Kamasutra Sex Positions — Part 2 (71–90), Mapped
Twenty more postures from Vatsyayana — grouped into four families, each rated for intensity, so the structure of the catalogue is visible rather than buried in a list.
Where Part 1 Left Off
Part 1 covers positions 51–70. This second section concentrates on two families the earlier one only introduces — and reading them together reveals Vatsyayana's method.
Two things stand out. First, the animal names are not decorative: the Kamasutra classifies partners by size — hare, bull and horse; deer, mare and elephant — and argues that fit between partners matters more than technique. Positions like The Hare and the Mare and Horse in Full Gallop carry that theory in their names. Modern sexology broadly agrees about fit.
Second, Vatsyayana was compiling, not inventing. The Song of Babhravya (78) is named for an earlier authority he cites by name — one of the clearest surviving traces of the older tradition the text synthesises.
On the Demanding Four
Lute Hanging from an Ivory Tusk (72) needs a half shoulder-stand, Press to the Side (75) assumes the lotus fold, Unfettered Congress (77) draws the knees fully in, and Horse in Full Gallop (88) is a sustained plank. Build up gradually, never force the knees in lotus, and skip freely — the other sixteen ask very little.
The Pressed Family
Seven postures built on raising and pressing her legs — the deepest-contact group in the catalogue. Vatsyayana names several of them directly, and they share one mechanism: shortening the angle by changing where her legs go.
Vatsyayana names this posture directly. She lies back, raises her legs and presses them against his chest while lifting her hips slightly clear of the bed; he kneels and leans forward, holding her legs for support. Lifting the hips is the detail that distinguishes it from a simple legs-raised arrangement — it changes the angle of approach substantially. The text associates it with reunion after separation, which fits its intensity.
📖 Read Kamasutra Part 1 (51–70) →
One of the more demanding entries: she takes a half shoulder-stand with feet resting against his chest while he kneels. The arched torso is what the name evokes. The Kamasutra notes the arrangement produces clitoral contact alongside vaginal — a point the text makes repeatedly and one modern sexology confirms matters far more than depth for most women. Brief holds; the shoulder-stand element tires quickly.
A named classical posture defined by alternation: one leg raised to his shoulder while the other stretches along his body, and the two swapped during the encounter. That swap is the technique — it changes the angle mid-session without either partner repositioning. He kneels with one leg extended for stability. Genuinely one of the most practical entries in the whole catalogue.
She rests her legs on his shoulders and thighs while he kneels facing her — and critically, his hands remain free. Vatsyayana is explicit that they should be used for clitoral stimulation during the encounter, not left idle. That instruction, in a text of this age, is worth noting: the manual treats simultaneous stimulation as the standard rather than a refinement.
📖 Browse Congress of the Mouth →
Her legs fold into the lotus arrangement while he presses them gently toward her chest. The overlap with yoga is deliberate — the Kamasutra emerged from the same intellectual tradition, and several postures assume familiarity with those folds. The compactness makes it viable in small spaces. Never force the lotus fold; sitting cross-legged achieves a similar geometry without knee strain.
📖 Read the Passion Builders guide →
The name describes the striking detail: she raises one leg until her heel rests against his forehead while he kneels, holding her legs together for grip. Holding the legs closed rather than apart narrows the angle considerably and produces a distinctly different sensation. The text reads her arching further back as the signal to continue — another instance of Vatsyayana treating her movements as instructions.
📖 See the Ananga Ranga guide →
She positions her legs over his shoulders near his ears, lifts her hips and draws her knees toward her chest, holding them there with her hands. One of the deepest-contact arrangements in the entire catalogue, which makes gradual entry more important here than anywhere else. Requires reasonable flexibility, and a pillow beneath her lower back changes the experience considerably.
Her Lead & the Conversation
Four positions where she sets the pace or the encounter grows out of talk rather than intent. The Song of Babhravya is named for one of the earlier authorities Vatsyayana compiled from.
