Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c8.s7: Arts and Crafts

Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vātsyāyana's Kāmasūtra c8.s7

Language
English

Contents

Arts and Crafts

c8.s7.1

The age of Vātsyāyana being characterised by very refined tastes and aesthetic perceptions, as we have seen above, there was joy and consequently beauty in life, and it was necessarily an age when the arts flourished and the crafts prospered. Vātsyāyana's *nāgaraka* is a man of varied culture and from the picture that we have obtained of his life and surrounding, of his home and friends, and of his sports and amusements, there can be no doubt that he was a great patron of the arts; in fact, it is evident that every one who aspired to be a member of cultured society, had to acquire some proficiency in poetry and music, painting and sculpture and to possess some knowledge of a host of minor arts, the twice sixty-four *kalās*¹ enumerated by our author. This knowledge of the arts was evidently an essential part of his education and without this modicum of practical acquaintance with them he would not be respected, as Vātsyāyana says, in the assemblies of the cultured and educated people.² The ideal *nāgaraka*, according to Vātsyāyana, was he who possessed, in addition to a healthy physique, good birth and independent means of livelihood, a knowledge of the various arts, who was learned and eloquent and was moreover, a poet, well skilled in telling stories, who was fond of all the literary and artistic competitions and festivities including *gosthīs* and dramatic performances and above all, a person whose character was marked by largeness of heart and liberality, by affection and love. Skill in the sixty-four arts subsidiary to the *Kāmasūtra* as well as a knowledge of the *Sūtras* themselves was an essential part of the qualification of every cultured man and woman.¹ To win a girl in marriage called for an exercise of many of the arts. A maiden had to be propitiated by rare and curious objects of art, by nicely recited romances and by sweet songs; if she showed a partiality for feats of "magic," her favour was to be won by performing various tricks of legerdemain; if she manifested a curiosity for the arts (*kalās*), her lover must demonstrate before her his skill in them; the art of gathering flowers in bouquets, or weaving them into chaplets and garlands was specially to be cultivated.² Tournaments in which a charming and rarely accomplished girl like Gopā was the prize of the victor (*jaya-patākā*),³ appear to have been held in cities ruled by a semi-republican government like that of the Sākyakula. If a man was uncultured and ignorant of the arts it would be a source of great sorrow to his wife who, Vātsyāyana suggests, might herself be more proficient in them than he.⁴ In the *Lalitavistara* we find that unless Siddhārtha showed his skill in some of the arts (*śilpas*), Daṇḍapāṇi Śākya refused to give his girl in marriage to him, prince though he was.⁵ It may easily be imagined that art in all its forms was likely to develop and prosper in a society where men and women were inspired by such ideals, and that at the same time the sciences that analysed and ministered to the manifold forms of artistic expression of this highly intellectual and cultured community also grew and were assiduously pursued. Not only erotics, to which Vātsyāyana devoted himself, but also the sciences of aesthetics and poetics received a great impetus during this period. Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra appears to be a product of this age of aesthetic culture which reached its culmination in the great Kālidāsa, the most careful student of Bharata and Vātsyāyana.

c8.s7.2

¹ The sixty-four *śilpa-kalās* and the sixty-four *pāñcālika* or *sāmprayogika-kalās* enumerated in the *Kāmasūtra*, pp. 92-183. The former are called *karma-kalās* and the latter *kāma-kalās* in the *Lalitavistara* (Chaps. xii and xxi).

c8.s7.3

² *Kāmasūtra*, p. 182 (*sūtras* 50-51), also p. 41 (*sūtras* 24-25).

c8.s7.4

¹ विद्वान् कविराख्यानकुशलो वाग्मी विविधशिल्पज्ञो महोत्साहस्त्यागी मित्रवत्सलः घटगोष्ठीप्रगल्भः समाजसमस्यः क्रीडनशीलो नीरुजोऽव्यग्रशरीरः प्राधवानमद्यपः etc. इति नायकगुणाः.—p. 302 (*sūtra* 12); also कामसूत्रे 'कौशलं तदङ्गविद्यासु चेति साधारणगुणाः'—p. 303 (*sūtra* 14).

