[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The World of Courtesans](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973) › c4.10 # The World of Courtesans c4.10 The World of Courtesans c4.10 - **Language:** English ### [c4.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.10) Sarkar understands by the term \*Gandharvagrihita\* (i.e., possessed by a Gandharva) the beginning of the later practice of a formal or nominal marriage of a courtesan to some deity or woodland spirit. As a matter of fact, in the \*Atharva Veda\* women are believed to have been possessed or enjoyed by the Gandharvas apparently in the course of village dances and music. According to Sarkar these were the \*Gandharvagrihitas\*, and they probably anticipate the \*apsaras\* of Vedic and Pauranic tradition and the \*ganikas\* of later times. \*Dasi\*, though ordinarily a female slave, also served as a prostitute. \*Dasa\* in the \*Rig Veda\* is primarily an enemy and secondarily a slave, but \*dasi\* is a slave girl from the \*Atharva Veda\* onwards. This might indicate that the first conquered slaves were \*dasa\* women. In the later \*Samhitas\* she is a \*Shudra\*, which is probably an ethnological term. The early \*Brahmanas\* associate \*dasis\* and \*Shudras\* with the \*rishis\*, and \*dasiputras\* or sons of slave women were often assigned the same position as other \*rishis\* or teachers. - [Previous: c4.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.9) - [Next: c4.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.11) - [Up: c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4) ## Linked texts (1) - [Atharvavedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.atharva) — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.10) · Pramāṇa