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CHARUDATTA
Sresthi Bhanu was a resident of the city of Champa His wife's name was Subhadra He had a son named Charudatta. Charudatta was so fond of reading from his infancy that he would care for nothing else When he came of age, he was married to his cousin Mrigayatı But even this did not change bis habit. As Mrigavati lit the lamp in her bed-room, Charudatta would sit down with a book and spend the whole night on it He did not care for his wife's presence nor sought her company
Merchant Bhanu and his wife were very much perturbed at the abnormal behaviour of the son They tried-various remedies but without success Charudatta remained an inveterate book-worm and would care for nothing else in life After much consideration, his father thought of engaging a public woman to change his son.
It is always a bad thing to indulge in one bad habit to uproot another. This may rid you of one to make you a slave of another But in his anxiety to cure his son of his reading habit he never looked at this aspect. A well-known harlot, Vasantasena, was engaged for the purpose and very soon she was successful Now the young man was having a good time in her company. Thus twelve years rolled by. During these years, a vast sum of money flowed out from the merchant's coffer to reach the hands of the harlot The merchant was now in severe financial strain The continued absence of the son from home was an additional pain. But Charudatta would not care to look at his father's business, nor was he ready to give up the company of the woman At last, the merchant and his wife died of a broken heart.
A harlot would care for a man only so long as he is a source of her earning, and she would throw him out as soon as he went dry. The relation between the two is not based on
