The World of Courtesans c12.34

c12.34

One day she gave some advice to Shringaramanjari, "Child, do not be proud of your beauty. Mind the rogues. Be careful and cultivate your mind and take care of your wealth. Also learn the art of driving away certain lovers, and also effecting a reconciliation with them. Learn how to defeat these two kinds. Curious is the behaviour of the mind! The timid shows valour, the greedy becomes charitable, the miser becomes generous, the merchant acts like a *vita* and vice-versa. The working of the mind has to be analyzed dispassionately before you can deprive the client of his wealth. Listen to me The following twelve ragas have to be considered dispassionately. Indigo love (*nili raga*), brass love (*riti*), sober love (*akshiba*) form one group; magenta love (*manjishtha raga*), ochre love (*kashaya*) and terracotta love (*sakala*) form the second; saffron love (*kusumbha*), lac-love (*laksha*) and mud love (*kardama*) come under the third; and turmeric love (*haridara*), yellow love (*rochana*) and kampilya love come under the fourth group. In the first group the *akshiba* and *riti* are subservient to *nili*; in the second group *kashaya* and *sakala* are less steady, in the third group *rochana* and *kampilya* in the fourth are less steady. The *nili* and *manjistha* are steadfast love, saffron love does not tolerate any flattery and remains constant, while turmeric love is liable to stray."