Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c7: Chapter III. Social Life in Ancient India: As Depicted in Vātsyāyana's Kamasutra: I Castes and Occupations
Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vātsyāyana's Kāmasūtra c7
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Contents
- c7.47 — 4 parts
Chapter III. Social Life in Ancient India: As Depicted in Vātsyāyana's Kamasutra: I Castes and Occupations
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AS DEPICTED IN VĀTSYĀYANA'S KAMASUTRA
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Vatsyayana in the *Kāmasūtra*, presents a beautifully vivid and realistic picture of various aspects of social life in India about seventeen hundred years ago. Though mainly concerned with erotics, yet he throws light on many an obscure side of Indian society, furnishing facts and circumstances hardly available from any other source. From his work we get a picture of ancient Indian society under the operation of the *Varṇāśrama Dharma* of the religious law-books and while discussing the ideals and forms of marriage, Vātsyāyana gives us an insight into the actual life of the young people, their loves and jealousies, their courtship and coquetry. He depicts the gay life of the Nāgaraka, the city-bred man of fashion of his days—his house and gardens, his daily round of pleasures, his sports and festivities, his many-sided culture and refinement. He furnishes a picture of the Indian home, of the sweet, pure and devoted Indian wife, the mistress of the household and controller of the family purse. From Vātsyāyana also we can glean an account of the arts and crafts that flourished in this age of fine aesthetic tastes and artistic pursuits, and we see how the artiste, the gaṇikā, by virtue of her intellectual accomplishments and skill in the fine arts, occupied a position of no mean importance in society. At the same time, we realise that the merry life depicted in Vātsyāyana's work, representing, as it does, but one side of the entire Indian social structure, supplements the picture as obtained from the *Dharmasastras*, and the ideal life, according to Vātsyāyana, is one in which the three elements of *dharma*, *artha* and *kāma* are harmoniously blended together.
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As in the *Dharmasastras* and the other sacred literature of India, we find, in Vātsyāyana’s work, Indian society founded upon the fourfold classification of the entire people into *varna*s or castes, and the fourfold division of the life of each individual into *āsrama*s or stages. Vātsyāyana himself declares that the very existence of the social structure is effected by the observance of the rules rendered obligatory for the maintenance of the institutions of *varna* and *āsrama*;¹ and though the subject Vātsyāyana has to deal with, does not offer many occasions for expatiating upon these matters, yet it is amply clear from casual references in the work that it was a society controlled by the *varnāsrama* system that Vātsyāyana was depicting. Thus when referring to the various ways in which Vātsyāyana’s *beau ideal*, the Nāgaraka, was to acquire the wealth necessary for leading his life in ease and comfort, Vātsyāyana enumerates four methods of earning money, viz., acceptance of gifts (*p r a t i g r a h a*), conquest (*j a y a*), trade (*k r a y a*) and wages (*n i r v e s a*).² Of these, as the Commentary points out, *pratigraha* or acceptance of gifts is the standard means of subsistence for a Brahmin³; of the six kinds of work which according to Manu a Brahmin may partake in, three enable him to earn a living, as Manu points out himself, viz., sacrificing for others (*yājana*), teaching (*adhyāpana*) and the acceptance of gifts from pure men (*pratigraha*)¹ and of these three again, if looked at closely, the last viz., *pratigraha*, is evidently the actual means of earning money in the case of sacrificing and teaching also, as the remuneration offered in most cases was voluntary. Vātsyāyana who was trying to condense these matters into as few words as possible in his pithy paradigms, has spoken of p r a t i-g r a h a only as the means of acquiring a fortune in the case of Brahmins, that being essentially the only method for the purpose.
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¹ वर्णाश्रमाचारस्थितिलक्षणत्वाच्च लोकयात्रायाः । *Kamasutra* p. 20.
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² गृहीतविद्यः प्रतिग्रहजयक्रयनिर्वेषाधिगतैरर्थैर्लब्धयागार्हस्थ्याभ्यर्ची नागरकवृत्तं वर्तते । *Ibid.*, p. 42.
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³ तत्र ब्राह्मणाः प्रतिग्रहेण, तद् वित्त्वात् । *Ibid.* p. 42.
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¹ शस्त्रास्त्रभृत्त्वं क्षत्रस्य | Ibid., x. 79.
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In the case of the Kṣatriya, similarly, Manu declares that the bearing of arms is the means of subsistence², so that Vātsyāyana's conquest (*jaya*) is practically equivalent to it. In the same way, of the three approved means of subsistence prescribed for the Vaiśya, viz., trade, rearing of cattle and agriculture³, trade is the essential element, as the produce from cattle and agriculture have to be bartered to bring money. Lastly, in the case of the Śūdra, we find Manu ordaining for him the earning of a living as an artisan or craftsman⁴ which
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² शस्त्रास्त्रभृत्त्वं क्षत्रस्य | Ibid., x. 79.
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³ वणिक्पशुकृषी विशः | Ibid., x 79.
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⁴ अशक्तस्तु शुश्रूषां. शूद्रः 'द्विजन्मनाम् ।
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अध्यापनमध्ययनं यजनं याजनं तथा ।
दानं प्रतिग्रहश्चैव षट् कर्मान्यग्रजन्मनः ॥
षट्नां तु कर्मणामस्य त्रीणि कर्माणि जीविका ।
याजनाध्यापने चैव विशुद्धाच्च प्रतिग्रहः ॥
*Mānava Dharmaśāstra*, X. 75-76.
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पुत्रदारात्ययं प्राप्तो जीवेत्कास्तुकर्मभिः ॥
यैः कर्मभिः प्रचरितैः शुश्रूष्यन्ते द्विजातयः ।
तानि काइुकर्माणि शिल्पानि विविधानि च ॥ Ibid., X, 99-100.
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is the same as the n i r v e ś a or working for wages of Vātsyāyana. This fourfold division of the means of earning money according to birth, shows that in Vātsyāyana's time, occupation was controlled by the caste in which one was born. In connection with another important matter of life also, viz., marriage, Vātsyāyana speaks of the four castes, of higher and lower castes, and also on the advisability of the union between men and women of the same caste (s a v a r ṇ a) as we shall show in the next chapter.
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The B r ā h m a ṇ a s he mentions several times and as receiving special respect. Blessings vouchsafed by good Brāhmaṇas are to be coveted by everyone, says Vātsyāyana, as a source of long life and renown¹. The gift of a thousand cows to Brāhmaṇas is considered to be one of the highest aims in life of a lady, even in the case of a courtesan when she is rich, although in her case the gift had to be made through a third person, as a direct gift by a fallen woman would not be acceptable to them. Even into the royal harem where the ladies were guarded against intrusion by any male person, the Brāhmaṇa had right of entry and could converse with them separated by a screen³. With regard to medical preparations for recovering health or restoring vigour, Vātsyāyana advises the use of those only that are approved of by friends and Brāhmaṇas⁴, the underlying idea in such recommendations being that the Brāhmaṇa was believed to be unselfish and honest.
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¹ ब्राह्मणानां प्रशस्तानामाशियः (यशस्यमायुष्यम् । Kāmasūtra, p. 380.
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² गोसहस्राणां पात्रान्तर्ते ब्राह्मणेभ्यो दानं ... गणिकानां लाभातिशयः । Ibid., p. 340.
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³ नान्तःपुराणां रक्षायोगात् पुरुषसन्दर्शनं विद्यते । पुष्पदाननियोगाच्चरब्राह्मणा राजविदितमन्तःपुरानि गच्छन्ति - पटान्तरितश्चैवामालापः । Ibid., pp. 286 and 294.
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⁴ तपोयुक्तः प्रयुञ्जीत शिष्टैरनुगतान विधीन् । माहात्म्यैश्च सह मिश्र मङ्गलैरभिनन्दितान् ॥ Ibid., p. 371.
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The Brāhmaṇas as performing various religious functions and as forming various orders of monks or ascetics, are mentioned by Vātsyāyana: for example, the Śrotriya and the fire maintained constantly in his house for offering daily sacrifices, are referred to several times in the chapter on marriage¹, and besides, in other places. Moreover, we find a mention of the Brahmacārin, the Dīkṣita or the man initiated to perform a sacrifice, the Vratin or the man who has taken a special vow, and the Lingin or person who like the Sannyāsin of later times, has adopted certain special dress and marks². The Commentary explains the Lingin as the Parivrājaka—the wandering ascetic who has renounced the world³.
