The World of Courtesans c8.17

c8.17

Naturally the exacting profession of a courtesan demanded the knowledge of certain arts They had to acquire them in order to keep themselves in trim; these arts were matter-of-fact instruments of their profession There are numerous references to the fact that senior government officers, rich merchants and bankers regularly visited courtesans not only for the satisfaction of their sex impulses but to enjoy their cultured and pleasant company, since this was denied to them at home. Instruction in some of the arts mentioned by Vatsyayana also formed a part of the liberal education of princes and princesses, merchants and bankers, but their intensive cultivation was left to *goshthikas* and courtesans. The attempt of the Jains to swell the number of these arts to seventy-two was in keeping with the mediaeval tendency towards senseless exaggeration.