The World of Courtesans c4.26

c4.26

In the Gupta period still more fanciful origins of prostitution were suggested. The *Brihatkatha Sloka Samgraha* relates that the universal monarch Bharata took away forcibly the daughters of the Ocean with a view to marrying them all, but later he decided to take for himself only one wife. Therefore, he divided the rest into eight *ganas* and for each *gana* he appointed a head and he bestowed on her the prerogative of using an umbrella, *chauri* and seat (*asana*), and she was called a *mahaganika*. In the hierarchy of courtesans the *kumbhadasi* occupied the lowest place and the *ganika* the highest.