← Table of ContentsThe Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana: Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks

CHAPTER III.

OF THE MEANS OF GETTING MONEY. OF THE SIGNS OF THE CHANGE OF A LOVER'S

FEELINGS, AND OF THE WAY TO GET RID OF HIM.

Money is got out of a lover in two ways, viz.:

By natural or lawful means, and by artifices. Old authors are of opinion

that when a courtesan can get as much money as she wants from her lover,

she should not make use of artifice. But Vatsyayana lays down that

though she may get some money from him by natural means, yet when she

makes use of artifice he gives her doubly more, and therefore artifice

should be resorted to for the purpose of extorting money from him at all

events.

Now the artifices to be used for getting money from her lover are as

follows:

1st. Taking money from him on different occasions, for the purpose of

purchasing various articles, such as ornaments, food, drink, flowers,

perfumes and cloths, and either not buying them, or getting from him

more than their cost.

2nd. Praising his intelligence to his face.

3rd. Pretending to be obliged to make gifts on occasion of festivals

connected with vows, trees, gardens, temples, or tanks.[75]

4th. Pretending that at the time of going to his house, her jewels have

been stolen either by the King's guards, or by robbers.

5th. Alleging that her property has been destroyed by fire, by the

falling of her house, or by the carelessness of her servants.

6th. Pretending to have lost the ornaments of her lover along with her

own.

7th. Causing him to hear through other people of the expenses incurred

by her in coming to see him.

8th. Contracting debts for the sake of her lover.

9th. Disputing with her mother on account of some expense incurred by

her for her lover, and which was not approved of by her mother.

10th. Not going to parties and festivities in the houses of her friends

for the want of presents to make to them, she having previously informed

her lover of the valuable presents given to her by these very friends.

11th. Not performing certain festive rites under the pretence that she

has no money to perform them with.

12th. Engaging artists to do something for her lover.

13th. Entertaining physicians and ministers for the purpose of attaining

some object.

14th. Assisting friends and benefactors both on festive occasions, and

in misfortune.

15th. Performing household rites.

16th. Having to pay the expenses of the ceremony of marriage of the son

of a female friend.

17th. Having to satisfy curious wishes during her state of pregnancy.

18th. Pretending to be ill, and charging her cost of treatment.

19th. Having to remove the troubles of a friend.

20th. Selling some of her ornaments, so as to give her lover a present.

21st. Pretending to sell some of her ornaments, furniture, or cooking

utensils to a trader, who has been already tutored how to behave in the

matter.

22nd. Having to buy cooking utensils of greater value than those of

other people, so that they might be more easily distinguished, and not

changed for others of an inferior description.

23rd. Remembering the former favours of her lover, and causing them

always to be spoken of by her friends and followers.

24th. Informing her lover of the great gains of other courtezans.

25th. Describing before them, and in the presence of her lover, her own

great gains, and making them out to be greater even than theirs, though

such may not have been really the case.

26th. Openly opposing her mother when she endeavours to persuade her to

take up with men with whom she has been formerly acquainted, on account

of the great gains to be got from them.

27th. Lastly, pointing out to her lover the liberality of his rivals.

Thus end the ways and means of getting money.

* * * * *

A woman should always know the state of the mind, of the feelings, and

of the disposition of her lover towards her, from the changes of his

temper, his manner, and the colour of his face.

The behaviour of a waning lover is as follows:

1st. He gives the woman either less than is wanted, or something else

than that which is asked for.

2nd. He keeps her in hopes by promises.

3rd. He pretends to do one thing, and does something else.

4th. He does not fulfil her desires.

5th. He forgets his promises, or does something else than that which he

has promised.

6th. He speaks with his own servants in a mysterious way.

7th. He sleeps in some other house under the pretence of having to do

something for a friend.

8th. Lastly, he speaks in private with the attendants of a woman with

whom he was formerly acquainted.

Now when a courtesan finds that her lover's disposition towards her is

changing, she should get possession of all his best things before he

becomes aware of her intentions, and allow a supposed creditor to take

them away forcibly from her in satisfaction of some pretended debt.

After this, if the lover is rich, and has always behaved well towards

her, she should ever treat him with respect; but if he is poor and

destitute, she should get rid of him as if she had never been acquainted

with him in any way before.

The means of getting rid of a lover are as follows:

1st. Describing the habits and vices of the lover as disagreeable and

censurable, with the sneer of the lip, and the stamp of the foot.

2nd. Speaking on a subject with which he is not acquainted.

3rd. Showing no admiration for his learning, and passing a censure upon

it.

4th. Putting down his pride.

5th. Seeking the company of men who are superior to him in learning and

wisdom.

6th. Showing a disregard for him on all occasions.

7th. Censuring men possessed of the same faults as her lover.

8th. Expressing dissatisfaction at the ways and means of enjoyment used

by him.

9th. Not giving him her mouth to kiss.

10th. Refusing access to her Jaghana, _i.e._, the part of the body

between the navel and the thighs.

11th. Showing a dislike for the wounds made by his nails and teeth.

12th. Not pressing close up against him at the time when he embraces

her.

13th. Keeping her limbs without movement at the time of congress.

14th. Desiring him to employ her when he is fatigued.

15th. Laughing at his attachment to her.

16th. Not responding to his embraces.

17th. Turning away from him when he begins to embrace her.

18th. Pretending to be sleepy.

19th. Going out visiting, or into company, when she perceives his desire

to enjoy her during the day time.

20th. Mis-constructing his words.

21st. Laughing without any joke, or at the time of any joke made by him,

laughing under some pretence.

22nd. Looking with side glances at her own attendants, and clapping her

hands when he says anything.

23rd. Interrupting him in the middle of his stories, and beginning to

tell other stories herself.

24th. Reciting his faults and his vices, and declaring them to be

incurable.

25th. Saying words to her female attendants calculated to cut the heart

of her lover to the quick.

26th. Taking care not to look at him when he comes to her.

27th. Asking him what cannot be granted.

28th. And, after all, finally dismissing him.

There are also two verses on this subject as follows:

"The duty of a courtesan consists in forming connections with suitable

men after due and full consideration, and attaching the person with whom

she is united to herself; in obtaining wealth from the person who is

attached to her, and then dismissing him after she has taken away all

his possessions."

"A courtesan leading in this manner the life of a wife is not troubled

with too many lovers, and yet obtains abundance of wealth."

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 75: On the completion of a vow a festival takes place. Some

trees such as the Peepul and Banyan trees, are invested with sacred

threads like the Brahman's, and on the occasion of this ceremony a

festival is given. In the same way when gardens are made, and tanks or

temples built, then also festivals are observed.]