Part
5 - Chapter 4
ABOUT
THE BUSINESS OF A GO-BETWEEN
IF
a woman has manifested her love or desire,
either by signs or by motions of the body,
and is afterwards rarely or never seen
anywhere, or if a woman is met for the first
time, the man should get a go-between to
approach her.
Now
the go-between, having wheedled herself into
the confidence of the woman by acting
according to her disposition, should try to
make her hate or despise her husband by
holding artful conversations with her, by
telling her about medicines for getting
children, by talking to her about other
people, by tales of various kinds, by
stories about the wives of other men, and by
praising her beauty, wisdom, generosity and
good nature, and then saying to her: `It is
indeed a pity that you, who are so excellent
a woman in every way, should be possessed of
a husband of this kind. Beautiful lady, he
is not fit even to serve you.' The
go-between should further talk to the woman
about the weakness of the passion of her
husband, his jealousy, his roguery, his
ingratitude, his aversion to enjoyments, his
dullness, his meanness, and all the other
faults that he may have, and with which she
may be acquainted. She should particularly
harp upon that fault or that failing by
which the wife may appear to be the most
affected. If the wife be a deer woman, and
the husband a hare man, then there would be
no fault in that direction, but in the event
of his being a hare man, and she a mare
woman or elephant woman, then this fault
should be pointed out to her.
Gonikaputra
is of opinion that when it is the first
affair of the woman, or when her love has
only been very secretly shown, the man
should then secure and send to her a
go-between, with whom she may be already
acquainted, and in whom she confides.
But
to return to our subject. The go-between
should tell the woman about the obedience
and love of the man, and as her confidence
and affection increase, she should then
explain to her the thing to be accomplished
in the following way. `Hear this, Oh
beautiful lady, that this man, born of a
good family, having seen you, has gone mad
on your account. The poor young man, who is
tender by nature, has never been distressed
in such a way before, and it is highly
probable that he will succumb under his
present affliction, and experience the pains
of death.' If the woman listens with a
favourable ear, then on the following day
the go-between, having observed marks of
good spirits in her face, in her eyes, and
in her manner of conversation, should again
converse with her on the subject of the man,
and should tell her the stories of Ahalya
1
and Indra, of Sakoontala
2
and Dushyanti, and such others as may be
fitted for the occasion. She should also
describe to her the strength of the man, his
talents, his skill in the sixty-four sorts
of enjoyments mentioned by Babhravya, his
good looks, and his liaison with some
praiseworthy woman, no matter whether this
last ever took place or not.
In
addition to this, the go-between should
carefully note the behaviour of the woman,
which if favourable would be as follows: She
would address her with a smiling look, would
seat herself close beside her, and ask her,
`Where have you been? What have you been
doing? Where did you dine? Where did you
sleep? Where have you been sitting?'
Moreover, the woman would meet the
go-between in lonely places and tell her
stories there, would yawn contemplatively,
draw long sighs, give her presents, remember
her on occasions of festivals, dismiss her
with a wish to see her again, and say to her
jestingly, `Oh, well-speaking woman, why do
you speak these bad words to me?', would
discourse on the sin of her union with the
man, would not tell her about any previous
visits or conversations that she may have
had with him, but wish to be asked about
these, and lastly would laugh at the man's
desire, but would not reproach him in any
way.
Thus
ends the behaviour of the woman with the
go-between.
When
the woman manifests her love in the manner
above described, the go-between should
increase it by bringing to her love tokens
from the man. But if the woman be not
acquainted with the man personally, the
go-between should win her over by extolling
and praising his good qualities, and by
telling stories about his love for her.
..
Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna
Jyotish
Shastracharya
& Vedic Astrologer of India
Main
Menu