Part
5 - Chapter 6
ABOUT
THE WOMEN OF THE ROYAL HAREM;
AND
OF THE KEEPING OF ONE'S OWN WIFE
THE
women of the royal harem cannot see or meet
any men on account of their being strictly
guarded, neither do they have their desires
satisfied, because their only husband is
common to many wives. For this reason among
themselves they give pleasure to each other
in various ways as now described.
Having
dressed the daughters of their nurses, or
their female friends, or their female
attendants, like men, they accomplish their
object by means of bulbs, roots, and fruits
having the form of the lingam, or they lie
down upon the statue of a male figure, in
which the lingam is visible and erect.
Some
kings, who are compassionate, take or apply
certain medicines to enable them to enjoy
many wives in one night, simply for the
purpose of satisfying the desire of their
women, though they perhaps have no desire of
their own. Others enjoy with great affection
only those wives that they particularly
like, while others only take them, according
as the turn of each wife arrives in due
course. Such are the ways of enjoyment
prevalent in Eastern countries, and what is
said about the means of enjoyment of the
female is also applicable to the male.
By
means of their female attendants the ladies
of the royal harem generally get men into
their apartments in the disguise or dress of
women. Their female attendants, and the
daughters of their nurses, who are
acquainted with their secrets, should exert
themselves to get men to come to the harem
in this way by telling them of the good
fortune attending it, and by describing the
facilities of entering and leaving the
palace, the large size of the premises, the
carelessness of the sentinels, and the
irregularities of the attendants about the
persons of the royal wives. But these women
should never induce a man to enter the harem
by telling him falsehoods, for that would
probably lead to his destruction.
As
for the man himself he had better not enter
a royal harem, even though it may be easily
accessible, on account of the numerous
disasters to which he may be exposed there.
If however he wants to enter it, he should
first ascertain whether there is an easy way
to get out, whether it is closely surrounded
by the pleasure garden, whether it has
separate enclosures belonging to it, whether
the sentinels are careless, whether the king
has gone abroad, and then, when he is called
by the women of the harem, he should
carefully observe the localities, and enter
by the way pointed out by them. If he is
able to manage it, he should hang about the
harem every day, and under some pretext or
other, make friends with the sentinels, and
show himself attached to the female
attendants of the harem, who may have become
acquainted with his design, and to whom he
should express his regret at not being able
to obtain the object of his desire. Lastly
he should cause the whole business of a
go-between to be done by the woman who may
have access to the harem, and he should be
careful to be able to recognize the
emissaries of the king.
When
a go-between has no access to the harem,
then the man should stand in some place
where the lady, whom he loves and whom he is
anxious to enjoy, can be seen.
If
that place is occupied by the king's
sentinels, he should then disguise himself
as a female attendant of the lady who comes
to the place, or passes by it. When she
looks at him he should let her know his
feelings by outward signs and gestures, and
should show her pictures, things with double
meanings, chaplets of flowers, and rings. He
should carefully mark the answer she gives,
whether by word or by sign, or by gesture,
and should then try and get into the harem.
If he is certain of her coming to some
particular place he should conceal himself
there, and at the appointed time should
enter along with her as one of the guards.
He may also go in and out, concealed in a
folded bed, or bed covering, or with his
body made invisible,
1
by means of external applications, a receipt
for one of which is as follows:
The
heart of an ichneumon, the fruit of the long
gourd (tumbi), and the eyes of a serpent
should all be burnt without letting out the
smoke. The ashes should then be ground and
mixed in equal quantities with water. By
putting this mixture upon the eyes a man can
go about unseen.
Swami Veet Chintan T'Zorba-Krsna
Jyotish
Shastracharya
& Vedic Astrologer of India
.
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