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Purified Neem (Azadirachta indica) Seed Extracts (Praneem) Abrogate Pregnancy in Primates

Sunday, January 6th, 2013
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Sutapa Mukherjee, * N.K. Lohiya, † Rahul Pal,‡ M.G. Sharma,‡ and G.P. Talwar*
*International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India. †Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur-302004, India, and ‡National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India Name and address for correspondence: Dr. G. P. Talwar, Professor of Eminence, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-10067, India. Fax: 91-11-6862316 Sumitted for publication February 13, 1996 Revised March 5, 1996 Accepted for publication March 5, 1996
The use of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extracts (Praneem) given orally for abrogation of pregnancy in subhuman primates is described. Oral administration of Praneem was initiated after confirmation of pregnancy using Leydig cell bioassay estimating rising levels of chorionic gonadotropin (CG) in the blood from day 25 onwards of the cycle and continued for six days. Termination of pregnancy was observed with the appearance of blood in the vaginal smears and decline in CG and progesterone. Pregnancy continued in the control animals treated with peanut oil at the same dose. The effect was observed in both baboons and bonnet monkeys. The treatment was well tolerated; blood chemistry and liver function tests had normal values. The animals regained their normal cyclicity in the cycles subsequent to Praneem treatment. CONTRACEPTION 1996;53:375-378

KEY WORDS: Azadirachta indica, fertility studies, primates, pregnancy termination

Introduction
Over fifty million abortions are carried out each year around the globe. There is continuing need to develop additional methods, administrable preferably by oral route, to enable the termination of an unwanted pregnancy. A major step in this direction occurred with the introduction of RU486, a progesterone receptor blocking steroid which in combination with prostaglandins could bring about abortions in 96% of cases.1 Plant products have been employed for pregnancy interruption in traditional medicine in many countries. However, objective scientific studies on their efficacy and safety are lacking. We reported recently the abrogation of pregnancy in rats following oral administration of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extracts;2 the treatment was effective in 100% of animals tested. The treatment was well tolerated and the animals regained fertility in subsequent cycles. The chemical composition of these extracts has been mostly delineated and these contain a number of chemically defined terpenoids and limonoids, besides fats and fatty acids.3 Although common mechanisms exist in reproduction of rodents and primates, there are also distinct differences. As, for example, the pituitary hormones continue to act as gonadotropins in rodents and no gonadotropin of chorionic origin is made in the species; whereas the pituitary is silent in primates and gonadotropic stimulus is provided by chorionic gonadotropin of trophoblastic origin. In order to gauge the potential application of the neem extracts as abortifacients, it was considered appropriate to test their action in subhuman primates. This article describes the results obtained in baboons (Pupio anubis) and bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata).

Material and Methods
Praneem
Purified neem seed extracts (Praneem) were prepared from taxonomically characterized neem seeds. The oil was extracted in a table-top electrically driven machine (Komet oil expeller, IBG Monforts, Germany), followed by a two-step refining procedure by which the suspended materials were removed. The oil was kept at room temperature (25°C) overnight, the supernatant was decanted and centrifuged at 1500 g for one hour, followed by ultracentrifugation at 65,300 g for another 1hr. The pellet was discarded and the supernatant frozen at 4°C for further study. The preparation was screened to be free of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 by TLC analysis on precoated Silica gel G plates using chloroform:isoamyl:alcohol:methanol (90:32:3) as solvent system. Pure aflatoxins from a kit (Sigma Chemical Company) were used as reference standards. The specifications of a batch (PVOO6) of Praneem were: specific gravity 0.905 g/ml; pH 5.7; saponificiation value 206.7; acid value <24; iodine value 24. The free fatty acid composition of the preparation as determined by gas chromatographic analysis was as follows: palmitic acid (19.6%); stearic acid (17.2%); oleic acid (41.2%); linoleic acid (0.82%); and other undetected minor acids (1.65%). The bitter principles include proto-meliacins, meliacins, limonoids, pentanortriterpenoids and norterpenoidal constituents as reported elsewhere.4

Animals
The study was conducted in two primate species, the adult baboons (Papio anubis) and bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata). They were maintained in semi-natural conditions in the Primate Research Facility of the National Institute of Immunology. Animals of re- productive age only were employed for the study.

