Part five, chapters three and four of the Kamisutra. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain and is read by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina.
The Kamisutra by vates Yayana, Part five, Chapter three, Examination of
the state of a Woman's mind. When a man is trying to gain over
a woman, he should examine the state of her mind and act as follows.
If she listens to him but does not manifest to him in any way
her own intentions, he should then try to gain her over by means of
a go between. If she meets him once and again, comes to meet
him better dressed than before, or comes to him in some lonely place,
he should be certain that she is capable of being enjoyed by the use of
a little force. A woman who lets a man make up to her but
does not give herself up even after a life long time, should be considered
as a trifler in love. But owing to the fickleness of the human mind,
even such a woman can be conquered by always keeping up a close acquaintance
with her. When a woman avoids the attentions of a man, and on
account of respect for him and pride in herself will not meet him or approach
him. She can be gained over with difficulty, either by endeavoring to keep
on familiar terms with her, or else by an exceedingly clever go between.
When a man makes up to a woman and she reproaches him with harsh words,
she should be abandoned at once. When a woman reproaches a man,
but at the same time acts affectionately towards him, she should be made love
to in every way. A woman who meets a man in lonely places and
puts up with a touch of his foot, but pretends, on account of
the indecision of her mind not to be aware of it, should be conquered
by patience and by continued efforts, as follows. If she happens to go
to sleep in his vicinity, he should put his left arm round her,
and see when she awakes whether she repulses him in reality or only repulses him
in such a way as if she were desirous of the same thing being done
to her again. And what is done by the arm can also be done
by the foot. If the man succeeds in this point, he should embrace
her more closely and If she will not stand the embrace and gets up,
but behaves with him as usual the next day, he should consider then that
she is not unwilling to be enjoyed by him. If, however, she
does not appear again, the man should try to get over her by means
of a go between. And if after having disappeared for some time, she
again appears and behaves with him as usual, the man should then consider that
she would not object to be united with him. When a woman gives aim
man an opportunity and makes her own love manifest to him, he should proceed
to enjoy her. And the signs of a woman manifesting her love are these.
One she calls out to a man without being addressed by him in the
first instance. Two she shows herself to him in secret places. Three she
speaks to him tremblingly and inarticulately. Four she has the fingers of her hand
and the toes of her feet moistened with perspiration, and her face blooming with
delight. Five she occupies herself with shampooing his body and pressing his head.
Six. When shampooing him, she works with one hand only, and with
the other she touches and embraces parts of his body. Seven she remains with
both hands placed on his body, motionless, as if she had been surprised
by something or was overcome by fatigue. Eight She sometimes bends down her face
upon his thighs, and when asked to shampoo them, does not manifest any
unwillingness to do so. Nine she places one of her hands quite motionless on
his body, and even though the man should press it between two members of
his body, she does not remove it for a long time. Ten.
Lastly, when she has resisted all the efforts of the man to gain her
over, she returns to him next day to shampoo his body. As before.
When a woman neither gives encouragement to a man nor avoids him, but
hides herself and remains in some lonely place, she must be got at by
means of the female servant who may be near her. If when called by
the man, she acts in the same way, then she should be gained
over by means of a skillful go between. But if she will have nothing
to say to the man, he should consider well about her before or he
begins any further attempts to gain her over. Thus ends the examination of the
state of a woman's mind. A man should first get himself introduced to a
woman, and then carry on a conversation with her. He should give her
hints of his love for her, and if he finds from her replies that
she receives these hints favorably, he should then set to work to gain her
over without any fear. A woman who shows her love by outward signs to
the man at his first interview should be gained over very easily. In the
same way, a lascivious woman, who, when addressed in loving words,
replies openly in words expressive of her love, should be considered to have been
gained over at that very moment. With regard to all women, whether they
be wise, simple, or confiding, this rule is laid down that those
who make an open manifestation of their love are easily gained over. Chapter four
about the business of a go between. If a woman has manifested her love
or desire, either by signs or by motions of her body, and is
afterwards rarely or never seen anywhere, or if a woman is met for the
first time, the man should get a go between to approach her. Now
the go between having wheedled herself into the confidence of the woman, by acting
according to her disposition, should try to make her hate or despise her husband,
by holding artful conversations with her, by telling her about medicines for getting
children, by talking to her about other people, by tales of various kinds,
by stories about the wives of other men, and by praising her beauty,
wisdom, generosity, and good nature, and then saying to her,
it is indeed a pity that you, who are so excellent a woman in
every way, should be possessed of a husband of this kind, beautiful lady,
he is not fit even to serve you. The go between should further
talk to the woman about the weakness of the passion of her husband, his
jealousy, his roguery, his ingratitude, his aversion to enjoyments, his dulness,
his meanness, and all the other faults that he may have and with
which she may be acquainted. She should particularly harp upon that fault or that
failing by which the wife may appear to be the most affected. If the
wife be a dear woman and the husband a hair man, then there would
be no fault in that direction. But in the event of his being a
hair man, and she a mere woman or elephant woman, then this fault
should be pointed out to her. Goni Caputra is of opinion that when it
is the first affair of the woman, or when her love has only been
very secretly shown, the man should then secure and send to her a go
between with whom she may be already acquainted and in whom she confides. But
to return to our subject, the go between should tell the woman about the
obedience and love of the man, and as her confidence and affection increase,
she should then explain to her the thing to be accomplished in the following way.
