Virile Behavior

Chapter Eight

Virile Behavior In Women [Puruûàyita]

After repeated intercourse, incapable of recommencing, weary in all his members, his passion calmed, the boy no longer desires anything but rest. The girl, behaving like a man, then takes control over the quietened boy. This is what is known as virile behavior [puruûayita]. This chapter is divided into two parts, since it includes the sodomization of boys [puruûopasripta] among the various practices.

1 When the boy, wearied after his uninterrupted sexual exercises, seeks rest and is no longer dominated by passion, with his agreement, the girl descends to his anus [adhah] and, with the aid of an accessory [sahayya], imposes her virile behavior on him.

After repeated copulation, exhausted in all his members, the boy rests. The girl, whose excitation is not yet satiated, without asking his leave and despite his protestations, obliges him to behave like a woman and, without any modesty, behaves like a male, placing the boy beneath her. Not having the necessary, she has recourse to an accessory [sàhàyya]

When the woman behaves like a man, it is called virile behavior (puruûayita), or inverted sexuality (viparitarati). When the man has spent his strength after repeated intercourse, and the woman is not satisfied, she lies on top of the man.

2 Whatever his intentions may be, she is decided on practicing this fictitious intercourse.

If he does not agree, a struggle ensues, but she is determined on that kind of inverted intercourse known as virile behavior.

The woman manages it through her dominating will.

3 Or else with the boy’s agreement.

Noting the boy’s surprise and seeing that his opposition has weakened, she introduces the object and goes ahead.

Even if the boy is not tired, he allows himself to be treated like a woman in order to have a new sensation. With the girl on top of him, they find their intercourse amusing.

4 She is determined to unite him with the instrument that she is inserting into his anus, so that he gets the taste [rasa] for one pleasure [rata] after another. This is one of the ways of proceeding.

There are two ways of proceeding with the inversion of roles. In the first case, she holds firmly the instrument [yantra] to unite the boy with this fake sex [shalya] in a doubled up position. Being excited, the girl grips it in her arms and, mounting him and bestirring herself, possesses him. Seeing that he is developing a taste for a sensation of pleasure that is different from the other, she lets the instrument slide once more into its target [sandhana]. He feels a pleasure unknown before, since up to then he had not had any inclination for that kind of experience. However, he suddenly interrupts this pleasing sensation, since it is of a kind that is not acceptable for a young male [kamina]. In such a case, despite her efforts, the girl’s desire is not fulfilled.

5 The second way consists of taking him by surprise.

Pursuing her goal, her desire once more awakened, she begins again and, behaving like a man, without any beating about the bush, she spreads his buttocks apart and lets the instrument slide inside. This is the second way of doing it.

There are two forms of virile behavior, exterior and interior (bahya, abhyantara). The first form is described as follows:

6 Tearing the flowers from her hair, laughing until she is breathless, in order to bring their faces together, she presses hard with her breasts against the boy’s chest, forcing him to lower his head several times. She copies in every detail his previous behavior with her, dominating him in turn. Laughing, she mocks him, saying insulting words to him. Then, again, if he shows modesty, wishing to rest from his labors, she mounts him [upasripta] and sodomizes him.

She does her best with this unusual behavior. She makes him lower his head with shame and presses her breasts hard against the boy’s chest, not to embrace him or bite him, but with the ferocious desire to force him into behaving like a woman [strairena] in all ways. Speaking like a man, she tells him violently, “I will repay you for all the torments that you have made me suffer.” Then, both behaving like women, although they would like to fight, they show the need for rest. Virile behavior is the term employed for a woman acting like a man. It is sometimes used for upasripta [to mount a man], meaning to sodomize him [upasarpet].

7 These practices will be explained.

The practice known as the sodomization of boys will be described. It is of two kinds, exterior or interior. The exterior kind will be described first.

8 Having made the boy lie down, the woman distracts his attention with her words while she unties his undergarment [mvi]. If he protests, she embraces him to calm his apprehension.

