[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) › c4.52 # The World of Courtesans c4.52 The World of Courtesans c4.52 - **Language:** English ### [c4.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.52) The Vedic, epic and Smritic evidences about courtesans are terse and to the point. The heroic nature of the \*Mahabharata\* could hardly be reconciled with the softer aspects of love, and in the moral atmosphere of the \*Ramayana\* courtesans and prostitutes are dismissed as mere appendages to royal pomp and show. Similarly the \*Smritis\* are more concerned with the social and legal position of prostitutes rather than their way of life. One is, therefore, pleasantly surprised to find in the \*Harivamsa Purana\* (a compendium of the \*Mahabharata\*) some interesting information about courtesans, \*goshthis\*, \*yatras\* and the \*samaja\*, with which some of the leading characters were closely associated. - [Previous: c4.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.51) - [Next: c4.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.53) - [Up: c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4) ## Linked texts (3) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Harivaṃśa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.harivamsa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) — Vālmīki, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.chandra-1973.c4.52) · Pramāṇa