Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c8.1

v1.c8.1

ON the fourth day, however, the woman becomes snātā, ṛitusnātā (one that has bathed), and thereby peculiarly fitted for the delights of love, the surata. The woman stands in very great need of them; without them she pines: asambhogo jarā strīṇām (want of sexual enjoyment is decay and old age for women, iv, 39.78b-79a; v, 39.78, 79).¹ In the Indian view the woman has also a far stronger erotic disposition, and her delight in the sexual act is far greater than the man's. This is shown, indeed, in the Epic, in the tale of the king who was changed into a woman. It will be given later on. We can thus understand Lopamudrā's whim (iii, 97 ff.) :