c8.s7.5

² Ibid, pp. 202-203 (*sūtras* 11-18).

c8.s7.6

³ दण्डपाणीय शाक्यस्य दुहिता गोपा नाम शाक्यकन्या जयपताका स्थापिताभूत्—*Lalita-vistara*, xii, 144.

c8.s7.7

⁴ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 254 (*sūtra* 52).

c8.s7.8

⁵ अशक्यश्चायं कुलधर्मः शिल्पज्ञस्य कन्या दातव्या नाशिप्यस्येति। कुमारस्य न शिल्पम्......तत् कथं शिल्पमायाहं दुहितरं दास्यामि।—*Lalitavistara*, xii, 143.

Literary Art

c8.s7.t1.1

We have already had evidence of the nāgaraka's good taste in house-building and architecture and also of his fondness for poetry and romance. He always had a poetical work on a table in his room, and we have seen from his skill at the goṣṭhīs where kāvya-samasyās or competitions in poetic skill were held every evening, that readiness in versification and a wide reading of poetical literature in general, formed the essential accomplishment of every one of the class to which he belonged. While wooing the maiden of his choice, he was expected to recite sweetly agreeable stories that would just apply to his case, or the romances of Śakuntalā and Avimāraka and of the heroes and heroines of literature who had prospered in their loves. One skilled in reciting these stories and romances had, according to Vātsyāyana, the best chance of success in love-making.¹

c8.s7.t1.2

¹ Kāmasūtra, p. 203 sūtra 17); p. 218 (sūtra 5); p. 252 (sūtra 50); p. 269 (sūtra 2); p. 271 (sūtra 14); p. 302 (sūtra 12).

Painting

c8.s7.t2.1

The Pictorial art, ālekhyam, was one of the foremost of the sixty-four kalās cultivated during this period. Every cultured man had in his house a drawing board, citraphalaka, and a vessel (samudgaka) for holding brushes and other requisites of painting.² Pictures, citrakarma, appear to have been drawn, as the commentator of Vātsyāyana explains, both on the walls (*bhitti*) as well as on panels or boards (*phalaka*); Vātsyāyana advises a lover who wants to attract the attention of the lady whose charms have captivated him, to put in places frequented by her, paintings (probably representing himself) done on panels¹; in another place we read of a kiss imprinted on a picture (*citrakarma*),² most probably on a wall. For *citrakarma* or painting, the surface of the wall appears to have been most ordinarily used in ancient India, as appears from a passage in the *Mudrā-rākṣasa* where the futility of the earnest efforts of a statesman is compared to "the composition of a picture (*citrakarma*) without the wall."³ The same idea is found in the *Lalitavistara* where the daughters of Māra declare that it was easier to paint pictures on the sky than to tempt Bodhisattva.⁴ Bharata clearly refers to fresco-painting by the phrase *citrakarma*; he says that the walls of the theatre-hall were to be decorated with *citrakarma* after they had been carefully plastered, coated with lime and nicely polished, the paintings consisting of the representation of male and female figures, of creeper-patterns and a record of great deeds.⁵ It is fortunate that in our country where we have so few pictorial records of the past, the caves at Ajanta have preserved a few frescoes, the solitary survivals of this age of prolific artistic production.

c8.s7.t2.2

² Ibid, p. 32 and p. 44 (sūtra 10).

c8.s7.t2.3

¹ यत संपातोऽस्यास्य चित्रकर्मणः...निधानम्।—Ibid, p. 292 (*sūtra* 20).

c8.s7.t2.4

² Ibid, p. 111 (*sūtra* 31).

