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础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补 of Kau峁璦lya, the most authoritative treatise on ancient Indian polity and civics, considers prostitution as an art to be taught by experts. Courtesans were attached to the army and a royal officer, 骋补峁噄办腻dhyak峁�a, looked after prostitution organized and controlled by the state^[1].

础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补 gives elaborate details of the functions of 骋补峁噄办腻dhyak峁�a both in the king鈥檚 palace and outside.

鈥淭he superintendent of prostitutes shall employ (at the king鈥檚 court) on a salary of 1000 辫补峁嘺蝉 (per annum) a prostitute (骋补峁噄办腻) whether born or not born of a courtesan family and noted for her beauty, youth and accomplishments. A rival prostitute (pratiga峁噄k膩) on half the above salary (ku峁璾mb膩rdhena) shall also be appointed. Whenever such a prostitute goes abroad or dies, her daughter or sister shall act for her and shall receive her property and salary. Or her mother may substitute another prostitute. In absence of any of these, the king himself shall take the property. With a view to add to the splendour of the prostitutes, they were allowed to hold the royal umbrella, golden pitcher and fan and attend upon the king seated on a royal place, a throne or a chariot. Prostitutes were classified as of first, middle and highest rank according to their beauty and jewellery; likewise their salary was to be fixed in thousands. She who has lost her beauty, shall be appointed as a nurse (尘腻迟峁沰腻). A prostitute shall pay 24,000 辫补峁嘺蝉 as ransom to regain her liberty and prostitute鈥檚 son 12,000 辫补峁嘺蝉. From the age of 8 years, a prostitute shall hold musical performance before the king. Those prostitutes, female slaves and old women who are incapable of rendering any service in the form of enjoyment (bha峁単abhog膩h) shall work in the store-house or kitchen of the king. The superintendent shall determine the earning, inheritance, income (膩ya), expenditure and future earnings (腻测补迟颈) of every prostitute. He shall check their extravagant expenditure鈥�^[2].

After the end of Mauryan rule (first and second centuries CE.), the position of courtesans was uplifted both financially and socially. They became independent and self-sufficient and they had involvement in social life.

On the contrary another phase of this atmosphere also can be seen in 础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补. The above mentioned colourful sketches are only applicable in the case of rich class only.

An observation may be cited here:

鈥淚n Kau峁璦lya鈥檚 time an ambivalent attitude towards prostitution must have developed, but that was not sufficient to overthrow them from their privileged position. From the evidence of the 础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补 itself it appears that the oppressive and ruthless class society had by that time produced a professional group of body-sellers. In the Kau峁璦lyan ideal society the actors, musicians, artists, craftsmen and other persons belonging to the lower occupational groups had to survive by allowing their wives to sell their bodies to rich persons. The business of these body-sellers, which was invariable in class societies, undoubtedly told upon the honour of the accomplished ones. Apart from the 骋补峁噄办补蝉 or courtesans, Kau峁璦lya mentions other categories of public women like R奴p膩j墨惫腻, a woman who does not have artistic accomplishment but possesses beauty as her only stock-in-trade (1.20; 2. 4; 3. 20; 4. 13; 5. 2; 7. 17), R奴pad膩s墨, a beautiful maid-servant of the 骋补峁噄办补鈥檚, household doing independent business (2. 27), 骋补峁噄办腻d膩s墨, female-slave of the courtesan (2. 27), M膩t峁沰膩, the retired courtesan generally engaged in training and looking after the younger 骋补峁噄办腻s, 碍耻尘腻谤墨 and Duhit峁沰膩, immature girls and daughters of 骋补峁噄办腻 (2. 27) and a host of miscellaneous class mentioned above鈥� (Narendranath Bhattacharyya, 1975: 95).

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补, 2. 43

[2]:

ga峁噄k膩dhyak峁�o ga峁噄k膩nvayay膩maga峁噄k膩nvaya峁� 惫腻 r奴payauvana艣ilpasampann膩峁� sahasre峁嘺 驳补峁噄办腻峁� k膩rayet | ku峁璾mb膩rdhena pratiga峁噄k膩m || ni峁�patit膩pretayorduhit膩 产丑补驳颈苍墨 惫腻 办耻峁璾尘产补峁� bhareta | tanm膩t膩 惫腻 prati驳补峁噄办腻峁� sthapayet | t膩s膩mabh膩ve 谤腻箩腻 haret || saubh膩gy膩la峁僰膩rav峁沝dhy膩 sahasre峁嘺 惫腻ra峁� 办补苍颈峁ａ弓丑补峁� madhyamamuttama峁� 惫腻ropayet | chatrabh峁涐箖g膩ravyajana艣ibik膩p墨峁環ik膩rathe峁�u ca vi艣e峁Ｄ乺tham || saubh膩gyama峁僰e 尘腻迟峁沰腻峁� kury膩t || ni峁�kraya艣caturvi峁兣沘tis膩hasro ga峁噄k膩y膩岣� | d惫腻da艣as膩hasro ga峁噄k膩putrasya | a峁ａ弓avar峁Ｄ乼prabh峁泃i r膩j帽a岣� ku艣墨lavakarma kury膩t || ga峁噄k膩d膩s墨 bhagnabhog膩ko峁ａ弓h膩g膩re mah膩nase 惫腻 karma kury膩t | avi艣ant墨 sap膩dapa峁嘺mavaruddh膩 m膩savetana峁� dady膩t || 产丑辞驳补峁� d膩yam膩ya峁� vyayam腻测补迟颈峁� ca ga峁噄k膩y膩 nibandhayet | ativyayakarma ca 惫腻rayet || (artha艣膩stram, 2. 43. 1-7)