The World of Courtesans c10.43

c10.43

The *Mrichchhakatika* is only concerned with the life of a noble courtesan and some of the low people who visited the quarters of ill-fame. But the *Chaturbhani*, a collection of four *bhanas* or burlesques by different authors all belonging to the early fifth century A.D., deals almost exclusively with life in the quarters of ill-fame. Courtesans and their hangers-on, and the different types of clients who visited them, are all described. Their conversation is in a pointed kind of language which Thomas calls the "very ambrosia of Sanskrit language." Their talks dealt with sports and amusements, drinking, gambling and other vices. Members attended *goshthis* with their women friends and apart from their interest in love-making, drinking, and gambling, these members also discussed topics relating to the art of love. They also enjoyed music, dancing and dramatic shows. Picnics and garden parties were also a necessary part of their culture. It is also evident from the burlesques that hardly any stigma was attached to visiting these quarters of ill-fame. Merchants, government officials, military officers, *pandits* and even Buddhist monks visited these quarters.