Having decided to sodomize the boy, in order to implement her virile behavior, the woman seizes him and declares laughing that it is she who will play the man. Making him lie down, before starting her enterprise and to avoid his being embarrassed out of modesty [laya], she distracts his attention with her chatter in order to untie his nìvì, the knot of his undergarment. If he protests, she kisses him on the cheek until he agrees entirely and the undergarment can be easily removed.

9 When his penis is erect, she caresses him in various places.

Being excited, he allows the girl’s hand to caress his sides, thighs, breast, putting him into an erotic mood. Then the boy is suddenly possessed by an object of copulation [sangataya], which she slides without difficulty between his thighs.

10 If penetration [sangata] is blocked to start with, she caresses the inside of his thighs.

If, to start with, the object of copulation cannot penetrate due to contact with the undergarment, which comes untied, or because he clenches his thighs out of modesty, she slides her hand into the cleft in order to widen it.

11 She behaves in the same manner with a girl. After winning the girl’s trust and overcoming her modesty, she scratches and caresses the inside of her thighs, having unknotted the folds of the garment that passes between the legs.

12 Then, crushing her breasts and resting her armpits on the girl’s shoulders, she puts her arms around her neck.

Making her hands slide everywhere and likewise placing her lips, despite the girl’s hesitations, she strokes her beneath the arms, on her shoulders and thighs, and clasps her with her arms around her neck.

13 How the lesbian sets about it when she couples with her similar. In order to kiss her goatee [alaka], she seizes hold of the chin [pubis], slipping her finger into the slit.

A woman known for her independence, with no sexual bars, and acting as she wishes, is called svairini [homophile]. She makes love with her own kind. She strokes her partner at the point of union, which she kisses. Once she has won the girl’s trust, the svairini practices the acts mentioned above, pitilessly, ill-treating the girl’s pubis.

14 During the first intercourse, the girl is intimidated by the other’s contacts.

At the first contact, the girl is reticent about the enterprise, out of modesty and shyness, not completely trusting the lesbian. But, by employing the four exterior preliminaries of possession—untying the garment between her legs, touching her, stroking her, and inserting the accessory—she inspires trust in the girl lying down and begins to kiss her and perform other acts.

In the event of her rejecting penetration:

15 The girl’s reactions must be studied to find out at what moment she has her orgasm during sexual intercourse.

In this case, sexual intercourse means coupling with the instrument in order to bring her to orgasm. Through external amorous approaches, it can be determined how and to what point internal possession can go.

16 According to Suvaróanàbha, once the girl is possessed [upasripta] by union with the instrument, the moment when her eyes start vacillating is the moment to make her suffer. This is the secret of young girls.

When the girl is possessed using an accessory properly in place and wedged into the vagina, her eyes start vacillating under the onrush of pleasure, and the pupils of her eyes start moving. This is the right moment to hurt her. The partner must then agitate the accessory in a violent manner and, by making her suffer, rapidly increases her excitation. This is the secret of young girls. Since there are no visible signs, a girl’s excitation is determined by other means.

According to Suvaróanàbha’s authority, such practices are not forbidden. Opinions differ considerably as to the possibility of enjoyment. One of the theories is that one must touch the places on which she sets her eyes and, if she rolls her eyes back, hurt her in that place. This is one of the ways of proceeding.

For many, wherever the girl turns her glance is the place to slap. According to another opinion, she should not be hurt in the place to which she turns her glance while bowed. The texts differ, especially as regards the area of the hole. These different opinions should be studied.

The state of mind of girls who can be possessed is of three kinds: accessible [pràpta], cooperating [pratyàsanna], hostile [sandhukûamàna],

17 Her limbs relaxed, glances meeting, the disappearance of all modesty, close contact, these are the characteristics of the woman who is “accessible” for sexual intercourse.

Relaxed limbs, and looking straight into the eyes are the sign of the state of mind of the accessible girl.

