Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c7.62.2

v1.c7.62.2

When the sweet-smiling Ṣarmiṣṭhā secretly saw him thus alone, she went up to him, folded her hands before her forehead, and spoke the words unto the king : “ Who can visit a woman in the house of Soma, Indra, Viṣṇu, Yama, and Varuṇa, or in thine, O son of Nahuṣa ? Thou knowest that I am ever gifted with beauty, nobility, and good character. I pray thee, as I ask thy favour of thee : Give me the ṛitu, O highest herdsman of men !” Yayāti spoke : “ I know thee to be perfected in good character, thou faultless daughter of the Daitya. And in thy form I cannot see a needle's point of anything that were to blame. But Uçanas, the Kāvya, said, when I brought Devayānī home : ‘This daughter of Vṛishaparvan shalt thou not call onto thy bed.’” Çarmishṭhā spoke : “An untrue word spoken in jest, or among women, or at a wedding, or when in danger of life, or where all a man's belongings are to be taken from him, does no hurt. These five lies, it is said, are not grave sins (pātakāni).” Yayāti spoke : “The king is the law of life for beings ; he falls to destruction, when he utters untruth ; even though earthly ill¹ befall me, I cannot act falsely.” Çarmishṭhā spoke : “These two are held to be identical : one's own husband, and the husband of the woman friend. Marriage, it is said, is the same for both (one and the same, common, sama).