c8.s7.t2.5

³ सैवैः मम चित्रकर्मरचना भित्तिं विना वर्तते।—*Mudrārākṣasa*, Act ii.

c8.s7.t2.6

⁴ शक्य तात अन्तरिक्षे लेख्यचित्र चित्रितुं, न बोधिसत्त्व शक्य तात बोधिमण्ड चालितुम्।—*Lalitavistara*, xxi, 312.

c8.s7.t2.7

⁵ भित्तिष्व विलिप्तासु परिष्कृतासु सर्वतः। समासु जातशोभासु चित्रकर्म प्रयोजयेत्॥ चित्रकर्मणि चालिप्याः पुरुषाः स्त्रीजनस्तथा। लताबन्धाय कर्तव्यं रतिं चाभोगजम्॥ *Bhāratīya Nāṭyaśāstram* (Nirṇaya-sāgara Press), Chap. ii, verses 72-74.

c8.s7.t2.8

Vātsyāyana speaks also of the *ākhyānaka paṭa*¹ which is evidently a roll of canvas containing the representation of a short story in several scenes like the *yamapaṭa* which was spread by a spy of Cāṇakya before the people in Candanadāsa's house and was exhibited by him with songs;² we may add that the direct descendant of this *yamapaṭa* may still be seen in the villages of Bengal. Balls with various designs painted on them in a variety of colours, as also water jugs of various elegant shapes with many paintings, are mentioned by Vātsyāyana as welcome presents to a maiden whose favours one is courting.³ The *Lalitavistara* mentions a similar plaything for children, viz., jugs beautifully painted on the outside but containing valueless things within.⁴

c8.s7.t2.9

¹ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 269 (*sūtra* 2).

c8.s7.t2.10

² तहिं भमपडं पसारिअ पउत्तंण गोदाअं जादम् ।—*Mudrārākṣasa*, Act i.

c8.s7.t2.11

³ कन्दुकमनेकभक्तिचित्रं संद्रयेत् ।—*Kāmasūtra*, p. 202 (*sūtra* 13). विविधकृतिसंयुक्तानां जलभाजनानाञ्च दानं ।—*Ibid*, p. 203 (*sūtra* 14).

c8.s7.t2.12

⁴ ग्रह ते बाला रञ्जन्ति चित्रघटिकाभिर्यदपिपूर्णविभासः ।—*Lalitavistara*, xv, 207.

c8.s7.t2.13

According to Vātsyāyana a welcome object of presentation to maidens was a colour-box (*puṭolikā*) containing the following colours:—*alaktaka* (the red dye obtained from lac), *manaḥśilā* (red arsenic), *haritāla* (yellow orpiment), *hiṅgula* (vermillion) and *śyāmavarṇaka*; the last named appears to be a vegetable dye, black, blue or green because the word *śyāma* is used to signify all these colours. The commentator says that it means a powder used in painting, of *rājāvarta*, a mineral substance.⁵ A painter surrounded by many cups (*mallakas*) of wet colours is referred to in Bhāsa's *Cārudatta*.⁶ Jayamaṅgalā quotes a beautiful verse apparently from a *śilpaśāstra* about the six great requisites of painting, viz., "knowledge of appearances, correct perception, measure and structure of forms, action of feelings on forms, infusion of grace or artistic representation, similitude and artistic manner of using the brush and colours."¹ Bharata speaks of the pictorial representation of the feelings or rather sentiments, the *rasas*, by different colours, the erotic or amatory sentiment is represented by the *śyāma* or dark colour spoken of above, the sentiment of mirth by white; the piteous sentiment is grey (*kapota*) and the choleric is red, the heroic is yellowish white (*gaura*) and the terrible, black; the repulsive is blue and the amazing, yellow.²

c8.s7.t2.14

⁵ पटोलिकानामलक्तकमनःशिलाहरितालहिङ्गुलानामवर्णकानां दानं । *Kāmasūtra*, p. 203

c8.s7.t2.15

⁶ चित्रपटो विश्व बहुमत्रपरि परिबुद्धौ ।—Bhāsa, *Cārudatta* (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series), Act ix, p. 7.

