The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s6.98

c2.s6.98

At a time much later than that of this scene, but still falling within the realm of the whole Epic, we find women who, while being Aryan, have yet dispensed with this good old rule. It is noticeable, however, that when the beggar-nuns mingle in public, they are not unexposed to suspicion of immorality. In the scene of the beggar woman who has come to visit a Solomon-like king, we find that the sovereign rebukes her sharply for her immodesty in so doing. She answers with a proof of her innocence: ‘O king, I have come hither to learn (not to seek thee for a bad purpose); for behold! I have not touched thy hand nor thy limbs; I come into thy presence as the pure waterdrop comes upon the leaf of the lotus. It stands and does not intrude within’ (xii. 321. 168).