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¹ प्रतिपक्षामभिप्रातवकाशवर्त्तिनी नायकः श्रोत्रियागारादभिमानाभ्य कुशाना-स्तीर्य यथास्मृति हुत्वा च त्रिः परिक्रमेत् । Ibid., pp. 219-220.
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² श्रोत्रियस्य ब्रह्मचारिणो दीक्षितस्य व्रतितो लिङ्गिनो वा । Ibid., p. 351.
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³ लिङ्गी प्रव्रजितः । Ibid., p. 301.
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Vātsyāyana's work amply demonstrates the fact that sacrificial performances still formed an important element in the Brahmanical faith, in as much as the setting up of large and costly fire-places or Agni-caityas is considered a popular form of public service along with the erection of temples, excavation of tanks, laying of parks and building of bridges etc.⁴ The sacrificial performances on a large scale (yajña) afforded one of the common occasions on which it was permissible for ladies to go out of their inner apartments (antaḥpura)⁵ to take part in the public or private festivities. Again, the utility of religious or scientific treatises (*Śāstra*) for the performance of concrete practical works like sacrifices (*yajñas*)¹, is referred to by Vātsyāyana, and moreover, he adds that priests officiating at sacrifices (*yājñikāḥ*), even though ignorant of grammar, were able to apply at the sacrificial rites (*Kratus*) the principle of *ūha* or drawing of inference which depends upon a knowledge of grammar². These sacrificial festivities which the maidens went out of their homes to join, also afforded opportunities, according to Vātsyāyana, to a youngman for choosing his partner for life and winning the love of the girl of his selection³. At the sacrificial festivities again, the amorous lover sought for an opportunity of arranging a rendezvous with his mistress with the help of a female go-between⁴. Thus we observe that *Gṛhya* or household sacrifices like those performed at the household fire of the Śrotriyas, as well as the more elaborate *Śrauta* rites on a large scale, formed common occurrences in the society that Vātsyāyana depicts.
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⁴ देवकुलतडागारामाणां करयां, स्थलीनामप्रिचेत्यानां निबन्धनं, गोसहस्राणां... ब्राह्मण्यो दानम् । Ibid., p. 310.
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⁵ आवाहे विवाहे यज्ञे गमनं सखीभिः सह गोष्ठी देवताभिगमनमित्यनुज्ञाता कुर्यात् । Ibid., p. 226.
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¹ अलौकिकत्वाददृष्टार्थत्वादप्रवृत्तानां यज्ञादीनां शास्त्रात् प्रवर्तनम्, लौकिकत्वाद् दृष्टार्थत्वाच्च मांसभक्षणादिभ्यः शास्त्रादेव निवारणं धर्मः । Ibid., p 12.
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² अस्ति व्याकरणमित्यवैयाकरणा अपि याज्ञिका ऊहं क्रतुषु प्रयुञ्जते । Ibid., p. 26.
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³ यज्ञे विवाहे यात्रायामुत्सवे व्यसने प्रेक्षाव्यापृत जने तत्र तत्र च इष्टजिताकारां परीक्षितभावामेकाकिनीमुपक्रमेत । Ibid., p. 213.
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⁴ स तु देवताभिगमने यात्रायामुद्यानकीडायां जलावतरणे विवाहे यज्ञव्यसनोत्सवेऽप्यन्यत्पाते चौरविभ्रमे जनपद्यस्य चकारोहणे प्रेक्षाव्यापारेषु तेषु तेषु च कार्येष्विति । Ibid., p. 274.
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Of the second caste in the social order, we find the Rājā playing a prominent part in society in Vātsyāyana's days, but it is evident that the Rājā or king, though generally a Kṣatriya, was not unoften derived from other classes like the Ābhīras, and sometimes perhaps he was a Brahmin. The word *Kṣatriya* is used by Vātsyāyna only once, and even there, as the special designation of a class of guards employed by the Ābhīra monarchs. This passage tells us that the seraglios of the Ābhīra kings were guarded by sentries who bore the designation of *Kṣatriyas*¹. This shows apparently that the Ābhīras themselves were not Kṣatriyas, but were outside the fourfold classification of Indian society, and that they emyloyed these Kṣatriyas considering them to be more trustworthy in guarding the harem than their own tribesmen
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¹ क्षत्रियसंज्ञकैस्तत्पुररक्षभिरेवार्थं साधयन्त्याभीरकानाम्। Ibid., p. 294.
