BLOWS AND SIGHS

Chapter Seven

BLOWS AND SIGHS

[Prahanana-sìtkàra prakaraóa]

To facilitate penetration of the instrument during intercourse, blows are employed. This chapter, describing the technique of blows and the resulting groans, is divided into two parts. It might be wondered how blows, which are usually hostile acts, can be adjuvants of pleasure.

1 Sexual relations can be conceived of as a kind of combat, and eroticism as a contest and perverse behavior [vàmashìla].

This apparent conflict is in reality a struggle, since in order to assert themselves and overcome each other, both man and woman violently oppose one another, bringing to light a state of mind that could not be achieved by affection. For successful intercourse, a show of cruelty is essential. According to a quotation from the Kiratarjuna of the poet Bhàravi, “Aggression with nails and feet, embraces, kisses, cruel bites are acts leading to much greater enjoyment than loving behavior.”

Although love is generally acknowledged to be associated with the quality of gentleness, cruelty has its place in sexual acts. The nature of Eros is thus of two kinds, and according to whether its cause or its effects are contemplated, behavior differs.

Sexual games may be described as a combat, a struggle between die lovers, serving to stimulate their aggressiveness at the moment of sexual union, since eroticism is by nature conflictual and perfidious (kutila).

2 Good places for giving blows are on the shoulders, the head, the gap between the breasts, the back, the sexual area, the sides.

The blows exchanged are part of the pleasure of intercourse.

3 There are four ways of hitting; with the side of the hand, with the palm of the open hand, with the fist, with the ends of the fingers joined.

After which, we will pass on to the second subject of this chapter.

4 The woman groans [sitkrita] under the blows, because they hurt her. Since the blows vary greatly, sighs do too.

The kind of cry corresponds to the pain felt. As the result of the I blows suffered, the groans are the sound expression of the pain felt. As described by the authors of old, groans are of many kinds as are the forms of violence. 

5 Cries [virutani] are of eight kinds.

Since they are produced by the places that articulate speech, the various cries are limited by what sounds can be issued. Born of sexual excitation, with or without blows, they express a state of mind which forms part of erotic aggressiveness.

 

6 They are called:

• Hiýkàra (nasal “hee”)
• Stanita, roll of thunder
• Kùjita, hissing
• Rudita, weeping
• Sùtkåta, sighing
• Dutkåta, cry of pain
• Phutkåta, violent expulsion of breath

Hiýkàra is a nasalized “hee,” starting from the throat and mounting to the nostrils, and breaking out as a light sound.

Stanita, the sound “ha” from deep in the throat to the nose, like the rolling of thunder.

The meaning of rudita, “weeping,” is clear, but it should be moving. Sùtkåta, sighing by drawing in the breath.

The meaning of kùjita and phutkåta will be explained. These seven groans can also be silent.

Hiýkàra “hee,” stanita a deep “ha,” kùjita a slow “kou-kou,” sùtkåta “sou-sou.”

7 Some cries are words that have a meaning, calling for mother, pleading for release, to stop, or to continue.

For example, Ari! Mummy! Not like that’ Stop! That’s too much! I’m dying! Mercy!

8 When she groans under her lover’s blows, the woman’s cries are like those of:

• the pigeon [paràvata]
• the cuckoo [parabhåta]
• the turtledove [hàràta]
• the parrot [ûuka]
• the bee [madhukara]
• the nightingale [dàtyuha, papìhà, càtaka]
• the goose [haýsa]
• the duck [kàrandava]
• the partridge [lava]

Cries are of all sorts, usually appearing when the woman is beaten. They also serve on other occasions.

Sighs mixed with other sounds are as attractive as a song, when the embrace is loosened. It is also a question of imagination.

9 With the girl sitting on his knees ready for love, he strikes her back with his fist.

10 Pretending that she cannot bear him, with a long breathed-out “Han” and tears, the girl gives him the same back.

11 When the instrument penetrates her as she is lying on her back, the space between the breasts should be struck with the side of the hand.

12 Begin gently, then, when she starts liking it, strike harder and harder, finally striking in other places.

When she has been put into a good mood by the blows in the heart region, strike her in the three sensitive areas, the head, pubis, and heart, which will make her violently excited.

Strike first gently, with the fist, then, if she gets to like it, strike harder until she is well aroused.

13 One must judge from the girl’s sighs whether the blows given are insufficient, and if the moment has come for going ahead without restraint.

From the seven ways of moaning, it can be understood whether the light blows to the heart are insufficient. Realizing that the moment has come to strike harder, it can be gradually accelerated without hesitation.

If she does not give any audible cry indicating suffering, no rules or order need be followed any longer: she should be struck with the fist until she lets her cries be heard.

14 Excruciating [prasritaka]

Excruciating [prasritaka] is the name given to a way of striking the head with joined fingers, making her scream when she is thus assailed.

In attacking her, the fingers resemble a snake’s head. If she is ‘not’ satisfied by the blows given by the hand and needs a different kind of attack, since the first blows were found insufficiently stimulating, hers head must be hammered with blows, as if to open her skull, first gently, then harder in order to excite her finally and make her cry.

If the woman finds pleasure in the blows struck by the side of the hand, and wants more, then in order to satisfy her, the boy, joining his fingers like a serpent’s head, strikes her on the head, as if to lacerate her skin.

15 Thus cries and sighs issue from the girl’s mouth.

16 After reaching orgasm, she sighs and weeps.

Quite quietly.

17 The panting that accompanies the action is called “the effect of pain” [dutkåta].

18 At the moment of orgasm, she utters a sound [phut], which is similar to a jujube fruit falling into the water.

19 Once she has groaned, her whole body having been attacked by kisses and blows, she must do the same to him.

In turn, she must subject him to the same ill-treatment. The saying is, “to render blow for blow.”

20 When, under the effect of excitation, the boy starts to ill-treat her, in order to protest and to stop him, the girl calls out “Mummy! Mummy!,” weeping and sighing and continually uttering cries of pain and other protests.

The sighs, tears, and cries are a result of the suffering inflicted. She makes sounds like the cooing of pigeons. At the moment of pleasure, when she is penetrated by the penis, she stops agitating her legs. He then slaps her with the palm of his hand on her sides and the lower part of the body, after which, having sated the desire for blows, they calm down.

21 When she is struck on the breasts, her cries are like those of a partidge or a goose.

Thus ends the subject of blows and sighs.

22 Quotation: “Vigor and audacity are manly qualities.

Weakness, sensuality, and dependence are female characteristics.”

A man must have a strong body, be decided and audacious. These are both qualities of the ardent man [tejas], of him who likes beating. Lack of strength, the incapacity to hurt, even though the softest bands make her suffer, dependence, lack of character, the fact of desiring to be Wen by men, the wish to receive blows, all are part of women’s nature. If, without having been beaten, she begins sighing during intercourse, what she wants to receive are blows in response to her sighs.

Vigor, steadfastness, and endurance are the natural qualities of a man. Incapacity, suffering undergone, defensiveness, weakness, and fragility are the intrinsical qualities of a woman. This is why a man attacks a woman, and why she groans.

23 Sometimes, out of passion, custom, or temperament, the woman inverts the situation. This is only temporary, however, and nature ends by taking back its due.

During the act, roles are sometimes inverted. Carried away by passion, local custom, or her own temperament, the woman puts aside her natural behavior and, with a man’s ardor, begins slapping and beating. The boy, in turn, changes his own behavior, and starts whining and groaning. This does not last very long, however, and after a few moments, the situation reverts. He says, “What’s all this?” and rediscovers his true nature to fuck her. Since intercourse against nature is not possible for lack of the instrument, they go back to the old formula, being without any means of changing it.

Sexual characteristics are not universal. Occasionally, in certain countries, at certain times or under particular circumstances, it happens that the woman, at the height of her excitation, becomes hard and fearless, dominating the boy, who then starts groaning. This kind of role changing is not very frequent, nor does it last very long.

The methods of slapping differing from the four previously mentioned will now be indicated.

24 Besides the four forms of aggression mentioned, four others are utilized by the peoples of the South, which are:

• the nail [kìlà] on the chest
• the knife [kartarì] on the head
• the borer [viddhà] on the cheeks
• the pincers [sandanshika] on the breasts.

These make eight in all. In the South, “nail” marks can be seen on the girls’ breast. This is the custom of the country.

The nail [kìlà]

Joining thumb and little finger, with the middle finger reinforcing the thumb from behind, one strikes from the top downwards.

The knife [kartarì]

The knife is of two kinds, with the fingers straight or bent. The straight-fingered kind is also of two sorts: with one hand it is called the great knife [bhadra-kartarì], while with hands joined it is known as the twin knife [yamala-kartarì].

Bending the fingers, with the thumb tip above joined to the index is known as the speaking knife [úabda-kartarì]. In using it, the scratching of the finger makes a slight noise. Some people call it the “blue lotus leaf [utpalapatrika]. In both cases, the nail of the little finger scratches the head.

The borer [viddhà]

The index, middle, and ring fingers are bent toward the middle of the thumb, as with a fist. This is called viddhà [the borer], the fingers facing the thumb graze the cheek cruelly.

The pincers [sandanshika]

With closed fist, pinching with the thumb and index, or index and middle finger, is known as the pincers. This is usually practiced on the breasts or sides, pressing hard, pulling the flesh and bruising it.

To these four kinds of blows using the hand must be added a further four practiced by the people of the South, which, according to the experts, are the four that leave the most visible marks.

Kìlà, the nail, is characteristic of the girls of the South, who wear the mark on their breast. Kartari, the knife, is done on the forehead, close to the hair parting. Viddha, the borer, is especially made on the cheeks. To satisfy fantasy, custom, or passion, one tries to leave one’s mark, even at the risk of wounding or disfiguring.

Throughout the South, one can see “nail” marks on the breasts of young men and women. This is one of the local customs and the people of the country act accordingly. This does not mean, however, that such practices should be transferred elsewhere.

25 Vàtsyàyana’s opinion is that causing suffering is not an Aryan practice and is not suitable for respectable people.

These are regarded with suspicion, both as defects and uncivilized behavior.

26 These practices are allowed in certain areas and not in others.

The customs of one country should not be exported to another.

27 One must in all cases know when to stop if there is a risk of mutilation or death.

28 Citrasena, the king of the Cola country, struck the courtesan Candrasena so violently with the “nail,” in the blindness of his erotic excitement, that she died.

29 In the land of Kuntala, King Úàtakarói Úatavahana caused the death of the great Queen Malayavatì by striking her with the “knife.”

30 The chief of the army, Naradeva, in Pandya country, attracted by the dancer Citralekha and attempting to strike her cheek with the “borer,” struck her eye, making her one-eyed.

31 A countless number of people are imprudent and ignorant of the rules and, driven by passion in the ardor of their erotic practices, are unable to measure the consequences.

There are two kinds of erotic man [kami]: he who knows the rules, and he who rejects them. It is not by knowing the theoretical works that one is able to count the various methods of striking. But he who knows the rules is less imprudent than another and, even in the heat of passion, remains conscious of the consequences.

When a man blinded by passion throws himself into intercourse, he considers neither the injunctions of treatises nor possible consequences. This is why passion alone is responsible for unfortunate consequences.

32 The fantasies a man invents under the effect of erotic excitation are not imaginable even in dreams.

33 Like a speed-maddened horse, flying at a gallop and seeing neither holes nor ditches, two lovers blinded by desire and making furious love do not take account of the risks involved in their conduct.

34 This is why in his sexual behavior with a girl, an educated man takes into account his own strength and the fragility of his partner. He knows how to check the violence of his impulses, as well as the girl’s limitations of endurance.

35 In love, not all kinds of action can be practiced at all times with all women. In amorous practices, the man’s behavior should take into account the place, the country, and the moment.

At the moment of intercourse, blinded by passion, the man strikes the girl on her head, shoulders, between the breasts, on her back, her sex, her sides. Being hurt in these sensitive places, the girl starts to groan, but soon becomes the victim of her pleasure. All the boy has to do gradually is to strike her, squeeze her, and slap her with the palm of his hands.

Recapitulating the instructions of ancient authorities, Vàtsyàyana explains that the man must beat the woman only after evaluating her fragility and endurance, at the same time, taking due account of the woman’s ardor. When her erotic ardor is intense, instead of hurting her, the blows give her pleasure. From Vàtsyàyana’s point of view, blows do not belong to the customs of civilized society, but rather to louts and savages. In erotic practice, however, a man becomes so maddened and blinded that he has no discernment or conscience. He forgets in what places he risks causing a wound. As proof and example, Vàtsyàyana cites cases in ancient times of women who have died or been disfigured. He gives a warning that not all the various kinds of acts can be practiced at any time or with any kind of woman. Local custom, the moment, and the woman’s state of mind must all be taken into account before indulging in blows and other practices.

End of the Seventh Chapter

Blows and Sighs

of the Second Part entitled Amorous Advances