Reconciliation

Vishirnapratisandhana Prakarana

hen a courtesan abandons her present lover after his wealth is depleted, she may consider reunion with a former lover. But she should return to him only if he is wealthier than before, and if he is still attached to her. If, however, he is living with another woman, she must consider the position carefully.

Reuniting with a Former Lover

A former lover may have left the first woman of his own accord, and perhaps another woman since then, or have been driven away by both women. He may have been given up by one woman, or forsaken the other, or gone to live with another. Or he may have abandoned one woman of his own accord, and be living with another woman. If he has deserted both women, he should not be entertained due to his fickleness and indifference to both of them. If the man driven away by both women has been turned away by the second because she could get more money from another man, then he should be resorted to by the first woman because he would then give her more money, through vanity and spite. But if both women have turned him away due to his poverty or stinginess, he should not be thought of. If the man who has given up one woman, and been driven away by the other, and if he agrees to return to the former and gives her plenty of money beforehand, then he should be approached.

As for the man who may have left one woman, and is living with another, the former, wishing to take up with him again, should first ascertain if he left her because of some particular excellence in the other woman, and not having found it, is willing to come back to her, and give her enough money to make up for his conduct, and his continuing affection. Or, having discovered many faults in the other woman, he would now see even better qualities in her than actually exist, and be prepared to give her money for these apparent qualities. Lastly, the woman should consider whether he was weak-minded, enjoyed many women, or never did anything for the woman that he was with, and then decide if she should accept him or not, according to circumstances.

The woman lies down in the crab's position with her thighs contracted, and placed on her stomach and her legs up in the air and provides an easy entrance to her heavenly abode.

Heavenly maidens, descending from the sky were often used by the gods to distract sages from their penance.

The young maiden playfully places one leg around her lover's waist in an attempt to climb onto him.

Gauging His Intentions

If the woman turned away the man, who was subsequently abandoned by another, and wishes to reunite with him, she should determine his intentions: whether he still has any affection for her, and would consequently spend much money upon her; or appreciates her excellent qualities and did not take delight in any other women; was driven away before satisfying his sexual desires, and wishes to return to her, to avenge the injury done to him; whether he wishes to inspire her confidence to recover the wealth she had acquired from him; or, lastly, whether he wishes to separate her from her present lover, and then break away from her himself. If after mature consideration, she finds his intentions to be really upright, she can reconcile with him. However, if his mind is still tainted with evil intentions, he should be avoided.

An over indulging patron dalliances with two women at the same time.

If the man, driven away by one woman, and living with another, makes overtures to return to the former, the courtesan should consider well before she acts, and while the other woman is engaged in attracting him, she should try to win him over secretly for any of these reasons: that he was driven away unjustly, and since every effort must be made to bring him back from the other woman, she should converse with him again to separate from the other woman; to diminish the pride of her present lover; the former has become wealthy, secured a higher position, with a place of authority under the king; he is separated from his wife; is independent, and lives apart from his father or brother; that by making peace with him, she will be able to get hold of a very rich man, who is being prevented from approaching her by her present lover; that since he is no longer respected by his wife, she would now be able to separate him from her; that his friend loves her rival, who, in turn, hates the courtesan, and she would be able to separate the friend from his mistress. Lastly, winning him back would show his fickleness and bring discredit upon him.

Luring Back a Former Lover

When a courtesan is resolved to take up again with a former lover, her pithamarda and other servants should tell him that his expulsion from the woman's house was caused by the wickedness of her mother; the woman loved him but had to defer to her mother's will; she hated her present lover, and disliked him excessively. In addition, they should make him confident of her former love for him, and allude to the mark of that love that she has ever remembered which is connected with some kind of pleasure practiced by him, such as his way of kissing her, or having sexual intercourse.

An influential and wealthy courtesan has many attendants to take care of her needs.

When a woman has to choose between two lovers, one of whom was formerly united with her, while the other is a stranger, the acharyas, sages, are of the opinion that the first one is preferable; since his disposition and character are already known by previous careful observation, he can be easily pleased and satisfied. But Vatsyayana thinks that a former lover, having already spent a great deal of his wealth, is not able or willing to give much money again, and is, therefore, not to be relied upon as much as a stranger. Cases may however differ on account of the different natures of men.

Some shlokas aver:

Reunion with a former lover may be desirable so as to separate some particular woman from some particular man, or some particular man from some particular woman, or to have a certain effect upon the present lover.

When a man is excessively attached to a woman, he is afraid of her coming into contact with other men; he does not then regard or notice her faults and he gives her much wealth through fear of her leaving him.

A courtesan should be agreeable to the man who is attached to her, and despise the man who does not care for her. If while she is living with one man, a messenger comes to her from some other man, she may either refuse to listen to any negotiations on his part, or appoint a fixed time for him to visit her, but she should not leave the man who may be living with her and who may be attached to her.

A wise woman should only renew her connection with a former lover, if she is satisfied that good fortune, gain, love, and friendship are likely to be the result of such a reunion.

A courtesan, well dressed and wearing ornaments, should stand at the door of her house to be seen by people on the road, since she is like an object on view for sale.