The disappearance of modesty and shyness in sexual relations here refer to copulation with the instrument.

Closely united means that she presses her pubis against the “male” pubis of the virile woman. Such is the cooperative girl [pratyàsanna].

These are the states of mind of accessible and cooperative girls.

18 The hostile state of mind [sandhukûamàna]

Approached for libidinous purposes by the virile woman, she pushes her away with her hands. Perspiring and biting, she refuses to be mounted, kicking with her feet.

She will not let herself be possessed by the instrument. She rejects any contact of her sex with the virile woman in the prey of her masculine desires.

19 Before inserting the instrument, she strokes the girl’s vulva [sambadha] with her hand as would an elephant’s trunk and, when the vulva decontracts, she inserts the instrument.

Knowing that the other shares her tendencies, excited before the instrument is inserted and knowing that after reaching orgasm the other will no longer desire it, she utilizes four different procedures. It is said that, “Inside, the woman is like a lotus petal on which shines a pearl of dew, or else her vulva may be all folds, rough as a cow’s strong tongue. “In such a case, it should be stroked with the hand, ebbing hard to make it relax. Once it is relaxed, the instrument can be inserted. The girl is ready to be penetrated and must be rapidly made to come to orgasm. The elephant is referred to as a comparison for the hand, which takes the same form. It is a question of “the Position of the hand, with the ring and index fingers joined together

with the middle finger, known as elephant by analogy.” Penetration using the hand is similar to the use of an artificial object, and is thus counted as one of the forms of internal sexual attack with an artificial object.

20 The forms of virile copulation [purushopasriptàni] are:

• Normal copulation [upasriptaka]
• Churning [manthana]
• The rod [hula]
• The devastator [avamardhana]
• The cruel [pìditaka]
• The thunderbolt [nirghata]
• The wild boar’s thrust [varahaghata]
• The bull’s attack [vrishaghata]
• The bird’s amusement [chatakavilasa]
• The box [samputa]

Such are the forms of virile copulation.

Upasriptaka [normal copulation] The union of phallus and vulva is always termed normal copulation.

21 Generally, union with a rectilinear object [riju] is termed normal copulation.

Riju means straight [praguna], and usually refers to the disengaged [bared] member, while union with it refers to copulation [upasriptaka]. The suffix ka indicates special cases [vishesha sanjna].

According to Vàtsyàyana, only normal copulation conforms to the rule and the other forms should not be practiced. It is the only form that accords with decency, gentleness, and knowledge. The sexes should unite in normal fashion.

22 Churning [manthana]

For churning, the phallus is held in the hand and turned without stopping.

Holding the phallus in the hand, it should be turned without stopping inside the vagina, as in a churn.

23 The rod [hula]

For the rod, bend the body at the waist to practice penetration.

Bending the woman in the middle of her body, so that the inside of her vagina appears unrestricted in an upwards direction, plunge the rod in as if it were a phallus.

14 The devastator [avamardhana]

In the same inverse position, shaking the rod violently is known as the devastator.

With the same backward position, vagina in an upwards direction, in the arch of the buttocks, penetrate the vagina violently from top downwards.

25 The cruel [pìditaka]

The phallus driven in brutally is pressed forcefully in for some time. This practice is known as the cruel.

Inserting the phallus brutally right to the end [mùlam], press hard, leaving it inside the receiver as long as its intrusion is bearable.

26 The thunderbolt [nirghàta]

Raising the hips very high and letting them fall brutally downward is the thunderbolt.

Interrupting intercourse with the phallus and holding it firmly in place, then letting it fall abruptly back like a dart, is called the thunderbolt.

27 The wild boar’s thrust [varàhaghàta]

Striking several times to one side is the wild boar’s thrust.

On one side only, the wild boar blindly strikes several times.

28 The bull’s blow [vrishàghàta]

Doing it now on one side, now on the other is the bull’s blow.

Striking inside the vagina alternately on both sides, like a bull with his horns.

29 The bird’s amusement [chàtakavilàsa]

Alternately penetrating and half-penetrating, striking two, three, or four small blows, like the pecking of a bird.

30 The box [samputa]

Assuming the box position after reaching orgasm has already been described.

Since it is a natural position after pleasure, the box has already been described: “Both thighs stretched quite straight, without withdrawing the phallus, the sexual organs staying pressed hard together.” This is known as the box position.

31 These acts are usually practiced by a woman with her own kind.

These forms of sexual domination are practiced between a woman and her own kind. “Usually” means it is particularly women with a sweet [mådu] and middling [madhya] temperament who are involved. The sodomization of boys is of two kinds. In its external form, the object is simply slipped between the thighs [nivivishleshana]. The second is internal. Sliding the object through the knots of the boy’s undergarment [kakûabandha] is external sodomization [bàhyàm puruûayitam], The second form, with penetration [abhyantara], is called internal penetration [abhyantara puruûayitam].

After the sodomization of boys, we return to the forms of aggression belonging to virile behavior.

32 In virile behavior, three practices, among others, are frequently encountered. They are pinching [sandansha], the bee [bhramaraka], and swinging [prenkholita].

Forms of internal manipulation [abhyantara puruûayitam] are particularly practiced by enterprising women.

33 Pinching [sandansha]

With the lips of her vulva [vadavena = varanga aushtha] seizing the phallus, sliding inside and keeping it tight is known as pinching.

54 The bee [bhramaraka]

Once the instrument is in place, moving it in a circular fashion is known as the bee, and requires practice.

The phallus is driven into the vagina. Lifting her body with the hands, her legs folded, make her turn on the instrument as on the axis of a potter’s wheel. This requires practice.

35 To do this, raise the partner’s lower abdomen [jaghana].

In order to facilitate the sliding of the instrument for the bee, the lower part of the body must be raised.

For this form of inverse coition (viparitarati) known as the bee, the thighs must be lifted.

36 The swing [prenkholita]

Swinging the ass [jaghana] in every direction, making it change position, is called the swing.

In swinging, the ass should be moved backward and forward, or else from side to side. Due to the swinging motion, it is called the swing. Making the inside part turn in a circle is churning. This kind of intercourse is practiced with a virile female partner [purushasatmyata].

37 After which, united by the instrument, they rest face to face.

United by the instrument, they take their rest without agitating it any longer, their mutual excitation calmed, exhausted by their efforts.

38 Having rested, she recommences her virile behavior.

Here finishes virile behavior [puruûayita],

Once rested, she again makes love like a man. She recommences her virile behavior: her activity with the accessory [sahayya] is in conformity with her nature.

In this connection, a quotation:

39 “A sensual girl, dissimulating by nature, unintelligible by her comportment [gudhakara], reveals her true nature when, in her excitation, she reverses roles.”

Out of modesty, she dissimulates her nature, hides her impulses beneath an undecipherable appearance, dissimulating whatever could reveal her intentions. If her sexuality is inverted, she shows her desire, which she cannot hide when faced with the enterprises of one of her own kind. This is a well-known fact.

The old saw says, “A sensual girl, who out of modesty or virtue, dissimulates her nature, shows her true face when, led by passion, she practices sexual inversion.”

To put matters clearly,

40 However virtuous a woman seems, or however sensual she appears, she reveals her nature in action.

It is in action, when taking the dominant role, that her entire way of behaving in sexual relations can be deduced, as well as the sexual deviations that she will also practice.

41 Women who have their period, who are about to give birth, are too narrow [hind type], who are pregnant, or are too big, should not practice the inversion of roles.

Including the sodomization of boys.

As the author of a code of behavior, Vàtsyàyana has to contemplate both good aspects (úiva) and bad aspects (aúiva). After explaining the good side for each case, he indicates quite clearly what acts are contrary to ethics, antisocial, against the law, what may be practiced or must be rejected.

In this chapter, mainly dealing with questions of sexual domination and inversion, which he describes in detail, he attempts to separate the water from the milk from the point of view of an honest man. He indicates which practices are acceptable and which should be avoided. The commentary, in an enlightened examination, confirms Vàtsyàyana’s considerations concerning local customs, moments, and the social, physiological, and psychological aspects. He explains that, during the first contacts, a man should be prudent in his erotic approach. He should force himself to circumvent the woman’s prejudices and mental obstacles before considering any physical difficulties. If at that moment, his behavior is brutal, shocking, and cruel, he will cause rejection and hostility to arise in the woman’s heart, the counterblow of which will ruin the couple’s future life, making it ill-assorted, tasteless, and distressing.

When Vàtsyàyana indicates the various methods that are in accordance with ethics and custom, sources of happiness, and, on the other hand, condemns certain conduct as barbarous, immoral, of no interest, or not to be practiced, why does he then recommend that girls should study the arts of love in secret with a girlfriend or prostitute who is experienced in these arts?

It is because a knowledge of the good and study of the arts are essential. One should be able to practice and appreciate the arts, and for Vàtsyàyana, this is an absolute necessity for the couple’s happiness. The arts and sciences form part of sex life, for which they are a subtle necessity. Sexual intercourse is a form of yoga in which two beings blend, two hearts are united. Duality always desires unity. It is not merely a question of satisfying a marvelous and amusing desire. Vàtsyàyana insists on this point, since intercourse is an act of profound significance for the spiritual life and a means of attaining liberation. Yoga and enjoyment (bhoga) are two complementary forms of action. Without pleasure, yoga leads to nothing and without yoga, true pleasure cannot be attained. True yoga leads to a complete experience of ecstasy and the true pleasure seeker (bhogi) is he who has completely mastered the art of pleasure.

The laughter, games, amusements, kisses, blows, bites, and other accessory aspects of copulation, are the means of reaching the culmination. At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitude of being. All their mental powers are reabsorbed in a single central point. At that moment, no physical power, no worldly ambition can break the experience of bliss.

Vàtsyàyana explains the importance of sexual yoga (maithuna yoga) and erotic positions, as well as the usefulness of blows, caresses, methods of coupling that are already envisaged in the Vedas. In the Atharva-veda, it is written,

“Young spouse! With a joyous heart prepare the happy union of the conjugal state! In giving sons to this your husband, you are as fortunate as Indrànì, the Queen of Heaven. Happy woman! Awake with understanding, in the dawn before the rising of the sun.”

“The wise men of yore united with their wives, and the latter blended their body with that of their spouse. This is why, wonderful woman! mother of sons! Unite your body with that of your spouse.”

“O Supreme Being! Our protector! Stimulate the seed that I shall pour into this woman today. In order to fulfill my desire, she will spread her thighs so that my rod, inspired by desire, penetrates her vagina.”

“Spouse! May the secret way between your thighs be of easy access to your husband! And may he pierce the knot of the god of the waters (Varuóa), which the sun god has tied.”

“Man! mount the thighs of your spouse, assist yourself with your hands, cleave to her and, full of joy, unite together, so that the sun god will grant you long life. In this marriage union, we have soiled the sheet, which we will have washed.” (Atharva Veda 14.2.31, 52, 36, 38 and 14.1.58)

From these sacred texts, it is evident that sexual intercourse should take place at night and not during the day and that the woman should leave the bed at dawn. During the day, women are shy and modest. Daytime intercourse is contrary to custom. Furthermore, from a physiological and psychological point of view, the night is more favorable than the day for firing passion. In the second verse quoted, embraces are indicated. Embraces cause an exchange of magnetism. Fear, modesty, and hesitation are wiped away, and sexual charge increases. This is why the third verse recommends that copulation should take place with enthusiasm and gaiety. The fourth verse indicates that the way of the matrix is closed by a thin veil. In penetration, the veil is torn, which makes the woman suffer. This is why the man must act delicately. The woman must not be injured. The fifth verse describes the usual position recommended by Vàtsyàyana, who declares that reverse, sideway, standing, or inverted positions should not be used, since these practices against nature may cause the birth of deformed babies. According to the fifth verse, after copulation a purificatory bath is necessary.

Vàtsyàyana indicates two kinds of behavior and intercourse, beneficent and maleficent, meaning healthy or pernicious. It is better not to follow his treatise to the letter. In order to protect both the individual and society, a clean environment and honest surroundings are important. This is also expressed in Yoga Vasiûþha (4.3):

“The tide of desire (vàsanà) runs through good and evil. Taken together, desires are of two kinds, good and bad. If one falls into the difficulties of bad instincts, one must strive to awaken one’s former good instincts. Man must endeavor to make the tide of his desires return to the right way.”

“In order to flood his field, the peasant makes the water flow from another field on the same level or higher. With his hand, he prevents the water from breaking his dam and dispersing lower down.”

“We must arrange for ourselves a garden in which each flower can develop freely. When all desires have been satisfied, the root of discernment is firmly planted. On the way to spiritual realization, the realization of desires is essential.”

The tree of wisdom, watered by pleasure, is able to withstand storms within. Just as a peasant, to convey water from one field to another, does not carry it in his hands, but by damming the brooklets in the fields lower down, lets the water from higher up irrigate those below, so when the hand of discernment breaks through the obstacles

on the road to pleasure, the satiated energy turns aside from material things.

In yoga theory, pleasure is just as essential for spiritual realization as erotic science is in the domain of material progress. Vàtsyàyana explains the importance of attaining excellence in both spiritual and temporal domains.

This eighth chapter has a double scope, dealing with both the virile behavior of women and the sodomization of boys, and the various paragraphs have been divided on this basis. These two subjects play an important role in our interior equilibrium and for our behavior in life. The question is to determine the highest point a man can reach in orgasm, as well as the one at which the woman reaches her culmination, so that the woman is satiated and the man finds tranquility. The woman may practice virile behavior, comport herself like a man, and give herself up to sexual inversion when the boy is exhausted from copulation but her own passion is not assuaged. To amuse the boy, the girl mounts him and the boy submits to her as a woman. Both find satisfaction in this combination. Inverse coition creates a bond of affection and passion between lover and beloved. This kind of intercourse develops their mutual trust and is an element of bliss for them.

Sometimes, driven by a devouring passion, the woman wants to show with audacity the aggressive love she bears for the boy. In such a way, by means of sexual inversion, she can give a clear indication of her technique and her strength in the form of amorous warplay (rari yuddha). Jayadeva describes this kind of erode struggle between Ràdha and Kåûóa: “With her sex bruised in the amorous games of the fray, at the outset of the battle, she decides to conquer her lover. She sets about mounting him, so as to confuse him. Without trembling, far from being a fragile liana, leaning firmly on his belly, their eyes gazing into each other’s, she makes it clear up to what point a woman can experience male pleasure.” (Gìtà Govinda 12.63)

In order to conquer Kåûóa, Ràdha audaciously unleashes the conflict of inverted copulation. This required so much effort of her that her thigh movement stopped, her arm-joint was paralyzed, her heart started beating and her eyes closed. The outcome of this erotic war is brilliant. In this conflict the woman tires herself, but her passion and excitation reach their peak. When a pretty woman unleashes this conflict with audacity, her energy becomes tenfold, and madness sparkles in her eyes. Then, exhausted, she sinks onto the man’s breast, somewhat humiliated, out of breath, after an enterprise that could be painted, but not described in words.

If this is the woman’s behavior in sexual inversion, what then is the man’s?

When the woman wants to make love like a man, it is called virile behavior. The boys whom virile women use for this purpose are known as possessed men (upasripta).

Virile behavior and sodomization are great aids in increasing lovers’ erotic pleasure.

End of the Eighth Chapter

Virile Behavior in Women

of the Second Part entitled Amorous Advances