Fertility Studies
Female baboons were mated repeatedly with males of proven fertility during the estrous phase indicated by perineal sex swelling. For female bonnets, matings were set from day 8 to day 13 of the cycle.

Sample Collection for Estimation of Chorionic Gonadotropin (CG) and Progesterone Measurement Blood samples were collected on alternate days from day 25 of the cycle for measuring CG by bioassay and twice weekly for measuring progesterone by RIA. Each time, 2 ml of blood was drawn via the femoral vein; the serum was collected and stored at -20°C.

Bioassay for Estimating Chorionic Gonadotropin CG
Chorionic gonadotropin was estimated in the serum samples by Leydig cell bioassay as per method described by Van Damme et a1.5 The method’s basis is that short-term cultures of Leydig cells produce as- sayable quantities of testosterone in the presence of CG and the effect of the hormone is dose-dependent.

Radioimmunoassay for Progesterone
Progesterone levels in the sera samples were determined according to the method described by Brenner et a1.6 employing WHO matched reagents.

Treatment Regime
Neem seed extracts (Praneem) were given orally using a catheter tube after confirming pregnancy by measuring high levels of CG in blood. Animals were anesthetized with Ketamine (0.4 ml Ketamin hydrochloride, Themis Pharmaceutical Ltd, India) before treatment to avoid struggle and stress. Parallel controls received peanut oil.

Results
Pregnancy Termination
The study was conducted in five baboons (Papio anubis) and three bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata). The pregnancy was monitored by appearance of CG bioactivity in the serum which normally increases over an eight-to-ten-day period before declining. The occurrence of conception was further confirmed by serum progesterone levels which in pregnant animals did not decline. After establishing that the animals were pregnant by these two criteria, they were administered purified neem seed extracts daily for six days by oral feeding tube. Three out of four baboons given the treatment experienced abrogation of pregnancy (Table 1). This was indicated not only by bleeding but also by both progesterone and CG levels falling to near zero levels (Figure 1). The baboon and monkey given an equal amount of peanut oil instead of Praneem continued to maintain pregnancy with sustained progesterone serum levels. Baboon 68, in which no termination of pregnancy took place following administration of purified neem seed extracts, had vomited the oil on the second day of the treatment. It is possible that this baboon did not receive an adequate dose of Praneem.
Figure 1 gives the data and kinetic changes in CG and progesterone profiles of the treated and the control baboons. The treatment was totally effective in the bonnet monkeys tested. The treatment was well tolerated except for one baboon where vomiting took place after the administration of Praneem on day 2 of the treatment. No other behavioral change or alteration in food intake was noted. Blood chemistry and liver function test parameters before and after treatment were not altered (Table 2).

Table 1. Abortifacient action of Praneem given orally in primates
Animal # Treatment
and Dose		 Days of Treatment
Since LMP		 Day of Onset of Bleeding and Its Duration (Days)
Pan 67
Pan 52
Pan 32
Pan 68*
 Praneem
6 ml for 6 days 		37-42
35-40
37-42
39-44 		48-50 (3 days)
42-45 (4 days)
44-46 (3 days)
Pregnancy continued
Pan 63 Peanut oil
6 ml for 6 days 		38-43 Pregnancy continued
MRA 526
MRA 672 		Praneem
3 ml for 6 days 		43-48
42-47 		52-54 (3 days)
52-54 (3 days)
MRA 638 Peanut oil
3 ml for 6 days 		36-41 Pregnancy continued
*Vomiting observed on day 2 of treatment.


Figure 1
Effect of administration of neem seed extracts (Praneem) given orally in pregnant baboons
Figure 1. Effect of administration of neem seed extracts (Praneem) given orally in pregnant baboons. Treatment given after confirming CG in blood as illustrated by (
). Termination of pregnancy observed by decline in CG (
—
) and progesterone; (
—
); (
) represents vaginal bleeding. Pan 63 shows the control baboon treated with peanut oil; Pan 68, the baboon where abrogation of pregnancy was not observed after Praneem treatment.

Reversibility
The reversibility of the effect of purified neem seed extract (Praneem) was manifested by the observation that baboons whose pregnancy was terminated by this treatment developed perineal sex swelling (due to estrogens) in the subsequent cycles. