Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.t2.366

c4.t2.366

The harem was, necessarily, a great source of danger to the king and was therefore carefully guarded, of course by eunuchs and hunch-backed old men.⁴ The women themselves were often corrupt and immoral to a degree. The inner affairs were not only an unhappy strain on the mind of the king, but had serious repercussions on the affairs of the state, resulting in outspoken enmity between neighbouring kingdoms. A king starts to quell a disturbance on the frontiers of his kingdom, and at the request of his chief queen sends one messenger at the end of every league to let the queen know how he is and to find out how she fares. The queen, out of her insatiate passion, 'sins' with every one of the messengers and then tries to allure the royal chaplain who is sufficiently "strong" to check her temptation. The chaplain tells the whole story to the king and discloses the wickedness of the queen. The king orders all the messengers to be beheaded. But the chaplain comes forward with a passionate appeal in their behalf: "Nay, Sire, the men are not to blame; for they were constrained by the Queen. Wherefore pardon them. And as for the queen she is not to blame, for the passions of women are insatiate, and she does but act according to her inborn nature. Wherefore, pardon her also."⁵ Once a courtier intrigues in the harem, but the king is placed in a dilemma: "He is a most useful servant...and the woman is dear to me. I cannot destroy these two." He consults his *paṇḍita-amacca* describing the courtier as a jackal, himself as a lion, and the woman in the harem as a happy lake...sheltered at the foot of a lonely hill'.⁶ The Counsellor gives this advice: