[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915) › v1.c7.17 # Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c7.17 Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c7.17 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c7.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7.17) Less resolute was the behaviour of another in a like case (xii, 266). Gautama, of the family of the Aṅgirases, had a son who pondered everything slowly, set about it slowly, carried it out slowly, wherefore he was called Slow Doer (Cirakāri, Cirakārin, Cirakārika), and short-sighted people who were brisk and sharp called him a blockhead. When his mother one day had been guilty of unfaithfulness to her husband,³ the holy man went over the heads of his other sons and angrily bid Cirakāri: “Slay thy mother!” After these words the most excellent Gautama, best among the prayer-mutterers, went off without further thought into the forest. Slow Doer said, true to his nature, only after a long while: “Yes,” and being a slow doer, he pondered and reflected long: “How shall I contrive to carry out my father’s bidding and yet not kill my mother? How shall I not sink down like an evil man in this shifting turmoil of duties?⁴ The father’s bidding is the highest law, my own (the natural) law is to shield my mother; - [Previous: v1.c7.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7.16) - [Next: v1.c7.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7.18) - [Up: v1.c7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7) ## Cites (1) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.meyer-1915.v1.c7.17) · Pramāṇa