Kamasutra Part 3 — The Purushayita Field Guide (91–110)
Vatsyayana's chapter on woman-led intercourse, presented as specimen cards. Fourteen of these twenty positions hand her control — filter to what suits tonight.
The Chapter Called Purushayita
This section of the Kamasutra has a name, and it's a striking one: purushayita — "the woman acting the part of the man." Part 1 covered the supine postures and Part 2 the pressed and clasping families. Here, fourteen of twenty positions hand her control of pace, depth and angle — and the text instructs him, repeatedly and without qualification, to stay steady and receive.
Vatsyayana states the reasoning plainly: sex is a doubles game. An encounter in which one partner does everything and the other stays passive satisfies neither — and he treats arousing your partner properly as the precondition for everything that follows, not as an optional courtesy.
Two other things surface here. The animal names carry his compatibility theory — the mare is one of three female size classifications, and the text argues fit between partners matters more than technique. And several positions are grouped by where rather than how: a chair, a wall, a lazy weekend afternoon.
Seven Positions That Need Nothing At All
Filter to Low effort and you'll find seven entries — the Waking Position, Elephant, Rising Bough, and the four seated positions — that require no strength, no flexibility and no setup beyond a chair, a wall or a bed. They can continue as long as you like. Only The Diving Swallow (105) is genuinely demanding, and it's entirely skippable.
The Specimen Grid
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Rotation |
| Posture | Rotating |
| Effort | Medium |
Less a posture than a movement: mid-encounter he rotates through 180 degrees without withdrawing, ending up facing the opposite direction. The rotation produces a circular contact pattern nothing static can replicate, and briefly increases clitoral contact as it happens. It only works when both partners are already thoroughly aroused and relaxed.
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Prone |
| Posture | Lying flat |
| Effort | Low |
She lies flat on her stomach; he enters from behind, supported on his arms. Vatsyayana names it for the elephant, an animal Indian tradition associates with lifelong pair bonding and unhurried temperament — and the position matches: it is slow, conversational and entirely unsuited to being rushed. Ideal for a lazy weekend or an early morning neither of you wants to end.
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Prone |
| Posture | Neck raised |
| Effort | Low |
She lies on her stomach with head and neck curved up; he climbs over, hands braced beside her, and enters from behind. The text frames it as the spontaneous position — the one that happens when neither partner planned anything. Its rhythm alternates between talking and moving, which is exactly why it suits unplanned moments.
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Side-lying |
| Posture | Curled together |
| Effort | Low |
She lies in a semi-foetal curl; he settles behind and enters while holding her close, one hand free to move across her back. Vatsyayana associates it with early morning — and the physiology backs him: male testosterone genuinely peaks then. Neither partner supports weight, so this can continue as long as you like.
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Rear entry |
| Posture | On a block |
| Effort | High |
She kneels on the edge of a firm block or stool with her hands braced on the floor; he stands behind at the height the block sets. Named for the women of Avantika, one of the regional types Vatsyayana catalogues — the text classifies preferences by region as well as by physique. Deep contact, and the block does the work no floor position can.
| Leads | He leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Standing |
| Posture | Bent forward |
| Effort | Medium |
He stands while she bends forward from a wall, hands braced on the floor or against it for balance, feet spread for stability. Requires no furniture and almost no setup, which is why the text associates it with sudden urgency in whatever room you happen to be standing in.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Seated, facing away |
| Effort | Medium |
One of the Kamasutra's named woman-led postures. He sits or reclines; she settles over him facing away, holding his thighs for support, controlling depth, pace and angle entirely. The mare is one of the text's three female size classifications — its use here ties the position directly to Vatsyayana's compatibility theory.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Lying, facing away |
| Effort | Medium |
He lies on his back; she lies over him facing away, moving her hips while he maintains position beneath. She has full control over pace and depth, and adjusts to find the internal contact she wants. His role is limited to staying steady — the text says so without qualification.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Seated |
| Posture | Against a wall |
| Effort | Low |
He sits with his back against a wall; she sits astride and moves at whatever pace suits her, adjusting her body to change the angle of contact. The wall gives him back support, so this lasts far longer than an unsupported seated position. The text associates it with a lazy weekend afternoon when neither of you gets as far as the bedroom.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Seated |
| Posture | On a chair |
| Effort | Low |
He sits on a chair; she lowers herself onto him and controls depth and pace by moving her hips. Chair height sets an angle that floor-seated positions can't reach, and his hands and mouth stay free for her neck and back. The text presents it as arising naturally from conversation rather than being arranged.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Seated |
| Posture | Cross-legged |
| Effort | Low |
He sits cross-legged in a corner; she settles onto him with her back to him and rides at her own pace while his hands are free across her front and down. The cross-legged base is stable enough to hold indefinitely, which is why the text names it for rest — this is a position for after a hard day, not for athletics.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Seated |
| Posture | Reclined against him |
| Effort | Low |
He sits back resting on his hands; she settles over him and leans her back against his chest, moving slowly at first. The text is candid about its purpose: this is the position for a day when you're both tired but still want each other. It takes a while to build, and that slowness is the design.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Kneeling |
| Posture | Kneeling, facing |
| Effort | Medium |
He kneels with legs wide, leaning back on his hands; she lowers onto him, holding his thighs, and controls everything from there. Because he is fixed in position, he genuinely cannot lead — the text notes his only contribution is to say aloud how it feels, which it treats as part of the technique rather than commentary.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Against his knees |
| Effort | Medium |
He reclines on his elbows with knees bent; she settles onto him and leans forward against his raised knees, holding them for grip while she moves. His bent knees are a backrest and a brace at once — the arrangement that lets her sustain the position far longer than an unsupported ride.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Acrobatic |
| Posture | Suspended across |
| Effort | Very High |
He sits while she grips him with her thighs and extends forward across his lap, holding his hands behind her for support as he holds her hips. Genuinely demanding on both — this is the chapter's one acrobatic entry, and it works in short intervals rather than continuously.
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| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Kneeling on him |
| Effort | Medium |
He lies back with knees bent, giving her a seat; she kneels over him, holding his chest for balance and moving with her knees taking the work. Vatsyayana names it for tongs because of the grip her thighs achieve — a hip-lock that keeps the fit constant regardless of pace.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Leaning forward |
| Effort | Medium |
The position Vatsyayana names his whole chapter for. He lies back with knees raised as a seat; she settles over him in a kneeling position and leans forward onto her elbows near his shoulders, riding at her will. The text's argument around it is direct: sex is a doubles game, and an encounter where one partner does everything satisfies neither.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Kneeling |
| Posture | Thighs around his waist |
| Effort | Medium |
He kneels and leans backward; she settles over him with her thighs around his waist and rides. The text pairs the position with a broader observation worth keeping: an encounter where one partner is passive out of shyness rather than choice disappoints both — arousing your partner properly is the precondition for everything else.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Swinging motion |
| Effort | Medium |
She straddles his lap facing away and swings forward and back rather than up and down, using her knees near his thighs and her hands along his legs for leverage. The swinging motion is the distinguishing feature — continuous contact rather than rhythmic, which produces a noticeably different sensation.
| Leads | She leads |
|---|---|
| Family | Her on top |
| Posture | Legs on his chest |
| Effort | Low |
He lies flat and folds his knees slightly to make a ramp she can lean against, then holds her hands firmly while she rests her legs on his chest or shoulders and moves at her own pace. The catalogue closes on the least effortful of the woman-led positions — and on eye contact throughout.
⭐ Index Table
| № | Specimen | Leads | Family | Field Kit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Turning Position | He leads | Rotation | KamaSutra Dotted → |
| 92 | Elephant Position | He leads | Prone | KamaSutra Superthin → |
| 93 | The Rising Bough | He leads | Prone | KamaSutra Ribbed → |
| 94 | The Waking Position | He leads | Side-lying | KamaSutra Longlast → |
| 95 | The Woman of Avantika | He leads | Rear entry | Bleu Spiral → |
| 96 | Downward Dog | He leads | Standing | Love Light Super Thin → |
| 97 | Mare's Position | She leads | Her on top | Bleu Dotted → |
| 98 | The Delicious One | She leads | Her on top | Love Light Xceptionelle → |
| 99 | The Palace Seat | She leads | Seated | Bleu Ultra-Thin → |
| 100 | The Royal Feast | She leads | Seated | Love Light Glow → |
| 101 | Resting Position | She leads | Seated | Love Light Capsules → |
| 102 | Heat of the Day | She leads | Seated | KamaSutra Dotted → |
| 103 | Mounting the Throne | She leads | Kneeling | Bleu Spiral → |
| 104 | Ginger Growing Wild | She leads | Her on top | Love Light Super Thin → |
| 105 | The Diving Swallow | She leads | Acrobatic | Bleu Dotted → |
| 106 | Pair of Tongs | She leads | Her on top | KamaSutra Ribbed → |
| 107 | Woman Acting the Part of the Man | She leads | Her on top | Love Light Xceptionelle → |
| 108 | The Rider | She leads | Kneeling | Bleu Ultra-Thin → |
| 109 | The Swing | She leads | Her on top | Love Light Glow → |
| 110 | The Languorous One | She leads | Her on top | KamaSutra Superthin → |
Field Kit Essentials
Explore More Guides
Kamasutra Part 2 · Kamasutra Part 1 · The Kiss Atlas · Passion Builders · Perfumed Garden Field Guide · Tao Field Guide · Sexopedia · Sex & Relationship · How-To Guides · All Sex Positions
Why This Chapter Still Matters
Eighteen centuries before anyone wrote about mutual satisfaction in clinical terms, a Sanskrit text devoted a full chapter to the woman taking the lead — and argued that an encounter where she doesn't participate actively is worse for both partners. Strip away the mystique and that's the Kamasutra's real contribution: not the acrobatics, but the insistence that intimacy is something two people do together. Filter the grid, pick two, and let her choose which.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is purushayita in the Kamasutra?
Purushayita — literally 'the woman acting the part of the man' — is the name Vatsyayana gives to his chapter on woman-led intercourse, and to position 107 within it. Fourteen of the twenty positions in this section hand her control of pace, depth and angle. It is the clearest evidence that the classical text treated her participation as central rather than incidental.
Why are so many of these positions woman-led?
Vatsyayana's argument, made directly in the text, is that sex is a doubles game — an encounter where one partner does everything and the other is passive satisfies neither. The purushayita chapter exists to correct that imbalance, and it does so by giving her fourteen consecutive positions in which he is explicitly instructed to stay steady and receive.
Which positions here need no strength or flexibility?
Most of them. Filter to Low effort and you'll find the Waking Position (94), Elephant (92), the four seated positions (99–102) and The Languorous One (110) — seven positions that need nothing but a chair, a wall or a bed, and can continue as long as you like.
What does the Mare's Position have to do with compatibility?
The mare is one of the Kamasutra's three female size classifications, alongside the deer and the elephant. Vatsyayana argues that fit between partners matters more for satisfaction than technique does, and the animal names in this chapter carry that theory rather than being decorative.
Which position should we try first?
The Palace Seat (99) or The Royal Feast (100) — both seated, both wall- or chair-supported, both giving her complete control without demanding anything physical from either partner. If you'd rather start lying down, the Waking Position (94) is the gentlest entry in the chapter.
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