The World of Courtesans c4.36

c4.36

The prostitutes took their place in the rear of the baggage train. It is mentioned that Duryodhana’s forces were accompanied not only by craftsmen, professional singers, spies, but also by courtesans (*M.B.* V. 195, 18-19). As a matter of fact, courtesans marching with the army seems to have been a common spectacle in the India of the epics. In the *Ramayana* (*Ram.* ii. 36,3) Dasharatha, when he equipped a strong army for Rama, saw to it that women who lived by their beauty also followed in its train. This practice was even adopted on more sombre occasions. For instance, when the Pandavas set out with Draupadi and the citizens meet their royal mother who had retired to the forest, the splendid royal household included in its retinue “chariots, traders’ goods and brothels” (*M.B.* XV. 22, 21).