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Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c8.s5.t2: Goṣṭhī

Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vātsyāyana's Kāmasūtra c8.s5.t2

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Goṣṭhī

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We now come to the *goṣṭhī* or social gathering where the *nāgaraka* diverts himself in pleasant talk with persons of the same status and position as himself by their education, intelligence, character, wealth and age; there he engages in competitions in making verses or in various other sports of skill and art.¹ Affording, as these *goṣṭhīs* did, opportunities for the *nāgaraka* to exhibit his intellectual accomplishments and mastery of the arts, they were most popular with him, being attended by him every afternoon and they were also held on a comparatively large scale on special occasions. Of the branches of literary art in which competitions were held, we may glean the following from Vātsyāyana’s list of the sixty-four arts: there were competitions in the extempore composition of verses, completion of a stanza of which a part only was given, the proper reading of books, with proper intonation and accent, either singly or in groups, the reading of passages in prose or verse that on account of many harsh sounds were hard to pronounce, and the art of composing and expounding passages written in a secret code or cypher. These competitions required knowledge of foreign tongues and provincial dialects, knowledge of lexicons and specical vocabularies, of metres and the figures of rhetoric, the knowledge of dramas and their stories, in short, a very comprehensive litererary and artistic training. One game is described called *pratimālā* in which a number of persons had to recite verses one after another, the condition being that every reciter must repeat a verse commencing with the letter with which the previous speaker's verse ended and any one unable to supply his verse sufficiently quickly had to pay a forfeit. Besides these literary competitions, there were tests of proficiency in the fine arts such as painting, singing, instrumental music and the like and also of manual skill and dexterity in many of the practical arts such as the stringing together of flowers in a garland and so on.¹

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¹ वेश्याभवने सभायामम्यतमस्यवसति वा समानविद्याशिल्पिवित्तवयसां सह वेश्याभिरनुरूप- लाप रासनम्यी गोष्ठी। तत्र चैषां काव्यसमस्या काव्यासमा च।—Ibid, p. 51 (*sūtras* 34 and 35).

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¹ मानसी काव्यक्रिया, काव्यसमस्यापूरणम्, पुस्तकवाचनम्, संपाठ्यम्, दुर्वाचकयोगाः, ले खित-विकल्पाः, देशभाषाविज्ञानम्, अभिधानकोषः, छन्दोज्ञानम्, नाटकाख्यायिकादर्शनम्, प्रतिमाला। गीतम्, वाद्यम्, नृत्यम्, आलेख्यम्; माल्यग्रथनविकल्पाः, शेखरकापीडयोजनम्, etc.—Ibid, p. 32.

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At these gatherings were invited *gaṇikās* or brilliant artists who by their education and knowledge of the arts, could please the *nāgaraka* by meeting him on his own ground, viz., in mental and aesthetic culture, and who were therefore loved and honoured by the people. Sometimes the parties were held at the house of one of the *gaṇikās*, or the *nāgarakas* met at each other's house, or they assembled in the *sabhā*, the public hall of the city or of the *gaṇa* or corporation to which every citizen belonged. Here the citizens came together to discuss politics and philosophy, or to hold competitions in literature or art, or merely to enjoy themselves in convivial parties. This *sabhā* of Vātsyāyana is the direct descendant of the *samiti* or *pariṣad* of the Vedic times, at one of which, viz., that of the Pañcālas, Svetaketu Āruṇeya, who is reputed to be the founder of the science of erotics, was defeated by a Kṣatriya.²

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² तत्रासन्नला लोककान्ताः पूज्याः प्रीतिसमानाक्षारिताः ; Ibid, p. 52 (*sūtra* 36). For Svetaketu, see ibid, p. 5 (*sūtra* 9); also, श्वेतकेतुर्ह वा आरुणेयः पंचालानां परिषदमाजगाम; *Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad* vi. 2. 1, and श्वेतकेतुर्हारुणेयः पंचालानां समितिमेयाय; *Chāndogyopaniṣad*, v. 3. 1.