Hear this, o, beautiful lady, that this man, born of
a good family, having seen you, has gone mad on your account.
The poor young man, who is tender by nature, has never been distressed
in such a way before, and it is highly probable that he will succumb
under his present affliction and experience the pains of death. If the woman listens
with a favorable ear, then on the following day, the go between,
having observed marks of good spirits in her face, in her eyes, and
in her manner of conversation, should again converse with her on the subject of
the man, and should tell her the stories of Valhalla and Indra, of
Sukuntoala and Dushianti, and such others as may be fitted for the occasion.
Footnotes. Alhalia was the wife of the sage Gautama. She was seduced by
Indra, the king of the gods. Sakuntala was the heroine of one of
the best, if not the best, of Hindu plays, and the best
known in Sanskrit dramatic literature. It was first brought to notice by Sir William
Jones and has been well and poetically translated by doctor Monier Williams under the title
of Sakuntala or The Lost Ring, an Indian drama translated into English prose and
verse from the Sanskrit of Kalidasa. End of footnotes. She should also describe
to her the strength of the man, his talents, his skill in the
sixty four sorts of enjoyments mentioned by Bob Prava, his good looks, and
his liaison with some praiseworthy woman, no matter whether this last ever took place
or not. In addition to this, the go between should carefully note the
behavior of the woman, which, if favorable, would be as follows.
She would address her with a smiling look, would seat herself close beside her,
and ask her, where have you been, What have you been doing?
Where did you dine? Where did you sleep? Where have you been
sitting? Moreover, the woman would meet the go between in lonely places and
tell her stories. There, would yawn contemplatively, draw long sighs, give
her presents, remember her on occasions of festivals, dismiss her with a wish
to see her again, and say to her jestingly, oh, well speaking
woman, why do you speak these bad words to me? Would discourse on
the sin of her union with the man, would not tell her about any
previous visits or conversations that she may have had with him, but wish to
be asked about these, And last would laugh at the man's desire, but
would not reproach him in any way. Thus ends the behavior of the woman
with the go between. When the woman manifests her love in the manner above
described, the go between should increase it by bringing to her love tokens from
the man. But if the woman be not acquainted with the man personally,
the go between should win her over by extolling and praising his good qualities and
by telling stories about his love for her. Here, Audulaka says that when
a man or woman are not personally acquainted with each other and have not shown
each other any signs of affection, the employment of a go between is useless.
The followers of Babhavra, on the other hand, affirm that even though
they be personally unacquainted but have shown each other's signs of affection, there is
an occasion for the employment of a go between. Gony Kaputra asserts that a
go between should be employed divided they are acquainted with each other, even though
no signs of affection may have passed between them. Batesiayana, however, lays
it down that even though they may not be personally acquainted with each other and
may not have shown each other any signs of affection, still they are both
capable of placing confidence in a go between. Now, the go between should
show the woman the presence such as the betel nut and bettel leaves, the
perfumes, the flowers and the rings which the man may have given to her
for the sake of the woman, and on these presents should be impressed the
marks of the man's teeth and nails and other signs on the cloth that he
may send. He should draw with saffron, both his hands joined together,
as if in earnest entreaty. The go between should also show to the woman
ornamental figures of various kinds cut in leaves, together with ear ornaments, and
chaplets made of flowers containing love letters expressive of the desire of the man.
Footnote. It is presumed that something like the following French verses are intended.
Count honor genra Le's pu profond homage, vouleet vauquenfidet l' en chen de language
vousserle captive, montesprit u, montcoeur, coujupuis d'ame vaubras serl gute lu bonneurs,
juvoutrey, maison vain coumncoeur a de lie, couche ou se papier,
nousiree, voudir avexoins sousay ver lize le' premiere, MoU vou verray cam re
mede il foetus mesmeu or these condon vouvois en vous, m condon vous,
m u vou voisitan and a footnote, and she should cause her to send
affectionate presence to the man in return. After they have mutually accepted each other's
presence, then a meeting should be arranged between them on the faith of the
go between. The followers of Babhavra say that this meeting should take place at
the time of going to the temple of a deity, or on occasions of
fairs, garden parties, theatrical performances, marriages, sacrifices, festivals and funerals,
as also at the time of going to the river to bathe, or
at times of natural calamities, fear of robbers, or hostile invasions of the
country. Footnote. It is supposed that storms, earthquakes, famines, and
pestilent diseases are here alluded to, and a footnote. Goni Kaputra is of
opinion, however, that these meetings had better be brought about in the abodes
of female friends, mendicants, astrologers, and ascetics. But vits Yayana decides
that that place is only well suited for the purpose which has proper means of
ingress and egress, and where arrangements have been made to prevent any accidental occurrence.
