The Kama Sutra: Part VI Chapter 6
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CHAPTER VI
OF GAINS AND LOSSES; ATTENDANT GAINS AND LOSSES; AND DOUBTS; AS ALSO OF THE
DIFFERENT KINDS OF COURTESANSIT
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 circumstancesThe 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 DoubtsThe 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 courtesanAll 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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