(2) Adultery in works of Sanskrit literature
1. Introduction As we have taken pains to stress, there are no comprehensive works of Sanskrit poetry or drama that have an adulterous woman as the heroine. The prostitute figures prominently as a character in the bhaṇikās and prahasanas , and the "chaste" prostitute in Mṛcchakaṭikā . The prostitute is the main character in the 8th century Damodara Gupta's "Doctrine of the Bawd" ( Kuṭṭanī-mata ), where the adulteress is highly glorified in a significant speech given by the courtesan Manjari. The great collections of Prakrit and Sanskrit poetry, the muktaka found Hāla's Gāthā-sattasāī (2nd to 4th centuries A.D.), Jayavallabha's Vajjālagga (ca. 740ā.D.), Vidyakara's Subhāṣita-ratna-kośa (Srk, 11th c.) and Sridhara's Sad-ukti-karṇāmṛta (Skm, 1204 A.D.), etc., contain numerous verses about women who are unchaste or wanton under the rubric of asatī (Prakrit asaī ). The asatī may also be called svairiṇī , kulaṭā, or occasionally, raṇḍā ....