And when a man who has once entered the house can also leave it
at the proper time without any disagreeable encounter. Now, go betweens or female
messengers are of the following different kinds. One a go between who takes upon
herself the whole burden of the business. Two a go between who does only
a limited part of the business. Three a go between who is the bearer
of a letter only. Four a go between acting on her own account.
Five the go between of an innocent young woman. Six a wife serving as
a go between, seven a mute go between. Eight a go between who
acts the part of the wind. One a woman who, having observed the
mutual passion of a man and woman, brings them together and arranges it by
the power of her own intellect. Such a one is called a go between
who takes auon on herself the whole burden of the business. This kind of
go between is chiefly employed when the man and the woman are already acquainted with
each other and have conversed together, and in such cases she is sent not
only by the man, as is always done in all other cases, but
by the woman also. The above name is also given to a go between
who, perceiving that the man and the woman are suited to each other,
tries to bring about a union between them, even though they be not acquainted
with each other. Two. A go between who, perceiving that some part
of the affair is already done, or that the advances on the part of
the man are already made, completes the rest of the business is called a
go between who performs only a limited part of the business. Three. A
go between who simply carries messages between a man and a woman who love each
other but who cannot frequently meet, is called the bearer of a letter or
message. This name is also given to one who is sent by either of
the lovers to acquaint either the one or the other with the time and place
of their meeting. Four. A woman who goes herself to a man and
tells him of her having enjoyed sexual union with him in a dream, and
expresses her anger at his wife having rebuked him for calling her by the name
of her rival instead of by her own name, And gives him something bearing
the remarks of her teeth and nails, and informs him that she knew she
was formally desired by him, and asks him privately whether she or his wife
is the best looking. Such a person is called a woman who is a
go between for herself. Now such a woman should be met and interviewed by
the man in private and secretly. The above name is also given to a
woman who, having made an agreement with some other woman to act as her
go between, gains over the man to herself by the means of making him
personally acquainted with herself, and thus causes the other woman to fail. The
same applies to a man, who, acting as a go between for another
and having no previous connection with the woman, gains her over for himself,
and thus causes the failure of the other man. Five. A woman who
has gained the confidence of the innocent young wife of any man, and who
has learned her secrets without exercising any pressure on her mind, and found out
from her how her husband behaves to her if this woman then teaches her the
art of securing his favor, and decorates her so as to show her love,
and instructs her how and when to be angry or to pretend to be
so, And then, having herself made marks of the nails and teeth on
the body of the wife, gets the latter to send for her husband to
show these marks to him and thus excite him for enjoyment. Such is called
the go between of an innocent young woman. In such cases, the man
should send replies to his wife through the same woman. Six. When a
man gets his wife to gain the confidence of a woman whom he wants to
enjoy and to call on her and talk to her about the wisdom and ability
of her husband, that wife is called a wife serving as a go between.
In this case, the feelings of the woman with regard to the man
should also be made known through the wife. Seven. When any man sends
a girl or a female servant to any woman under some pretext or other and
places a letter in her bouquet of flowers or in her ear ornaments, or
marks something about her with his teeth or nails, that girl or female servant
is called a mute go between. In this case, the man should expect
an answer from the woman through the same person. Eight. A person who
carries a message to a w woman which has a double meaning, or which
relates to some past transactions, or which is unintelligible to other people is called
a go between who acts the part of the wind. In this case,
the reply should be asked for through the same woman. Thus ends the different
kinds of go betweens. A female astrologer, a female servant, a female
beggar, or a female artist are well acquainted with the business of a go
between, and very soon gain the confidence of other women. Any One of
them can raise enmity between any two persons if she wishes to do so,
or extol the loveliness of any woman that she wishes to praise, or describe
the arts practiced by other women in sexual union. They can also speak highly
of the love of a man, of his skill in sexual enjoyment, and
of the desire of other women more beautiful even than the woman they are addressing
for him, and explain the restraint under which he may be at home.
Lastly, a go between can, by the artfulness of her conversation, unite
a woman with a man, even though he may not have been thought of
by her, or may have been considered beyond his aspirations. She can also
bring back a man to a woman who, owing to some cause or other,
has separated himself from her. End of Chapter four