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The Vaisyas and the Śūdras are not expressly mentioned by Vātsyāyana, but we have seen that their caste occupations are referred to by him, and besides, he mentions a number of artisans and craftsmen whose occupations are in some way connected with the life of luxury and ease that the Nāgaraka led. These are the Mālākāra—‘the maker of garlands’, the Gāndhika—‘the perfumer’, the Rajaka and the Nīlikusumbharañjaka—‘the dyer and the cleaner of clothes’, the Nāpita—‘the barber’, the Sauṇḍika—‘the vendor of spirituous liquors’, the Tāmbūlika—‘the seller of betel leaves’, the Suvarṇika or Suvarṇakāra—‘the goldsmith’, the Māṇikāra—‘the jeweller’, the Vaikatika—‘the diamond-cutter’, the Kuśīlava—‘the actor’, the Gāyana—‘the singer’ and so on². We may compare with these last the artiste spies of Kautilya having opportunities of espying the private character of citizens, *viz.*, the actor (*naṭa*), the dancer (*Narttaka*), the singer (*Gayana*), the musician (*Vādaka*), the man who lives on his tongue (*Vāgjīvana*) and the bard (*Kuśīlava*)¹. Many of the craftsmen no doubt formed separate castes that varied according to their occupations but were commonly included under the general name of *Śūdra*. We have a mention of some females that were skilled in the arts, the *Śilpakārikā*—‘a woman practising the arts’, the *Naṭṭor Nāṭakīyā*—‘the actress’, and the *Kalāvidagdhā*—‘the female artiste’². Here also we are reminded of Kautilya’s *Śilparatyah striyah*—‘the women proficient in the arts’, who had access to the inner apartments of the people³. He speaks of the *Śilpakārikā* also⁴.
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² मालाकारगान्धिकशौण्डिकरजकनापित... (KS., p. 300)...सुवर्णकारमणिकारवेक-टिकनीलीकुसुम्भरञ्जकादिषु...(p. 259),...ताम्बूलिकसौण्डिक...(p. 69), कुशीलवावा-गन्तवः...(p. 50), परिचारकमुखान् संवाहकगायनवैहासिकान्। (p. 306).
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¹ नटमर्तकगायनवादकवाग्जीवनकुशीलवाः स्त्रियश्चाभ्यन्तरं चारं विदुः । *Arthasastra* p. 21.
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² ततो वेश्या अभ्यन्तरिका नाटकीयाश्च । *KS.* p 24; तभिज्ञक्यः कलाविदग्धाः ...व्याख्याताः । *Ibid.* p. 57.
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³ अन्तगृ हचरास्तेषां कुब्जवामनषण्डकाः । शिल्पवत्यः स्त्रियो मुकाश्चित्राश्च म्लेच्छजातयः ॥ *AS.* p. 21.
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⁴ शिल्पकारिकाः कुशीलवा दास्यो वा । *AS.* p. 21.
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Of the higher professions, we have a reference to the astrologer (*Daivajña*)⁵ and the physician (*Vaidya*)⁶. There is no indication in Vātsyāyana’s work to show whether they formed separate castes. The *Vaidya* probably occupied a respectable position, in as much as in two passages in the *Kāmasūtra*, he is mentioned with the Mahāmātra as an influential person and in another passage, the *Vaidya* is considered to be a person whose favour is worth acquiring by a courtesan⁷. The literature used by the *Vaidya*, that is the science of mdeicine is called V a i d y a k a by Vātsyāyana and the Āyurveda, or the ‘science of life’ is also mentioned along with the Veda and the Vidyātantras, i.e. works on various branches of science¹.
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⁵ दैवज्ञा । *KS.* p. 300.
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⁶ शूरो वैद्य इति । *Ibid* p. 301.
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⁷ वैद्यमहामात्रभवनसंनिकर्षे । *KS.* p. 257. वैद्यमहामात्रयोपकारक्रिया कार्यहेतोः । p. 319.
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¹ रसवीर्यविपाका हि शमांसस्यापि वेद्यके । कीर्त्तिता इति सत् किं स्यात्पठनीयं विचक्षणैः ॥ KS. p. 170. आयुर्वेदाच्च वेदाच्च विद्यातन्त्रेभ्य एव च । आप्तेभ्यश्चावबोद्धव्या योगा ये प्रीतिकाारकाः ॥ p. 371.
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Vātsyāyana mentions a number of government officials, but there is nothing to indicate their caste. Their position in society, however, appears to suggest that they must have belonged to the higher castes, but they need not necessarily have belonged to the Brahmin or the Kṣatriya castes. We find that the R ā ṣ t r i y a or governor appointed by the emperor Candragupta Maurya, in Western India, was the Vaiśya Puṣyagupta and the man holding the same position in Aśoka’s time was the Yavana Tuṣā-pa, while Rudradāman’s governor was the Pahlava Suviśākha², of foreign extraction no doubt, but thoroughly Indianised.
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² Junagaḍh Inscription of Rudradāman. Ep. Ind. viii. p. 43.
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In the first place, the M a h ā m ā t r a is mentioned many times in the book, side by side with the king, as of a very high position in society. Vātsyāyana, when writing his work, had in mind as his prospective readers the daughters of kings and Mahāmātras who were likely to profit by his book, because in the first place, as he observes, among females it was specially they who received a liberal education—had their intellect sharpened by a study of the literature on a subject (śāstra)³. On festive occasions near the house of the Mahāmātra, a lover would try to meet and win over the lady he loved¹. A person who was in the good books of the Mahāmātra was considered a desirable lover by the hetaeræ². The favour of the Mahāmātras was sought to be won by men in some parts of India in ways that were far from honorable, and certainly not sanctioned by codes of morality³. Vātsyāyana advises the Mahāmātras never to enter another’s house on any amorous expedition, because other people would imitate the conduct of great men themselves, and he adds that just as the sun, high up in the sky, is watched by all people in his journey across the heavens, similarly the movements of the Mahāmātras are keenly watched by men; therefore they should not do anything that was unworthy or dishonourable.
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Vātsyāyana also speaks of persons that were harassed by the Mahāmātras⁵ and he speaks in similar terms of the Rājavallabha or the favourite of the king⁶ who was marked generally by violent and sinister conduct. The Mahāmātra of Vātsyāyana appears to be, as in the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya⁷, a designation for high government officials in general, including provincial governors, as in Aśoka’s edicts. Besides the Mahāmātra, Vātsyāyana also mentions the M a n t r i n on whose shoulders rested the heavy burden of state,¹ as a person who should never have anything to do with filthy practices.² This M a n t r i n, the pillar of the state, seems to be the Prime-minister and superior to the Mahāmātras, or he may be a member of the Mantri-pariṣad of Kauṭilya.³ Of the superior officers, Vātsyāyana also speaks of the D h a r m a s t h a s or D h a r m ā d h i k a r a ṇ a s t h a s, the dispensers of law and justice⁴ and four of the A d h y a k ṣ a s or superintendents in charge of the departments of state, beside the U t t a r ā d h y a k ṣ a or a superior officer in general.⁵ These adhyakṣas or departmental superintendents mentioned by Vātsyāyana, are only such as come in contact with women in the ordinary course of their duties and have thus opportunities, as Vātsyāyana avers, of winning their love without much risk to themselves.
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Such an officer is the G a v ā d h y a k ṣ a who had access to cowherdesses.⁶ The S ū t r ā d h y a k ṣ a, the Superintendent of spinning and weaving, had dealings with widows, helpless women and female mendicants⁷ who spun yarn for the Government and brought it to him for his approval and also for their wages; Kauṭilya gives a fuller list of such women—"Widows, cripple women, mendicant or ascetic women (pravrajitā), women compelled to work in default of paying fines (daṇḍa-pratikāriṇī), mothers of prostitutes, old women-servants of the king, and prostitutes (*devadāsī*) who have ceased to attend temples on service, shall be employed to cut wool, fibre, cotton, panicle (*tūla*), hemp and flax,"¹ The P a ṇ y ā d h y a k ṣ a - the Superintendent of merchandise-the same as the *Paṇyādhyakṣa* of Kauṭilya, has dealings with women in the course of purchase and sale of various articles².
