Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c8.s8.5

c8.s8.5

the practical application of various arts, who possesses a deep knowledge of many of the sciences (*śāstras*), who is skilled in the sixty-four *kalās* and in dancing to the accompaniment of music, whose conduct is marked by respect towards superiors, by graceful and engaging manners, by charming gestures and sweet blandishments; who possessed strength and firmness of mind and at the same time modesty and a sweetness of temper; who is free from the characteristic defects of women; who speaks gracefully and clearly; who is clever in work and does not get tired—a woman possessed of all these rare qualities and accomplishments would be called a *gaṇikā*.¹ That she was regarded by Bharata as a woman of great education and culture appears from the fact that the *gaṇikā*, when introduced as a character in a drama, is, according to him, to speak Sanskrit.² The uses to which the *gaṇikā* puts her money are also characterised by a desire for public good and her charity shows the noble tendencies of her cultured mind. The *gaṇikās* of the highest class, says Vātsyāyana, consider it as the highest gain to themselves when they receive sufficient money to spend on the building of temples, excavation of tanks, planting of gardens, erection of bridges and of houses for sacrifice and ceremonies or the institution of permanent arrangements for the worship of the gods. They valued very highly any chance of giving away cows to Brāhmaṇas, of course through a third person, because no Brāhmaṇa would accept anything from a courtesan.³