Named for Babhravya, one of the earlier authorities Vatsyayana cites by name — the Kamasutra was compiled from existing traditions rather than invented, and these attributions are the evidence. She lies with one leg lifted; he kneels close. What the text emphasises is that this one begins in conversation and continues through it, unhurried, until it doesn't.
📖 Read Perfumed Garden Part 1 →
She sits on his thighs facing him with her legs against his chest, and he holds her hands so she can lean back into the grip. She provides the movement entirely, at her own pace. The mutual hand-hold is what makes it work — it gives her something to pull against, which is what allows real control rather than nominal control.
📖 Read Perfumed Garden Part 2 →
Her legs rise together onto his shoulder forming a V while he kneels close, holding them for support. Compact enough for a small room or tent, which the text mentions specifically. Legs together rather than apart narrows the angle — the same mechanism as Fixing a Nail, arriving at it from a different starting posture, and catalogued separately for that reason.
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She lifts her legs to embrace his head while he braces his hands beside her. The Kamasutra's animal names encode its compatibility theory — the text classifies partners by size as hare, bull and horse, and mare, deer and elephant, arguing that matching matters more than technique. That framework is genuinely ahead of its time and still broadly endorsed by sexologists.
The Clasping Family
Six postures defined by how she holds him — clasped, twined, hooked, encircled. Small variations on grip, catalogued separately because each changes the mechanics enough to matter.
A named classical posture and, in essence, missionary with her legs clasped firmly around his. The clasp is the whole innovation: it provides grip, prevents slipping, and lets the encounter continue uninterrupted. Vatsyayana catalogues it separately from plain missionary precisely because that small change alters the mechanics enough to matter.
📖 Browse the Love & Intimacy Dictionary →
The same clasp, executed side by side rather than with one partner above. Neither is bearing weight, faces stay level for kissing, and both partners' hands remain free — the most sustainable position in this half of the catalogue by a considerable margin. The text presents it as what happens when neither of you wants to let go.
📖 See the BDSM scenarios guide →
A named posture: she winds her legs over his and holds him close with her arms, twining herself around him from beneath. Vatsyayana reads the twining as a signal — a request rather than a mechanical adjustment. That interpretive habit is the Kamasutra's real contribution to this catalogue: postures are described through what partners communicate within them.
He approaches from the side, holding one of her legs against her body while supporting himself on one hand. She leans toward him slightly and lifts her hips to meet the angle. The side approach produces contact patterns quite unlike any face-on position, and it needs far less flexibility than the raised-leg entries in Act 1.
She hooks one leg over the back of his as he supports himself above her — a small hook that anchors the whole arrangement. Vatsyayana pairs this posture with hair-pulling in his notes, one of several places where the striking and biting chapters bleed into the positions. Legs spread to either side accommodate the angle.
📖 Read the Quickie positions guide →
She lifts her legs to encircle his back while he leans forward far enough that chests press together — hence the name. Deep contact and full upper-body contact at once, which few positions manage simultaneously. The text notes clitoral stimulation follows from the forward lean, which is the mechanical reason for leaning rather than staying upright.
📖 Browse Sexual Health articles →
Named for Motion
Three closing entries named for how they move: a gallop, serpents in grass, and two branches lying together. The chapter ends on rest rather than exertion.
He supports himself on hands and toes, taking his entire weight, while she grips him with raised thighs. Physically the most demanding entry in this half — a plank position sustained through movement. Best in short intervals. The horse in the name is the Kamasutra's largest size classification, so the choice of animal is doing double duty here.
She opens one leg away while keeping the other flat as he settles over her. The text frames this specifically as a second-session position — the slower, longer encounter that follows the first, with more cuddling, conversation and caressing woven through. That the Kamasutra distinguishes first and second sessions at all is a nice detail.
The catalogue closes gently: she lies on her front, he covers her from behind with his weight on his hands, rear entry from a prone position. The text describes it as the relaxed choice after a demanding day — slow, steady, warm rather than athletic. Access to her neck and back throughout. A fitting place for the chapter to end.
