Kama Sutra (Annotated). Richard Francis Burton
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of words, others by adding unnecessary letters between every syllable of a word, and so on.
46 Knowledge of language and of the vernacular dialects.
47 Art of making flower carriages.
48 Art of framing mystical diagrams, of addressing spells and charms, and binding armlets.
49 Mental exercises, such as completing stanzas or verses on receiving a part of them; or supplying one, two or three lines when the remaining lines are given indiscriminately from different verses, so as to make the whole an entire verse with regard to its meaning; or arranging the words of a verse written irregularly by separating the vowels from the consonants, or leaving them out altogether; or putting into verse or prose sentences represented by signs or symbols. There are many other such exercises.
50 Composing poems.
51 Knowledge of dictionaries and vocabularies.
52 Knowledge of ways of changing and disguising the appearance of persons.
53 Knowledge of the art of changing the appearance of things, such as making cotton to appear as silk, coarse and common things to appear as fine and good.
54 Various ways of gambling.
55 Art of obtaining possession of the property of others by means of muntras or incantations.
56 Skill in youthful sports.
57 Knowledge of the rules of society, and of how to pay respects and compliments to others.
58 Knowledge of the art of war, of arms, of armies, &c.
59 Knowledge of gymnastics.
60 Art of knowing the character of a man from his features.
61 Knowledge of scanning or constructing verses.
62 Arithmetical recreations.
63 Making artificial flowers.
64 Making figures and images in clay.
A public woman, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in the above arts, obtains the name of a Ganika, or public woman of high quality, and receives a seat of honour in an assemblage of men. She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favour being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard. The daughter of a king too, as well as the daughter of a minister, being learned in the above arts, can make their husbands favourable to them, even though these may have thousands of other wives besides themselves. And in the same manner, if a wife becomes separated from her husband, and falls into distress, she can support herself easily, even in a foreign country, by means of her knowledge of these arts. Even the bare knowledge of them gives attractiveness to a woman, though the practice of them may be only possible or otherwise according to the circumstances of each case. A man who is versed in these arts, who is loquacious and acquainted with the arts of gallantry, gains very soon the hearts of women, even though he is only acquainted with them for a short time.
CHAPTER IV.
THE LIFE OF A CITIZEN.*
(* This term would appear to apply generally to an inhabitant of Hindoostan. It is not meant only for a dweller in a city, like the Latin Urbanus as opposed to Rusticus.)
Having thus acquired learning, a man, with the wealth that he may have gained by gift, conquest, purchase, deposit** (** Gift is peculiar to a Brahman, conquest to a Kshatrya, while purchase, deposit, and other means of acquiring wealth belongs to the Vaishya.), or inheritance from his ancestors, should become a householder, and pass the life of a citizen. He should take a house in a city, or large village, or in the vicinity of good men, or in a place which is the resort of many persons. This abode should be situated near some water, and divided into different compartments for different purposes. It should be surrounded by a garden, and also contain two rooms, an outer and an inner one. The inner room should be occupied by the females, while the outer room, balmy with rich perfumes, should contain a bed, soft, agreeable to the sight covered with a clean white cloth, low in the middle part, having garlands and bunches of flowers*** (*** Natural garden flowers.) upon it, and a canopy above it, and two pillows, one at the top, another at the bottom. There should be also a sort of couch besides, and at the head of this a sort of stool, on which should be placed the fragrant ointments for the night, as well as flowers, pots containing collyrium and other fragrant substances, things used for perfuming the mouth, and the bark of the common citron tree. Near the couch, on the ground, there should be a pot for spitting, a box containing ornaments, and also a lute hanging from a peg made of the tooth of an elephant, a board for drawing, a pot containing perfume, some books, and some garlands of the yellow amaranth flowers. Not far from the couch, and on the ground, there should be a round seat, a toy cart, and a board for playing with dice; outside the outer room there should be cages of birds**** (**** Such as quails, partridges, parrots, starlings, &c.), and a separate place for spinning, carving, and such like diversions. In the garden there should be a whirling swing and a common swing, as also a bower of creepers covered with flowers, in which a raised parterre should be made for sitting.
Now the householder having got up in the morning and performed his necessary duties* (* The calls of nature always performed by the Hindoos the first thing in the morning.), should wash his teeth, apply a limited quantity of ointments and perfumes to his body, put some ornaments on his person and collyrium on his eyelids and below his eyes, colour his lips with alacktaka** (** A colour made from lac.), and look at himself in the glass. Having then eaten betel leaves, with other things that give fragrance to the mouth, he should perform his usual business. He should bathe daily, anoint his body with oil every other day, apply a lathering*** (*** This would act instead of soap, which was not introduced until the rule of the Mahomedans.) substance to his body every three days, get his head (including face) shaved every four days, and the other parts of his body every five or ten days**** (**** Ten days are allowed when the hair is taken out with a pair of pincers.). All these things should be done without fail, and the sweat of the armpits should also be removed. Meals should be taken in the forenoon, in the afternoon, and again at night, according to Charayana. After breakfast, parrots and other birds should be taught to speak, and the fighting of cocks, quails, and rams should follow. A limited time should be devoted to diversions with Pithamardas, Vitas, and Vidushakas* (* These are characters generally introduced in the Hindoo drama; their characteristics will be explained further on.), and then should be taken the midday sleep** (** Noonday sleep is only allowed in summer, when the nights are short.). After this the householder, having put on his clothes and ornaments, should, during the afternoon, converse with his friends. In the evening there should be singing, and after that the householder, along with his friend, should await in his room, previously decorated and perfumed, the arrival of the woman that may be attached to him, or he may send a female messenger for her, or go for her himself. After her arrival at his house, he and his friend should welcome her, and entertain her with a loving and agreeable conversation. Thus end the duties of the day.
The following are the things to be done occasionally as diversions or amusements.
1 Holding festivals* (* These are very common in all parts of India.) in honour of different Deities.
2 Social gatherings of both sexes.
3 Drinking parties.
4 Picnics.
5 Other social diversions.
Festivals.
On some particular auspicious day, an assembly of citizens should be convened in the temple of Saraswati** (** In the 'Asiatic Miscellany,' and in Sir W. Jones's works, will be found a spirited hymn addressed to this goddess, who is adored as the patroness of the fine arts, especially of music and rhetoric, as the inventress of the Sanscrit language, &c., &c. She is the goddess of harmony, eloquence, and language, and is somewhat analogous to Minerva. For further information about her, see Edward Moor's 'Hindoo Pantheon.'). There the skill of singers, and of others who may have come recently to the town, should be tested, and on the following day they should always be given some rewards. After that they may either be retained or dismissed, according as