[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v2.c33.3 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c33.3 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c33.3 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c33.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33.3) From the Ṛgveda we find that there were women who were common to several men i. e. who were courtezans or prostitutes. In Ṛg. I. 167. 4 the bright Maruts (storm gods) are said to have become associated with the young (lightning), just as men become associated with a young courtezan.¹⁴⁹¹ It has already been seen how in Ṛg. II. 29. 1 reference is made to a woman who gives birth in secret to a child and leaves it aside. In Ṛg. I. 66. 4, I. 117. 18, I. 134. 3 and other places \*jāra\* (paramour or secret lover) is spoken of. In Gaut. XXII. 27 it is said that for killing a woman who is a brāhmaṇī by birth only and who subsists by harlotry no prāyaścitta is necessary but eight handfuls of corn may be gifted. Manu IV. 209 forbids a brāhmaṇa from taking food offered by harlots (vide also IV. 219); and Manu IX. 259 requires the king to punish clever (or deceitful) harlots. In the Mahābhārata courtezans are an established institution. The Ādiparva (115. 39) narrates how a veśyā waited upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra when his wife Gāndhārī was pregnant.¹⁴⁹² In the Udyogaparva (30. 38) Yudhiṣṭhira sends greetings to the \*veśyās\* of the Kauravas. Courtezans are described as going out to welcome Kṛṣṇa when he came on a mission of peace to the Kaurava court (Udyoga 86. 15). When the Pāṇḍava armies are described as about to start for battle it is said that carts, markets and courtezans also accompanied them (Udyoga 151. 58). Vide also Vanaparva 239. 37, Karṇaparva 94. 26. Yāj.¹⁴⁹³ II. 290 divides concubines into two sorts, \*avaruddhā\* (one who is kept in the house itself and forbidden to have intercourse with any other male) and \*bhujiṣyā\* (concubine who is not kept in the house, but elsewhere and is in the special keeping of a person) and prescribes a fine of fifty paṇas against another person having intercourse with them. Nārada¹⁴⁹⁴ (strīpuṁsa, 78-79) says 'intercourse is permitted with wanton women (\*svairiṇī\*) who are not brāhmaṇa by caste, with a prostitute, a female slave, or a female not restrained by her master, if these belong to a caste lower than oneself; but it is forbidden with women of superior caste. But when these very women are the kept mistresses (of a person) intercourse with them by a stranger is as much a crime as intercourse with another's wife. Such women must not be approached, though intercourse with them is not forbidden (on the ground of caste &c), since they belong to another.' On Yāj. II. 290 the Mit., after quoting the Skandapurāṇa to the effect that prostitutes constitute a separate caste being sprung from certain \*Apsarases\* (heavenly nymphs) called \*pañcacūḍās\*, states that such courtezans as are not kept specially by a person do not incur any sin, nor punishment at the hands of the king, if they have intercourse with men of the same or a superior caste, nor do men approaching them incur any penalty if they are not \*avaruddhā\*. But the men who visit them incur sin (which is an unseen result), since the smṛtis ordain that men should be devoted to their wives (vide Yāj. I. 81) and the prājāpatya penance is prescribed for him who has intercourse with a \*veśyā\* (vide Atri v. 271). Nārada¹⁴⁹⁵ (vetanasyānapākarma 18) lays down that if a public woman after getting her fee refuses to receive the customer, she shall pay twice the amount of the fee and the same fine shall be imposed on a man who does not pay the (stipulated) fee, after having had intercourse with a \*veśyā\*. Vide Yāj. II. 292 and Matsyapurāṇa 227. 144-145 for similar provisions. The Matsyapurāṇa chap. 70 dilates upon veśyādharma. The Kāmasūtra I. 3. 20 defines a \*gaṇikā\* as a \*veśyā\* who is most accomplished and proficient in the 64 \*kalās\*. Aparārka (p. 800, on Yāj. II. 198) quotes Nārada (cited above) and several verses of the Matsyapurāṇa about veśyās. - [Previous: v2.c33.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33.2) - [Next: v2.c33.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33.4) - [Up: v2.c33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33) ## Linked texts (9) - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.4.209) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Yājñavalkyasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.yajnavalkya.2.290) — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit - [Gautamadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.gautama.22.27) — Gautama (dharmasūtrakāra), Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.1.115) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Kāmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.kama.vatsyayana.1.3.20) — Vātsyāyana Mallanāga, Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg.1.66.4) — Sanskrit - [Matsyapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.matsya) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Nāradasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.narada) — Nārada, Sanskrit - [Atrismṛti (Atrisaṃhitā)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.atri) — Atri, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v2.c33.3) · Pramāṇa