Somadeva

Somadeva, May 21, 2013

 

Characters depicted in The Red Lotus of Chastity use disguise as a means of reaching their goal of attaining riches and as retribution to those who try to cause them harm. Disguises are used to inflict cruel intentions towards others as well as to "foil evil" (1273). The performance of these charades propel the women towards their objectives but demean the wicked desires of the men involved.

Greed motivates the nun Yogakarandika's use of disguise as a righteous Buddhist to humiliate the wealthier merchant class and damage them financially. Yogakarandika gleefully recounts the tale of her pupil who, dressed in disguise as a servant, was employed within a wealthy household. The pupil’s goal was to rob the family after earning their trust. When she is caught, the pupil disguises herself again as a possible lover for the wealthy homeowner and bites off his tongue. The nun additionally uses disguise for monetary gain at Guhasena’s home with the purpose of breaking Devasmita’s chastity to procure payment from the four merchant sons. The nun tells Devasmita that her husband is being unfaithful to her while on business in Cathay. Yogakarandika tries to sway Devasmita into committing adultery by saying "Our highest duty, you know, is to yield to the demands of sense and element" (1277) The nun disguises the four devious merchant sons as her pupils in order to get them into the household to try to sleep with Devasmita. The four merchant’s sons agree to this arrangement for the humiliation of fellow merchant Guhasena who is also staying chaste.

Knowledge of her husband’s faithfulness due to the thriving red lotus drives Devasmita to disguises her servant as herself. They drug the four merchant sons branding them with the mark of a dog’s paw. After further consideration of the merchant sons’ embarrassing failure to steal her chastity, Devasmita disguises herself as a male in order to thwart the plans for any retribution the merchant sons might try to take on her love, Guhasena. Devasmita takes inspiration from the old story of Saktimati, the faithful merchant’s wife (1278-1279). Devasmita and her maids disguised as merchants accuse the four merchant brothers of being her runaway slaves and cause a scuffle. The brothers are captured, and Devasmita is paid for their release.

Disguise allowed Devasmita to protect her husband from the four merchant sons and leave Cathay with extra money in their pocket. The four merchant sons realize the degradation due to them from their dastardly deeds. The reader is not rewarded with an account of what happens to the evil Yogakarandika. We are rewarded with the knowledge that Devasmita and Guhasena live happily ever after. "Honored by all upright people, Devasmita, with the ransom received and the husband she has rejoined, returned to their city Tamralipti and never again was she separated from the husband she loved" (1279).


Works Cited


Somadeva. “The Red Lotus of Chastity.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol 1. New York: Norton 2013. 1272-1279.