________________
196
890 sacchadar amanad as ana
suviaddhavesavilaa
samvaddhiagaruavammahavilās am rami aṁ ko vanniu tarai.
Who can describe making love to the skillfull vilaās of the prostitutes' quarters, during which love's joviality, which is already vehement, is further enhanced as they show they do it all spontaneously?
The only instance in which the word occurs by itself is 233. It is not clear whether the woman is a prostitute here or not. It is clear, though, that it concerns a woman who at least in her youth was very exciting, her body being compared with the temple of the god of Love. She brought the men she made love with to complete frenzy as appears from the fact that they bit her practically everywhere.
thanajahanani arvovari uvvasiānanganivā
dasaņańkā gaavaāna vilaana samūlavandha vva dfsaṁti.
The tooth-marks on the breasts, the thighs and the buttocks of old vilaās look like the foundations of a deserted (delapidated) temple of the god of Love.
The foregoing instances show that the attractiveness of the vilaās does not depend on the presence of the adjective ladaha. Furthermore, 156 and 890 show that the word vilaā does not by itself mean 'prostitute', though it may be used to refer to such a woman. It would seem that the word means 'woman' but with special reference to her great attractiveness and to the effect she has on men. As an English translation I have therefore adopted 'temptress'. In this connection also the derivation of the word may be considered. I would venture to suggest that it'simply is the feminine of Skt vilaya 'destruction'.
In their derivation of pahuppa- 'to be (one's own) master' Weber (Ed., p. 6) as well as Jacobi (1886: 253) proceed from the past participle pahutta, which would go back to Skt prabhūta. Analogically after litta 'smeared' : lippa- 'to be smeared', a passive pahuppa- would have been formed, which has acquired an active meaning. This derivation is
