Splitting the Bamboo

A charming scene: two young peasants singing under the moon. With the same slender figure, the same graceful gait, they look like the male and female forms of one single being. Their fresh voices chase the darkness away. They reach the river, at the spot named 'the bath of the goddesses'. Undressed in the twinkling of an eye, they dive... Now they lie down in the grass, fearless of snakes. Perched on top of a tree, Garuda, the bird of Vishnu, protects them. With the blessing of the sympathetic god, they soon become experts in the art of loving. With one leg stretched out along his slender body, the young girl puts her other leg on the boy's shoulder, then she inverses the legs' position, she alternates them. It is splitting the bamboo. Celestial ballet!

If your lover, seated above you
with feet lotus-crossed
and her body held erect and still
makes love to you,
it is known as Yugmapada (the Foot Yoke).

If she strides you,
facing your feet,
brings both her feet up to your thighs,
and works her hips frantically,
it is known as Hansa-lila (Swan Sport).

Your lover places one foot
on your ankle, lodges
her other foot just above your knee,
and rides you, swinging and rotating her hips:
this is Garuda (Garuda).

If you lie flat on your back
with legs stretched out
and your lover sits astride you, facing away
and grasping your feet,
it is called Virsha (the Bull).

Clasping each other's hands,
you lie sprawled like two starfish making love,
her breasts stabbing your chest,
her thighs stretched out along yours:
this is Devabandha (the Coitus of the Gods).

Lying upon you, your beloved
moves round like a wheel,
pressing hands one after the other on the bed,
kissing your body as she circles:
experts call this Chakrabandha (the Wheel).

If, by means of some contraption,
your lover suspends herself above you,
places your linga in her yoni
and pulleys herself up and down upon it,
it is Utkalita (the Orissan).

Learn more about The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana.