The World of Courtesans c8.16

c8.16

The regular list of the sixty-four arts given by Vatsyayana is of significance for it includes broadly speaking all the items which could claim inclusion within the term *art*. The acquisition of these arts by men and women of culture was considered highly desirable. Naturally it was impossible to acquire even a partial knowledge of all these arts even though their acquisition was considered the highest goal in a cultured society. Ordinary men and women engrossed in the drudgery of everyday life could hardly be expected to gain even a passing acquaintance with these highly specialized arts whose acquisition required time, money and a certain social status. But as these arts were supposed to be the props of Indian culture, their cultivation was entrusted to a body of men and women who were by nature and circumstances placed in a position which gave them ample time to study them.