The World of Courtesans c11.159

c11.159

According to the *Kalavilasa*, a courtesan offered her body to anybody irrespective of caste or creed. The only consideration was a good fee. But Kshemendra relates a story illustrating the unpredictable ways of courtesans. Once upon a time a king named Vikrama Simha was defeated by his enemies and fled with his ministers to Vidarbha. There he met a renowned courtesan of the town called Vilasavati and out of love and respect for him she placed all her riches at his disposal. The Raja praised her, but his minister recounted to him the evils of the courtesans. Vikrama Simha in order to test her loyalty feigned death and asked his "corpse" to be put on the funeral pyre. When she saw his body on the pyre, Vilasavati was ready to commit *sati*, but the Raja got up, praised her and censured the minister who had doubted her integrity.