c8.s7.t2.16

¹ रूपभेदाः प्रमाणानि भावलावण्ययोजनम् । साहश्यं वर्णिकाभङ्ग इति चित्रं षडङ्गकम्ति ॥ *Kāmasūtra* p. 33. The translation is by Mr. Abanindranath Tagore, the founder of the modern Bengal school of painting, who has discussed this verse in the *Modern Review*, xv, (1914), pp. 581-2.

c8.s7.t2.17

² श्यामो भवति शृङ्गारः सितो हास्यः प्रकीर्तितः । कपोतः करुणश्चैव रक्तो रौद्रः प्रकीर्तितः ॥ गौरी वीरस्तु विज्ञेयः कृष्णश्चैव भयानकः । नीलवर्णस्तु बीभत्सः पीतश्चैव स्मृतः ॥ *Nātyaśāstra*, ch. vi, 42-43 (p. 63).

Sculpture

c8.s7.t3.1

Sculpture flourished as much as painting in the age of Vātsyāyana as is fully borne out by the numerous sculptural records that have come down to our time from that period. Vātsyāyana himself bears ample testimony to it: *takṣaṇa*, carving on wood or stone was one of the sixty-four arts and every *nāgaraka* had in his house implements for working at it; similarly in every house there was a lathe and other arrangements for turning which, likewise, had its place among the sixty-four *kalās*. Vātsyāyana does not expressly mention an image of a god, but from what he says of the household temple where the gods were worshipped, of the worship offered and the gifts made to the deity to whom one was particularly devoted,¹ it is apparent that such images were familiar objects in his days. The *Lalitavistara* speaks of the numerous images of the gods that came down from their pedestals to do obeisance to the child Buddha when he made his appearance in the *Devakula*, the quarter of the palace occupied by the gods.² Besides these images for worship, representations in wood and stone of human beings, both male and female, *puruṣapratimā* and *strīpratimā*—were used by the class for whom Vātsyāyana wrote, for decoration and as appertenances of love. Stands for placing images, or *piṇḍolikās*, are mentioned by Vātsyāyana, and life-size statues in wood or stone evidently stood on them in every *nāgaraka's* house, as Vātsyāyana speaks of very familiar uses made of them by lovers who often gave an indication of their passion for a lady by slyly kissing or embracing a statue in her sight. Similar other uses of portrait-statues in the harems of kings have been indicated by Vātsyāyana.³ In Bhāsa's *Pratimā nāṭaka* (Act III) we read of the life-like representations of past kings ranged round a room as in a museum.

c8.s7.t3.2

¹ See *Kāmasūtra*, p. 224 (*sūtra* 3); इष्टदेवतोपचारः—p. 311 (*sūtra* 20); देवतांनां पूजोपचारप्रवर्तनम् etc.—p. 340 (*sūtra* 25).

c8.s7.t3.3

² अच्युतस्य देवप्रतिमा etc.—*Lalitavistara*, viii, 119.

c8.s7.t3.4

³ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 289 (*sūtra* 3); p. 290 (*sūtra* 5); p. 203 (*sūtra* 14) also चित्रकर्म; प्रतिमायाश्च शुभ्र' संकान्तकमालिखनं च।—p. 111 (*sūtra* 31).

c8.s7.t3.5

The demand for beautiful dolls and play-things of which the girls in Vātsyāyana's age appear to have been very fond, offered a vast field for the exercise of the plastic art. Vātsyāyana advises a young man trying to win the affection of a maiden to present her with dolls (*duhitṛkā*) made of wood, horn, ivory, cloth, wax, plaster or earth. Erotic pairs of human figures made of wood might also be presented; such erotic pairs (*mithunam*) cut of the leaves of trees were also sent by sweethearts to each other. Playthings liked by girls are miniature cooking utensils, small temples of the gods (*deva-kula grhaka*), toy animals like goats or rams and playthings made of earth, split bamboo or wood, such as cages of birds. Small *vīṇās*, stands for images, ear ornaments made of wax or whatever other objects of art might be demanded by the girl of his choice, must be presented by the man courting her either openly or in secret.¹

c8.s7.t3.6

¹ Ibid, pp. 202-3 (*sūtras* 12-14); p. 208 (*sūtra* 4).

