Editing Kama Sutra (section)

===Vedic heritage===
The earliest foundations of the ''kamasutra'' are found in the [[Vedic era]] literature of Hinduism.{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|Sudhir Kakar |2002 |pp=xiv with footnote 8}}<ref name="De1969p89"/> Vatsyayana acknowledges this heritage in verse 1.1.9 of the text where he names Svetaketu Uddalaka as the "first human author of the ''kamasutra''". Uddalaka is an early Upanishadic [[rishi]] (scholar-poet, sage), whose ideas are found in the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' such as in section 6.2, and the ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'' such as over the verses 5.3 through 5.10.{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|Sudhir Kakar |2002 |pp=xiv with footnote 8}} These Hindu scriptures are variously dated between 900 BCE and 700 BCE, according to the Indologist and Sanskrit scholar Patrick Olivelle. Among with other ideas such as [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (self, soul) and the ontological concept of [[Brahman]], these early Upanishads discuss human life, activities and the nature of existence as a form of internalized worship, where sexuality and sex is mapped into a form of religious ''[[yajna]]'' ritual (sacrificial fire, [[Agni]]) and suffused in spiritual terms:{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|Sudhir Kakar |2002 |pp=xiv with footnote 8}}

<blockquote style="background-color:none;margin-right:5em;margin-left:0em;border-left:solid 6px #FFE0BB;padding:1.0em">
<poem>
A fire – that is what a woman is, Gautama.
Her firewood is the vulva,
her smoke is the pubic hair,
her flame is the vagina,
when one penetrates her, that is her embers,
and her sparks are the climax.
In that very fire the gods offer semen,
and from that offering springs a man.
</poem>
– ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' 6.2.13, {{Circa|700 BCE}}, Trans.: [[Patrick Olivelle]]<ref>{{cite book|title= The Early Upanishads | year=1998| publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 0-19-512435-9 | page=149, context: pp. 143–149}}</ref><ref>योषा वा आग्निर् गौतम । तस्या उपस्थ एव समिल् लोमानि धूमो योनिरर्चिर् यदन्तः करोति तेऽङ्गारा अभिनन्दा विस्फुलिङ्गास् तस्मिन्नेतस्मिन्नग्नौ देवा रेतो जुह्वति तस्या आहुत्यै पुरुषः सम्भवति । स जीवति यावज्जीवत्य् अथ यदा म्रियते ।१३, – 6.2.13, For the context and other verses: [https://sa.wikisource.org/s/x59 Wikisource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125030003/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_6p |date=25 January 2022 }}</ref></blockquote>

According to the Indologist De, a view with which Doniger agrees, this is one of the many evidences that the ''kamasutra'' began in the religious literature of the Vedic era, ideas that were ultimately refined and distilled into a ''sutra''-genre text by Vatsyayana.<ref name="De1969p89">{{cite book|author=Sushil Kumar De|title=Ancient Indian Erotics and Erotic Literature|url= https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.71326|year= 1969|publisher= K.L. Mukhopadhyay|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.71326/page/n120 89]–92}}</ref> According to Doniger, this paradigm of celebrating pleasures, enjoyment and sexuality as a ''dharmic'' act began in the "earthy, vibrant text known as the ''[[Rigveda]]''" of the Hindus.{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|Sudhir Kakar |2002 |pp=xiii}} The ''Kamasutra'' and celebration of sex, eroticism and pleasure is an integral part of the religious milieu in Hinduism and quite prevalent in its temples.<ref>{{cite journal| title= The Erotic Sculptures of India| author= Y. Krishan| journal= Artibus Asiae| volume= 34| number= 4| year= 1972|pages = 331–343| doi= 10.2307/3249625| jstor= 3249625}}</ref>{{sfn|Wendy Doniger|Sudhir Kakar |2002 |pp=xi-xvii}}