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ŚRNGĀRAMANJARIKATHA
Her description reminds us of the influential French and Eng. lish mistresses like Madame Du Barry, Nivon, Jane Shore and Nell Gwyn whose salons attracted powerful kings and statesmen of Europe of the day; and who practically ruled their countries.51 But Árngāramañjari specially reminds us of Aspasia who was loved by great men like Alcibiades and Socrates, and who finally married Pericles. She was, according to Plato, an accomplished rhetorician and the real composer of the funeral oration of Pericles, and according to Plutarch, was courted by many statesmen and philosophers of Greece.52
In the SMK we do not read of the State control of the houses of ganikās. But nevertheless every ganikā's household was controlled by a strict officer in the form of the 'mother' or the Kuttani. She was an eye-sore to the men who came to the courtesan and they swore: TT Trefl fez zat ca gaat
विश्वकण्टकतां याता निहता किं न कुट्टनी ।। It was but natural that the ganikās were sometimes sincerely loved and that they came to cherish sincere love for one man or another. But their social position was such that little scope was given to them to cherish true love. Some of them understood their position all right and strictly followed the rules laid down for them. They punctiliously kept watch over their own interests and lived success fully. Some of them practised fraud, for, greed never left them. They were punished by the king or the individuals who suffered at their hands. While some of the ganikas valued their respectable positions and did not stoop to cheating or inviting punishment, nor did they value wealth more than virtue or fleeting fancy more than constant love.
But with regard to these last mentioned, the 'mothers' were always worried. As guardians of the ganikās it was their duty to see that the courtesans never deviated from their paths. It was heart-breaking for them to see that the energy spent in training the courtesans was all lost by her resolute will to be faithful to one person. In the Dāśakumāracarita we read how Kāmamañjari's mother complains to the sage in the following words: "Sir, this daughter of mine would make it appear that I am to blame, but
51. Wallace, op. cit, mentions a Geisha, Ohana San, who though living then had
become a legendary person. She was the mistress of the late Prince Saionji, last of the Elder Statesman and intimate advisor of Hirohoto. At the time of the Versailles Peace Conference, Prince Saionji took her to Paris, and Woodrow Wilson, charmed by her, presented her with a pearl necklace. There was considerable embarrassment later when President Wilson learnt the young lady's status. Till 1945 (when the article was written) she was living and was then
the abbess of a nunnery near Tokyo. 52. Dickinson, G. L., The Greek View of Lije, pp. 182-184.
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