The World of Courtesans c10.148

c10.148

"These poor fellows follow one another like a swarm of ants on the path of death, and falsely assert the existence of the chimera of heaven, without having ever seen it. They try to grasp it by resorting to false practices such as subsisting on air alone or throwing themselves from the mountain top, or burning themselves on a funeral pyre, or counting the beads of the rosary or performing *yajna*, or by starving themselves or observing the ordained rules. They do all this to attain heaven. They do not even want to test out the truth. It is said that there are women waiting in heaven: each ordained for each entrant. If that is so, what charm is there in meeting a nymph, so different from him? What pleasure can a nymph give? Living in the company of one man forever and with no prospect of a separation? When there is no close acquaintance, the pleasures that love-making gives can never be found in the company of those women."