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CHAPTER
VI
OF
GAINS AND LOSSES; ATTENDANT GAINS AND LOSSES;
AND DOUBTS; AS ALSO OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF
COURTESANS
IT sometimes happens that while gains are being sought
for, or expected to be realized, losses only are the
result of our efforts. The causes of these losses
are:
- Weakness
of intellect
- Excessive
love
- Excessive
pride
- Excessive
self conceit
- Excessive
simplicity
- Excessive
confidence
- Excessive
anger
- Carelessness
- Recklessness
- Influence
of evil genius
- Accidental
circumstances
The results of these losses are:
- Expense
incurred without any result
- Destruction
of future good fortune
- Stoppage
of gains about to be realized
- Loss
of what is already obtained
- Acquisition
of a sour temper
- Becoming
unamiable to every body
- Injury
to health
- Loss
of hair and other accidents
Now gain is of three kinds: gain of wealth, gain of
religious merit, and gain of pleasure; and similarly
loss is of three kinds: loss of wealth, loss of religious
merit, and loss of pleasure. At the time when gains
are sought for, if other gains come along with them,
these are called attendant gains. When gain is uncertain,
the doubt of its being a gain is called a simple doubt.
When there is a doubt whether either of two things
will happen or not, it is called a mixed doubt. If
while one thing is being done two results take place,
it is called a combination of two results, and if
several results follow from the same action, it is
called a combination of results on every side.
We shall now give examples of the above.
As already stated, gain is of three kinds, and loss,
which is opposed to gain, is also of three kinds.
When by living with a great man a courtesan acquires
present wealth, and in addition to this becomes
acquainted with other people, and thus obtains a
chance of future fortune, and an accession of wealth,
and becomes desirable to all, this is called a gain
of wealth attended by other gain.
When by living with a man a courtesan simply gets
money, this is called a gain of wealth not attended
by any other gain.
When a courtesan receives money from other people
besides her lover, the results are the chance of
the loss of future good from her present lover;
the chance of disaffection of a man securely attached
to her; the hatred of all; and the chance of a union
with some low person, tending to destroy her future
good. This gain is called a gain of wealth attended
by losses.
When a courtesan, at her own expense, and without
any results in the shape of gain, has connection
with a great man, or an avaricious minister, for
the sake of diverting some misfortune, or removing
some cause that may be threatening the destruction
of a great gain, this loss is said to be a loss
of wealth attended by gains of the future good which
it may bring about.
When a courtesan is kind, even at her own expense,
to a man who is very stingy, or to a man proud of
his looks, or to an ungrateful man skilled in gaining
the hearts of others, without any good resulting
from these connections to her in the end, this loss
is called a loss of wealth not attended by any gain.
When a courtesan is kind to any such man as described
above, but who in addition is a favourite of the
king, and moreover cruel and powerful, without any
good result in the end, and with a chance of her
being turned away at any moment, this loss is called
a loss of wealth attended by other losses.
In this way gains and losses, and attendant gains
and losses in religious merit and pleasures may
become known to the reader, and combinations of
all of them may also be made.
Thus end the remarks on gains and losses, and attendant
gains and losses.
In the next place we come to doubts, which are again
of three kinds: doubts about wealth, doubts about
religious merit, and doubts about pleasures.
The following are examples:
When a courtesan is not certain how much a man may
give her, or spend upon her, this is called a doubt
about wealth.
When a courtesan feels doubtful whether she is right
in entirely abandoning a lover from whom she is
unable to get money, she having taken all his wealth
from him in the first instance, this doubt is called
a doubt about religious merit.
When a courtesan is unable to get hold of a lover
to her liking, and is uncertain whether she will
derive any pleasure from a person surrounded by
his family, or from a low person, this is called
a doubt about pleasure.
When a courtesan is uncertain whether some powerful
but low principled fellow would cause loss to her
on account of her not being civil to him this is
called a doubt about the loss of wealth.
When a courtesan feels doubtful whether she would
lose religious merit by abandoning a man who is
attached to her without giving him the slightest
favour, and thereby causing him unhappiness in this
world and the next,1 this
doubt is called a doubt about the loss of a religious
merit.
When a courtesan is uncertain as to whether she
might create disaffection by speaking out, and revealing
her love and thus not get her desire satisfied,
this is called a doubt about the loss of pleasure.
Thus end the remarks on doubts.
Mixed
Doubts
The intercourse or connection with a stranger, whose
disposition is unknown, and who may have been introduced
by a lover, or by one who possessed authority, may
be productive either of gain or loss, and therefore
this is called a mixed doubt about the gain and loss
of wealth.
When a courtesan is requested by a friend, or is
impelled by pity to have intercourse with a learned
Brahman, a religious student, a sacrificer, a devotee,
or an ascetic who may have all fallen in love with
her, and who may be consequently at the point of
death, by doing this she might either gain or lose
religious merit, and therefore this is called a
mixed doubt about the gain and loss of religious
merit.
If a courtesan relies solely upon the report of
other people (i.e. hearsay) about a man, and goes
to him without ascertaining herself whether he possesses
good qualities or not, she may either gain or lose
pleasure in proportion as he may be good or bad,
and therefore this is called a mixed doubt about
the gain and loss of pleasure.
Uddalika has described the gains and losses on both
sides as follows:
If, when living with a lover, a courtesan gets both
wealth and pleasure from him, it is called a gain
on both sides.
When a courtesan lives with a lover at her own expense
without getting any profit out of it, and the lover
even takes back from her what he may have formerly
given her, it is called a loss on both sides.
When a courtesan is uncertain whether a new acquaintance
would become attached to her, and, moreover, if
he became attached to her, whether he would give
her anything, it is then called a doubt on both
sides about gains.
When a courtesan is uncertain whether a former enemy,
if made up by her at her own expense, would do her
some injury on account of his grudge against her;
or, if becoming attached to her, would take away
angrily from her anything that he may have given
to her, this is called a doubt on both sides about
loss.
Babhravya has described the gains and losses on
both sides as follows:
When a courtesan can get money from a man whom she
may go to see, and also money from a man whom she
may not go to see, this is called a gain on both
sides.
When a courtesan has to incur further expense if
she goes to see a man, and yet runs the risk of
incurring an irremediable loss if she does not go
to see him, this is called a loss on both sides.
When a courtesan is uncertain whether a particular
man would give her anything on her going to see
him, without incurring expense on her part or whether
on her neglecting him another man would give her
something, this is called a doubt on both sides
about gain.
When a courtesan is uncertain whether, on going
at her own expense to see an old enemy, he would
take back from her what he may have given her, or
whether by her not going to see him he would cause
some disaster to fall upon her, this is called a
doubt on both sides about loss.
By combining the above, the following six kinds
of mixed results are produced:
- Gain
on one side, and loss on the other
- Gain
on one side, and doubt of gain on the other
- Gain
on one side, and doubt of loss on the other
- Loss
on one side, and doubt of gain on the other
- Doubt
of gain on one side, and doubt of loss on the
other
- Doubt
of loss on one side, and loss on the other
A courtesan, having considered all the above things
and taken counsel with her friends, should act so
as to acquire gain, the chances of great gain, and
the warding off of any great disaster. Religious merit
and pleasure should also be formed into separate combinations
like those of wealth, and then all should be combined
with each other, so as to form new combinations.
When a courtesan consorts with men she should cause
each of them to give her money as well as pleasure.
At particular times, such as the Spring Festivals,
etc., she should make her mother announce to the
various men, that on a certain day her daughter
would remain with the man who would gratify such
and such a desire of hers.
When young men approach her with delight, she should
think of what she may accomplish through them.
The combination of gains and losses on all sides
are gain on one side, and loss on all others; loss
on one side and gain on all others; gain on all
sides, loss on all sides.
A courtesan should also consider doubts about gain
and doubts about loss with reference both to wealth,
religious merit, and pleasure.
Thus ends the consideration of gain, loss, attendant
gains, attendant losses, and doubts.
The different kinds of courtesans are:
- A
bawd
- A
female attendant
- An
unchaste woman
- A
dancing girl
- A
female artisan
- A
woman who has left her family
- A
woman living on her beauty
- And,
finally, a regular courtesan
All the above kinds of courtesans are acquainted with
various kinds of men, and should consider the ways
of getting money from them of pleasing them, of separating
themselves from them, and of reuniting with them.
They should also take into consideration particular
gains and losses, attendant gains and losses, and
doubts in accordance with their several conditions.
Thus end the considerations of courtesans.
There are also two verses on the subject as follows:
`Men want pleasure, while women want money, and
therefore this part, which treats of the means of
gaining wealth, should be studied.'
`There are some women who seek for love, and there
are others who seek for money; for the former the
ways of love are told in previous portions of this
work, while the ways of getting money, as practised
by courtesans, are described in this part.
Footnotes
- 1
- The souls of men who die with
their desires unfulfilled are said to go to the
world of the Manes, and not direct to the Supreme
Spirit.
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