to a long and healthy relationship between a husband and wife.

Ultimately the book was intended to show that a woman is enough for a man throughout his life time, if he knows how to handle his sexual life properly with the woman of his choice.

In addition to the exhaustive catalogue of various sexual positions for both men and women, the book also details regarding foreplay and lure.

The English version of AnangaRanga, translated by Burton has content organized in the following ways:

  • Section I: The four classes of women
  • Section II: Various Seats of Passion in Women
  • Section III: Different Kinds of Men & Women (in terms of sexuality)
  • Section IV: Description of the General Qualities, Characteristics, Temperaments, Etc., of Women.
  • Section V: Characteristics of the Women of Various Lands
  • Section VI: Treating of Vashikarana
  • SectionVII: Different Signs in Men and Women
  • Section VIII: Treating of External Enjoyments
  • Section IX: Treating of Internal Enjoyments in Its Various Forms
  • Appendix I: Astrology in Connection With Marriage

For all those who read the book, the author aims to decipher that how delicious an instrument is woman. And when artfully played upon, she is capable of producing the most exquisite harmony and capable of executing the most complicated and divinely pleasure possible on this life.

Every sloka (stanza) of this work has a double signification, either mystical or amatory.