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But he says that honest women also often earn a living for themselves by spinning: "Those women who do not stir out of their houses (*aniṣkāsinyaḥ*), those whose husbands are gone abroad, and those who are cripple or girls, may when obliged to work for subsistence, be provided with work (spinning out threads) in due courtesy through the medium of maid-servants (of the weaving establishment)." He therefore prescribes strict rules so that they may work with honour: "Those women who can present themselves at the weaving house shall at dawn be enabled to exchange their spinning for wages (*bhaṇḍavetanavini-mayam*). Only so much light as is enough to examine the threads shall be kept." Besides, he provides punishment if the Superintendent is tempted to look at the faces of such women or presumes to talk with them on any other topic except that of the business immediately in hand.³
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³ सन्त्यपि खलु शास्त्रप्रहतबुद्धयो गणिका राजपुत्र्यो महामात्रदुहितरश्च । KS. p. 30.
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¹ मिश्रज्ञातिमहामात्रवैधव्यमंसनिकर्षे विवाहायज्ञोत्सव्यसनोद्यानगमनादिषु। Ibid., pp. 257-8. 2 रजनि महामात्रं च सिद्धः। KS. p. 300. 3 महामात्रे श्वराणामन्तःपुराणि निशि सेवार्थं राजानमुपगच्छन्ति... दर्शनीयाः स्वभार्याः प्रीतिदायमेव महामात्रराज्यभ्यो ददाति। KS. p. 287. एतै रेव कारणैर्महामात्रसंबद्धा राजसं-बद्धा वा सत्रं कदेशचारिणी काचिदन्या वा कार्यसंपादिनी विधवा पञ्चमीति कारयथाः। I p. 65 4 न राज्ञां महामात्राणां वा परभवनप्रवेशो विद्यते, महाजनेन हि चरितमेषां दृश्यतेऽनुविधीयते च। सवितारमुच्चन्तं त्रयो लोकाः पश्यन्त्यनूद्यन्ति च गच्छन्तमापि पश्यन्त्यनुप्रतिष्ठन्ते च। तस्मादशक्यत्वाद् गर्हणीयत्वाच्च न ते यथा किञ्चिदाचरेयुः। KS. p. 281. 5 महामात्राभितहामाम्। KS. p. 285. 6 तस्यैव राजवल्लभस्य क्रौर्यप्रभावाधिकस्य...। KS. p., 349. 7 AS. pp. 16 and 20.
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¹ मन्त्री वा राजधुरंधरः । KS. p. 170.
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² न कारयेदौपयिष्टकम् । KS. p. 170
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³ AS. I. 15.
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⁴ धर्मस्थेषु व्यवहारयेदिति । KS. p. 343. धर्माधिकारस्थाः, p. 300.
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⁵ अध्यक्षभूत उत्तरध्यक्षाणामिष्यति स्वामी पिता वा । KS. p. 343.
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⁶ यथा ब्रजयोषिद्भिः सह गवाध्यक्षस्य । KS. p. 282. गोध्यक्ष of Kautilya, AS. II. 29.
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⁷ विधवाऽनाथाप्रव्रजिताभिः सह सूत्राध्यक्षस्य । Ibid, p 282.
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¹ Shama Sastri's Translation of the *AS*. p. 140. 2 क्रयविक्रये पणयाध्यक्षस्य । *KS*. p. 283. 3 *AS*., Shama Sastri's Translation, p. 141. 4 मर्मज्ञत्वाद्यात्रावटने वाऽन्तीभिनोगरस्य । *KS*. p. 283.
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A similar person is the N ā g a r a, the officer in charge of a city, that is, the Superintendent of the city police who in his rounds in the town at night meets wandering women going to meet their lovers and has power over them, in as much as he comes to be in possession of the secrets of their movements.⁴ In the villages also the government officer, Â y u k t a k a, in charge of a village, when he is a young man and the son of a leading husbandman himself, has easy access to the village-women who can be won over simply for the asking and who are called Carṣaṇīs.¹ With them he gets into contact on various accounts such as in works which they have to render without wages (viṣṭi), in storing and taking out things from the store-house, in cleaning the house, in work on the fields, in receiving cotton and wool and the fibrous skin of flax and hemp, in accepting yarn spun by them, and in sale, purchase and exchange of various articles.²
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¹ ग्रामाधिपतेरायुक्तकस्य हलोत्थवृत्तिपुत्रस्य युमो ग्रामीणाघोषितो वचनमात्रसाध्या ताश्चर्षणीर इत्याचक्षते विटाः। KS., p. 282.
