Which ancient Indian sage is credited with authoring the Kama Sutra?

The ancient Indian sage credited with authoring the Kama Sutra is Vatsyayana.

The work is attributed to Vatsyayana Mallanaga, a Sanskrit author believed to have lived during the early centuries of the Common Era. The text is usually dated broadly to around the 3rd century CE, although its ideas draw on older traditions and earlier works that no longer survive.

The Kama Sutra is widely misunderstood as merely a manual of sexual positions. It is actually a broader treatise on kama, or pleasure, and discusses courtship, marriage, relationships, social life, personal refinement, and emotional fulfillment. Its concise aphorisms were intended to be interpreted alongside commentaries.

Vatsyayana also acknowledged earlier teachers and authors, presenting his work as a condensation of a much larger intellectual tradition rather than an entirely original invention. Valmiki is traditionally associated with the Ramayana, Patanjali with influential works on grammar and yoga, and Kautilya with the Arthashastra. Those figures are therefore not the canonical answer to this question.