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At the *goṣṭhis* were also discussed the sixty-four *Pañcāla* or *kāma-kalās* and Vātsyāyana declares that a person possessing a knowledge of this sixty-four, even though devoid of all the other sciences, leads the talk at the *goṣṭhis* of men and women; and on the other hand, a person who speaks cleverly on other subjects but knows not the sixty-four, is not much respected in the discussions in the assembly of the learned.³

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³ न वन्नयन्थास्त्राणि चतुःषष्टिविवर्जितः । विद्वत्संसदि माल्यर्थं कथासु परिपूज्यते ॥

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At the *goṣṭhī* one is neither to speak too much in Sanskrit for he may then be considered a pedant, just as in England two centuries ago to write English in strict accordance with orthography and syntax was considered not necessary for a gentleman; nor should the *nāgaraka* speak too much in a local dialect, because then he ran the risk of being regarded as uneducated and uncultured; he should strike a middle course and have full control over both and then he was sure to win great respect.¹ The prevalent language of the period as seen in inscriptions and in the Mahāyāna literature, bears testimony to the fact that the current speech at the time, at least among the cultured classes, was a mixture of Sanskrit and Prakrit. The learned people like Aśvaghoṣa, of course, wrote pure Sanskrit, but the language of conversation among the educated was apparently a mixture of Sanskrit and the provincial dialect (*deśabhāṣā*) as recommended by the author of the *Kāmasūtra*.

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¹ नात्यन्तं संस्कृतनैव नात्यन्तं देशभाषया । कथां गोष्ठीषु कथयेल्लोके बहुमतं भवेत् ॥—Ibid, p. 58 (*sūtra* 50).

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There were *goṣṭhīs* for sinister purposes too in the days of Vātsyāyana who warns the *nāgaraka* against frequenting an assembly that is disliked by the people, that is not governed by proper rules and hence is likely to indulge in license or to run beyond the bounds of decency; nor should he attend a *goṣṭhī* that is intent upon doing mischief to others. A person wins success in life by attending an association that makes the imparting of pleasure to people its sole business and has sport and diversion for its sole object.²

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² या गोष्ठो लोकविद्विष्टा या च सर्विसपिथी । परहिंसासिका या च न तामवतरेद् बुधः ॥ लोकचित्तानुवर्तिन्या क्रीडामात्रं ककार्यथा । गोष्ठया सह चरन् विवत्लोके सिवि' नियच्छति ॥—Ibid, p. 58 (*sūtras* 51-2).

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वर्जितोऽप्यव्यविचारनिरतया यस्ततः 'क्षतः ।
स गोष्ठयां नरनारीणां कथास्वयं ॥—*Kāmasūtra*, p.182 (*sūtras* 50-51).

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The *goṣṭhī* on account of its association with art, refinement and culture, was much appreciated by the people in Vātsyāyana's times. A *nāgaraka* was expected to be liberal in spending on *goṣṭhīs* and his success in courtship and love depended in no small measure on his power to shine in the sports and festivities including the *goṣṭhī* and *samāja*.¹ In Bhāsa's dramas we meet with many references to *goṣṭhī*; his *Avimāraka* mourns the supposed loss of his friend who was humorous at *goṣṭhīs*.²

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¹ कविराख्यानकुशलो—विविधशिल्पज्ञो—घटागोष्ठीप्रवणकसमाजसमसाक्रीडनशीलो—अमद्यप इति नायकगुणाः।—Ibid, p. 302 (*sūtra* 12).

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² गोष्ठी हास्यः, Trivandrum Series, p. 69.

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Women also met together in *goṣṭhīs* or social assemblies among themselves. For an unmarried girl it was considered a qualification that she was fond of *goṣṭhīs* and *kalās*. Married ladies also sometimes, with the permission of their husbands, instituted among their own friends *goṣṭhīs* or social gatherings where they discussed artistic and literary matters. But a married woman who was too fond of instituting *goṣṭhīs* was looked upon with suspicion, specially one who arranged such gatherings in the house of a youthful neighbour.³ In Bhāsa's *Avimāraka* (Act V) the maids invite the *Viḍūṣaka* to recount a story which they would listen to among their *goṣṭhījanas* in the inner court.⁴

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³ गोष्ठीकलाप्रिया चैति नायिकागुणाः—*Kāmasūtra*, p. 303 (*sūtra* 13); सखीभिः सह गोष्ठी—p. 226 (*sūtra* 15); तरुणप्रतिवेश्यगृहे गोष्ठीयोजिनी—p. 254 (*sūtra* 52).

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⁴ इमं मन्त्रिण चडक्याल' पविर्सिअ गोष्ठीजणेण सह वण्त' सुणामि, Trivandrum Series, p. 86 मूद मन्त्रिण चडक्याल' उवविसिअ गोष्ठीजणेण सह सुणामि, p. 87.

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