Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c8.s3.18

c8.s3.18

Vātsyāyana describes with greater fulness the outer chambers which the master called particularly his own and where he spent by far the greater portion of his day and night. An examination of the furniture and equipments of these chambers will give us an insight into the life of the man of wealth and fashion in the third century after Christ. The articles that Vātsyāyana first draws attention to, in the master's apartment, are two couches with beds, soft and comfortable and spotlessly white, sinking in the middle, and having rests for the head and feet at the top and the bottom. At the head of his bed is a *kūrca-sthāna*, a stand or perhaps a niche for placing an image of the deity that he worships, as the commentary, Jayamaṅgalā explains; besides, at the head there is also an elevated shelf serving the purposes of a table whereon are placed articles necessary for his toilet in the early dawn, namely, fragrant ointments such as sandal-paste, a garland of flowers, small pots containing bees' wax and sweet perfumes, the skin of the *mātuluṅga* or the citron fruit for perfuming the mouth and also betel-leaves prepared with spices and scents. On the floor is a vessel for catching the spittle (*patadgraha*). On the wall, on brackets (elephants' tusks—*nāgadantaka*) are ranged his *vīṇā*, the national instrument of music in ancient India, a casket containing brushes and other requisites for painting, a book—preferably a poetical work—and garlands of the yellow amarnath (*kuraṇṭaka*), chosen because it does not fade or wither soon and therefore is good for decorating the rooms. Not far from the couch, on the floor, is spread a carpet with cushions for the head, and besides, there are boards for playing at chess and dice. Outside the room is the *nāgaraka*'s aviary where are hung cages of birds for game and sport;¹ we read in the *Buddhacarita* that the birds in such household aviaries in the city of Kapilavastu were disturbed by the hurried movements of ladies hastening to catch a glimpse of the young prince Siddhārtha as he passed along the street.² At a somewhat retired spot in the house are places where our *nāgaraka* amuses himself by working at the lathe or the chisel.³