Music

c8.s7.t4.1

Three *kalās* appertaining to music, singing (*gīta*), playing on instruments (*vādya*) and dancing (*nṛtya*) have been given by our author the first place in the list of arts; besides, there are more—*udakavādya* or playing on cups filled with water in varying proportions and *vīṇāḍamarukavādyāni*, that is, playing on string instruments of which the chief was the *vīṇā* and also on percussion instruments represented by the *ḍamaru*.² This last most probably represents the earliest from which in course of time had evolved the *mṛdaṅga*, which has lately been proved by one of our eminent scientists to be the most scientifically constructed percussion instrument ever used.³ The *mṛdaṅga* was already known to the *Mahāvagga* and Aśvaghoṣa speaks of songs sung to the accompaniment of the *mṛdaṅga* and of music produced on *mṛdaṅgas* struck by the fingers of women, and the *Lalitavistara* mentions it again and again with other varieties of drums.⁴

c8.s7.t4.2

² Ibid, p. 32 (*sūtra* 16).

c8.s7.t4.3

³ Prof. C. V. Raman "The Acoustic Knowledge of Ancient Hindus," *Central Hindu College Magazine* (Benares), January 1920, pp. 9-12.

c8.s7.t4.4

⁴ अङ्गुलिभिश्च वीणां अङ्गुलिभिश्च सुतिम्—*Mahāvagga*, i, 7, 1-2; मद्रङ्गीतैः *Buddhacarita*, i, 45; नारीकरायाभिहतै-सं दंगे:—Ibid, ii, 30, भेरीभदङ्गपणवतूणववीणावेणु-वल्कीमप्रसादप्रभृतयस्तथ्यभाण्डा:—*Lalitavistara*, v, 40.

c8.s7.t4.5

I am inclined to think that Vātsyāyana's *ḍamaru*ka stands here for percussion instruments in general. The *vīṇā* even then formed the most popular of the musical instruments in India, as is apparent from the fact that it formed a necessary piece of furniture in the rooms of every *nāgaraka* on which, as we have seen, he played almost every evening. Such a *vīṇā* in the room of Nanda reminds the bereaved Sundarī of her dear absent husband,¹ and Bhāsa's *Cārudatta* is overwhelmed by its merits and is enthusiastic in its praises.² Of wind instruments, the flute made of a bamboo reed (*vaṃśa*) is mentioned by Vātsyāyana who praises it as capable of winning the heart of any girl when used in the way he prescribes.³ In the *Buddhacarita* and *Lalitavistara* it is called *veṇu* and is generally associated with the *vīṇā*; and women play upon it.⁴ We have seen that music with or without dances was enjoyed by our *nāgaraka* every evening. The *nāgaraka*'s sons received lessons in music at the *gāndharvaśālā* or college of music belonging perhaps to the city or to the *gaṇa* or corporation to which he belonged. Sweet and ravishing songs delighting the ear, form, according to Vātsyāyana, the readiest means of gaining the love of a man or a woman, and sometimes songs were specially composed containing a mention of the name and the family of the lover.⁵ Concerts (*tūryya*) are mentioned by Vātsyāyana, in which a party of musicians of both sexes sang and played together on various instruments. A party of such players was sometimes strengthened by its head (*rangopajīvin*) giving his daughter in marriage to a clever artist who could help in the concert. An actress (*ikṣaṇikā*) is mentioned by Vātsyāyana as a very good carrier of love messages,¹ because, as Cārudatta says, a person making a living by the *kalās*, like her, must be very clever at all sorts of tricks.² Bharata says that sometimes on the stage the female parts were acted by men and an actress sometimes acted that of a man.³ Some actresses were maintained by the king and suitable quarters in the palace were set apart for them.⁴

c8.s7.t4.6

¹ वीणाप्रभृतिषु क्रीडा:—*Saundarananda Kāvya*, vi, 32.

c8.s7.t4.7

² वीणा नामसमुदीर्यते स्वयम्—*Cārudatta* (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series), Act iii, p. 49.

c8.s7.t4.8

³ वंयं वाद्यतो या शब्द' श्रणोति सा वश्या भवति—*Kāmasūtra*, p. 379 (*sūtra* 43).

c8.s7.t4.9

⁴ करलवेणु—*Buddhacarita*, v, 49; वीणावेणु वल्लकी, etc.—*Lalitavistara*, v, 40; xxi, 301, etc.; also नार्या मुदितमना: प्रसन्नचित्ता वेणुभी मधुरमनोरमे रमन्ते—*Ibid*, xiii, 163.

c8.s7.t4.10

⁵ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 364 (*sūtra* 15); p. 203 (*sūtra* 18); p. 312 (*sūtra* 22); p. 314 (*sūtra* 32).

c8.s7.t4.11

¹ Ibid, p. 280 (*sūtra* 62) ; p. 366 (*sūtras* 23-24). 2 *Cārudatta*, Act iii, p. 64. 3 स्त्री पुंसः प्रकृतिं कुर्यात् स्त्रीभावं पुरुषोऽपि वा etc.—Bharata, *Nāṭyaśāstra*, Chap. xii, 166ff. 4 *Kāmasūtra*, p. 243 (*sūtras* 78-79). 5 Ibid, p. 53 (*sūtra* 40) ; p. 243 (*sūtra* 75).

Crafts

c8.s7.t5.1

In a society where both men and women wore ornaments, it was quite natural that the crafts of the jeweller (*maṇikāra*) and goldsmith (*sauvarṇika* or *suvarṇakāra*) should prosper. The *nāgaraka*, when going to his club or to his garden picnic, wore ornaments and the king did so on his formal visit to the queens every afternoon.⁵ The statues that have come down from this age bear this out. It was, however, the demands of the ladies, who could not appear before their husbands without having ornaments on, that furnished the amplest occupation to the goldsmith and the jeweller. Some of the ladies decorated their whole person with ornaments. Those who could not afford to have pure gold ornaments had to be satisfied with those made of an inferior kind of gold alloyed with an inferior metal. Beyond a general mention of the *alaṃkāras* Vātsyāyana does not name other ornaments than rings which are very frequently referred to as tokens of love presented by lovers to each other.¹ The *Lalitavistara* mentions a ring worth several lacs and a pearl necklace that was worth many times that sum. Cārudatta's wife also had a pearl necklace given to her by her parents worth a lac.² The testing of jewels and coins (*rupya-ratna-parīkṣā*) was a useful art in this community and Vātsyāyana knows a *Vaikatika*, a diamond-cutter, whose craft was to purify or refine precious stones.³ Plates and other vessels made of the precious metals, gold and silver, are mentioned by Vātsyāyana and were evidently often used in the houses of the rich while those made of the baser metals, copper, bell-metal or iron, were used by ordinary people; moreover, vessels made of earth, split-bamboo, wood and skins were in very general use.⁴

c8.s7.t5.2

¹ सार्वाधिकोऽलङ्कारयोगौ, p. 341 (*sūtra* 26); सहिरण्यभागामल'करवाम्।—Ibid, p. 341 (*sūtra* 27). About rings see ibid, p. 241 (*sūtra* 80); p. 261 (*sūtra* 21); p. 274 (*sūtra* 35); p. 292 (*sūtra* 20), etc.

c8.s7.t5.3

² अनेकशतसहस्रमूल्यम् मौक्तिकम्।—*Lalitavistara*, xii, 142; कोटिशतसहस्रमूल्यं च मुक्ताहारम्।—Ibid, vii, 83ff. *Cārudatta*, p. 32.

c8.s7.t5.4

³ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 32 (*sūtra* 16); p. 259 (*sūtra* 12).

c8.s7.t5.5

⁴ Ibid, p. 337 (*sūtra* 7); p. 228 (*sūtra* 27).

c8.s7.t5.6

Besides the jeweller, the goldsmith and the diamond-cutter, the dyer of clothes (*rañjaka*) also was an artisan who appears to have access to the inner apartments of the *nāgaraka*'s house and to take orders from the ladies direct. Blue and orange (colour of the *kusumbha* flower) seem to be the dyes most fashionable; the dyer is by preference called the *nīlikusumbharañjaka*. The yellow dye was also perhaps generally used, though the dye obtained from turmeric (*haridrā*) provides a proverbial expression for denoting fickle, impermanent affection.⁵ Sundarī, Nanda's beloved wife, is described as weaving a garment of the colour of the ruby (*padmarāga*) which is no doubt the same as the *kusumbha* colour of Vātsyāyana, and in the *Buddhacarita* a lady is represented as wearing a blue dress.¹ Earlier still, these very same dyes appear to have been in favour. The noble Licchavi youths who went out of Vesālī to pay their respects to the great Buddha are described in the *Mahāvagga* as wearing blue, red and yellow robes besides white ones; the same work enumerates a number of other colours being used by people living in the enjoyments of the world, though even there the blue, yellow and red are given the first place.² The economic housewife is described by Vātsyāyana as getting the rejected clothes of her husband cleaned and redyed and then presenting them to the servants.³

c8.s7.t5.7

⁵ नीलीकुसुम्भरञ्जकादिप, etc.—Ibid, p. 259 (*sūtra* 12), हरिद्रागौ वा।—Ibid, p. 330 (*sūtra* 17).

c8.s7.t5.8

¹ पद्मरागं वसनं वसाना ।—*Saundarananda Kāvya*, vi, 26 ; नीलांगना—*Buddhacarita*, iv, 33 ; नीलवस्त्रवासिनी—Ibid, xii, 107.

c8.s7.t5.9

² *Mahāvagga*, vi, 30, 3 and viii, 29.

c8.s7.t5.10

³ *Kāmasūtra*, p. 230 (*sūtra* 34).

c8.s7.t5.11

A number of artisans are mentioned by Vātsyāyana as helping the *nāgaraka* in the decoration of his person and thus in his quest of love, and are spoken of by Vātsyāyana as his friends: among them we find in the first place, the florist who looks after his flowerbeds, who makes garlands for his neck and chaplets for his head, and who helps him in preparing floral decorations for presentation to his beloved.⁴ Next comes the perfumer (*saugandhika*) whom, as we have seen, he patronised very liberally. Then we have the goldsmith, the betel-leaf-seller, as also the washerman, the barber and the wine-seller. The women folk of these artisans were also regarded by him as his friends (*mitrāṇi*).⁵ This establishment of friendly relations between the wealthy *nāgaraka* and the craftsman appears to indicate a great respect for the crafts which are nowhere in Vātsyāyana spoken of as implying any inferior rank or position.

c8.s7.t5.12

⁴ पुष्पास्तरणम्, माल्यग्रथनविकल्पाः, शेखरकापीडयोजनम्, कर्णपतभङ्गाः etc.—Ibid, p. 32.

c8.s7.t5.13

⁵ See p. 69 (*sūtras* 37 and 38) ; p. 300 (*sūtra* 9).

Linked texts (9)