Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c7.s1.t9.13

c7.s1.t9.13

The harem was a great source of danger to the king and was, therefore, carefully guarded by eunuchs⁴⁰ and old men. The eunuchs are mentioned in the *Brhatkalpa sūtra* and its *Bhāṣya*. They were excluded from the membership of the Jain *Sramana Sangha*. About the eunuchs it is said that their nature was womanish, their voice and colour were those of a woman, their penis was long and drooping, their speech was soft, and they passed urine with noise and it was foamy. They walked with a womanish gait looking to the right and the left and behind; they were soft skinned and their bodies were cold to the touch.⁴¹ The *Vivāgasuya* mentions a eunuch who was brought up by his parents to carry on the profession of a eunuch.⁴²