⭐ The Atlas Table
| # | Position | Intensity | Act | Pairs With |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Pressed Position | ●●●●○ | Act 1 | KamaSutra Ribbed → |
| 72 | Lute Hanging from an Ivory Tusk | ●●●●● | Act 1 | Okamoto 0.02 Ultra Thin → |
| 73 | Splitting the Bamboo | ●●●○○ | Act 1 | KamaSutra Dotted → |
| 74 | The Folded Lily | ●●●●○ | Act 1 | Moods Premium Dotted → |
| 75 | Press to the Side | ●●●●○ | Act 1 | KamaSutra Superthin → |
| 76 | Fixing a Nail | ●●●●○ | Act 1 | Skore Dots Condoms → |
| 77 | Unfettered Congress | ●●●●● | Act 1 | Moods Ultrathin → |
| 78 | The Song of Babhravya | ●●○○○ | Act 2 | KamaSutra Longlast → |
| 79 | Tailor Position | ●●●○○ | Act 2 | Moods All Night (Delay) → |
| 80 | Rising Position | ●●●○○ | Act 2 | Skore Not Out (Delay) → |
| 81 | The Hare and the Mare | ●●●●○ | Act 2 | Manforce StayLong Gel → |
| 82 | Clasping Position | ●●●○○ | Act 3 | Manforce Stay Long Spray → |
| 83 | Side-by-Side Clasping | ●●○○○ | Act 3 | Manforce Epic Lube → |
| 84 | The Twining Position | ●●●○○ | Act 3 | Moods Natural Lube → |
| 85 | Goat on a Mountain Path | ●●●○○ | Act 3 | Manforce Litchi Flavoured → |
| 86 | Pressing Position | ●●●○○ | Act 3 | Manforce Bubblegum → |
| 87 | The Heart Press | ●●●●○ | Act 3 | Okamoto Skinless Skin → |
| 88 | Horse in Full Gallop | ●●●●● | Act 4 | Moods Premium Ribbed → |
| 89 | Serpents in the Grass | ●●●○○ | Act 4 | KamaSutra Ribbed → |
| 90 | Two Cedar Branches | ●●●○○ | Act 4 | Okamoto 0.02 Ultra Thin → |
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Kamasutra Part 1 · The Kiss Atlas · Passion Builders · Congress of the Mouth · Embraces · Perfumed Garden Part 2 · Ananga Ranga · Sexopedia · Sex & Relationship · Bedroom Stories
Reading the Second Half
Grouped rather than listed, the pattern is unmistakable: Vatsyayana holds a posture constant and varies one element — where her legs go, how she holds him, which leg is raised. Seven pressed postures, six clasping ones, and the differences between them are often a single limb. The practical lesson is the one the structure implies: you don't need twenty new positions, you need to understand that one small change to a familiar posture makes it a different experience entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Part 2 differ from Part 1?
Part 1 covers positions 51–70, drawn largely from the supine and standing groups. Part 2 continues from 71 to 90 and concentrates on two families the earlier section only introduces: the pressed postures, built on raising her legs, and the clasping postures, built on how she holds him.
What is the Kamasutra's compatibility theory?
Vatsyayana classifies partners by size — men as hare, bull or horse; women as deer, mare or elephant — and argues that matching between them matters more for satisfaction than any technique. Several positions in this section carry those animal names for that reason. Modern sexologists broadly endorse the underlying point about fit.
Who was Babhravya?
One of the earlier authorities Vatsyayana names and compiles from — evidence that the Kamasutra synthesises an existing tradition rather than inventing one. Position 78 carries his name, one of the clearest surviving traces of that older material.
Which positions here need the most flexibility?
Lute Hanging from an Ivory Tusk (72) needs a half shoulder-stand, Press to the Side (75) assumes the lotus fold, and Unfettered Congress (77) draws the knees fully to the chest. Horse in Full Gallop (88) demands upper-body strength rather than flexibility. All four are optional.
Which are best for everyday use?
Side-by-Side Clasping (83) asks nothing of either partner and can continue indefinitely; Splitting the Bamboo (73) gives you two angles from one setup; Two Cedar Branches (90) is the text's own recommendation for a tired evening. Those three cover most nights.
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