Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c7.62.1

v1.c7.62.1

And she wills to have them : “ As the fire at the time of the sacrifice by fire awaits its time (the time when the offering shall be brought it), so the woman awaits in the time of the ṛitu the ṛitu embrace ” (xiii, 162.41). Ṛitum dehi, the menstruating woman says to the husband, “ give me the ṛitu right, the ṛitu embrace, make that my ṛitu may not be in vain.” So it is in the following tale. As we have seen, the energetic daughter of a Brahman, Devayānī, made the king Yayāti her husband. Her father straitly enjoined on him not to touch her friend and slave-girl, the king’s daughter Ṣarmiṣṭhā. Ṣarmiṣṭhā saw that the time of her ripeness was come, and she thought of her period. “ The time of the ṛitu is come, and I have chosen no husband. What is fitting now, what is to be done now ? What am I to do that the matter may be truly done ? Devayānī has borne, but I am become ripe to no end. As she chose her husband, so will I choose him. The king must grant me the fruit of a son ; that is my fast resolve. And now at this very time perhaps he of the just heart will secretly come before my eyes.” And about this time the king happened to go forth, and tarried near the aṣoka-wood (where the fair one was dwelling), and gazed at Ṣarmiṣṭhā.