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² ताभिः सह विष्टिकर्मसु कोष्ठागारप्रवेशे द्रव्याणां निष्क्रमणाप्रवेशयोर्मेजनप्रतिसंस्कारे क्षेत्रकर्मणि कर्पासोर्णासीधुवल्कलादाने सूत्रप्रतिग्रहे द्रव्याणां क्रयविक्रयविनिमयेषु तेषु तेषु च कर्मसु संप्रयोगः। KS. p. 282.
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The A ś v ā d h y a k ṣ a or the Master of the horse is also referred to in another connection.³ Two female officers, the K a ñ c u k i y ā, the female overseer of the women's apartments and the M a h a t- t a r i k ā are mentioned by Vātsyāyana as employed in the harems of kings.⁴ They are employed by the queens in sending messages accompanied by various presents to the king.⁵ In the dramas we generally find male officers of advanced years employed as the Kañcukin or Chamberlain, but here a woman is found to be so appointed.
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³ काशिराजं जयत्सेनभसवाध्यक्षाः। KS. p. 287.
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⁴ कञ्चुकीया महत्तरिका चा। KS. p. 248.
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⁵ तदादाय राजा निर्माल्यमालां प्रतिप्राभृतकं दद्यात्। KS. p. 248.
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We may add here a few words with regard to the institution of Āśrama which, as we have already seen, Vātsyāyana speaks of as forming beside Varṇa, the other great foundation of Indian society¹. He makes it clearer in his introductory chapter on the realisation of the threefold goal of human life (*Trirarga*). Thus he says, "Man, whose term of life, is a hundred years, should divide the whole of this period and practise the *trivarga*, that is *Dharma*, *Artha* and *Kāma*, in such a manner that they may harmonize together and not clash in any way." ² He explicitly lays down also directions for making this division. Thus he advises that in the first part of life (*Bālya*) which appears to include both boyhood and adolescence, one should devote oneself to such objects as the acquisition of learning, and in youth—*Yauvana*—to enjoyment (*Kāma*). In old age one should practise *Dharma* and further, seek the realisation of the ultimate goal of man's life viz. *Mokṣa* or the final emancipation from the bonds of life and death; but, he goes on, as life is uncertain, these objects should be pursued just as they come to hand. However, he enjoins strictly that until a man finishes his education, he should practise *b r a h m a c a r y a*, or lead a life of perfect chastity,³ that is, as both Manu and Yājñavalkya affirm, so long as he is a student, he must not swerve from the vow of chastity (*avipluta-brahmacarya*).⁴ This is the *B r a h m a c a r y ā ś r a m a* or the first stage of life of the *Dharmaśāstras*. The Brahmacārin is also referred to in the Vaiśika section of the *Kāmasūtra*.⁵
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¹ See *ante*, p. 98.
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² शतायुर्वै पुरुषो विभज्य कालमन्योन्यानुबद्धं परस्परस्यानुपघातकं त्रिवर्गं सेवेत । KS. p. 11.
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³ बाल्ये विद्याग्रहणादीनर्थान् । कामं च यौवने । स्थाविरे धर्मं मोक्षं च । अनित्यत्वा दायुषो यथोपपादं वा सेवेत । ब्रह्मचर्यमेव त्वाविद्याग्रहणात् । Ibid., pp. 11-12.
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⁴ *Manu*, iii. 2. *Yājñavalkya*, i. 52.
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⁵ Ibid., p. 351.
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Of the second stage of life, Vātsyāyana says that after getting one’s education one should enter into the life of the householder (Gārhasthya), that is, one should marry and settle down as a Nāgaraka¹. As the Kāmasūtra occupies itself entirely with this period when one enjoys life, Vātsyāyana has very little occasion to speak of the third and fourth āśramas of the Vānaprastha and the Yati respectively But he speaks of the Lingins—that is, ascetics who wore the special marks and garments of their respective sects.² Female ascetics find more prominent mention as Pravrajitā, Śramaṇā, Kṣapaṇikā, Tāpasī, Bhikṣukī, Muṇḍā etc.³ Of these, as we shall show hereafter, the Śramaṇā appears to be the Buddhist nun and the Kṣapaṇikā, the Jain Sādhvī, while the Tāpasī seems to belong to the Brahmanical faith. The name Pravrajitā appears to be applied to female ascetics in general. The Pravrajitā sometimes earned a living, as we have seen, by spinning.⁴ In the case of the Bhikṣuka⁵ and the Bhikṣukī it is difficult to decide whether these are Sanscritized forms of the Buddhist Bhikṣu and Bhikṣuṇī, or mean religious mendicants in general. In the inscriptions of the Sātavāhanas who were not very much anterior to Vātsyāyana, as well as of the contemporary epigraphic records of the Kṣaharātas, we find permanent endowments being made sometimes in favour of Buddhist Bhikṣus and sometimes again, in favour of Bhikṣus of all denominations. For example, Vāsiṣṭhiputra Śrī-Pulumāvi records a grant⁶ to Buddhist Bhikṣus of the Bhadāyaniya sect, while Usavadāta, the son-in-law of the Kṣaharāta ruler, Nahapāna, records in a rock-cave at Nāsik that he had made a gift of some land for the Bhikṣus coming from all quarters, that is, as Senart translates, "From it food will be procured for all monks, without distinction, dwelling in my cave."¹
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¹ गृहीतविद्यः......गार्हस्थ्यमधिगम्य नागरकवृत्तं वर्त्तेत । Ibid., p. 42.
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² Ibid., pp. 301 and 351.
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³ Ibid., pp. 65-67, 225, 275 etc. We shall speak of them more fully hereafter.
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⁴ See ante, p. 107, f.n. 7.
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⁵ KS., p. 300.
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⁶ Ep. Ind. viii, p. 60.
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¹ Ibid, p. 79.
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Ascetics—Male and Female
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All these ascetics, male and female, belong to the fourth stage of life, inasmuch as they had avowedly renounced the world, though some, as we see from what Vātsyāyana says of them, might have been persons of questionable morals. But we must remember that Vātsyāyana has occasion to speak of them only as persons who were likely to be of help (sahāya) to Nāgarakas and their mistresses and besides, to courtesans, in carrying their messages of love, as they had easy access to houses of citizens, and even to the antaḥpura or the inner apartments of the ladies.² It is, besides, a dilemma for a courtesan to solve whether it would be right conduct (dharma) for her, or the reverse, to reciprocate the feelings of an avowed ascetic like a Brahmacārin or a Liṅgin, when it becomes apparent that love unrequited would bring about his death:³ one way she would be guilty of abetting a breach of the vow of chastity, and the other way, she would make herself responsible for the death of a holy man, as the Commentary explains.
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² KS. p. 274, 225, 285, etc.
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³ भिक्षुस्थ ब्रह्मचारिणो जीवितस्य वृतिनो लिङ्गिनो वा मां दृष्ट्वा जातरागस्य पुरुषोमित्रत्वाद्यादानुसंस्थाया गमनं अमौडधमं इति संशयः । KS. p. 351.
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To the Vānaprastha we have absolutely no reference at all, as the recluse in the forest was beyond the scope of the Kāmaśāstra even as a helper in the course of love. Moreover, it seems that this Brahmanical institution of the third Āśrama was going out of vogue. The *Vaikhānasa Dharmapraśna* tells us, that it was Brāhmaṇas alone who passed through all the four stages, the Kṣatriyas went through only three, and the Vaiśyas two—the stages of the student and the householder¹. The Śūdra, apparently, was a householder throughout. The Great Epic shows the Kuru elders as passing to the forest life, but none of them emerged out of it into the life of the *Yati* or the *Parivrājaka* which was reserved for the Brahmins alone. Due to the influence of Buddhism and Jainism and the innate religious tendency of the Indian mind, there were many ascetics in the country—the *Liṅgins* of Vātsyāyana, but very few of them appear to have come through the regular course of four stages as prescribed in the *Dharma-śāstras*. It seems that the third *āśrama*, that of the Vānaprastha, was going out of vogue in Indian society by the time that Vātsyāyana wrote his book, though of ascetics of various denominations there was no dearth at any time.
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¹ ब्राह्मणास्याश्रमाश्चत्वारः । क्षत्रियस्याद्यास्त्रयः । वैश्यस्याद्यौ । तदाश्रमिणश्चत्वारो ब्रह्मचारी गृहस्थो वानप्रस्थो भिक्षुरिति । I. 1, 10-13.
Linked texts (7)
- Mānava Dharmaśāstra — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Yājñavalkyasmṛti — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit
- Vaikhānasadharmasūtra — Vikhanas, Sanskrit
- Epigraphia Indica
- Kāmasūtra — Vātsyāyana Mallanāga, Sanskrit
- Dharmaśāstra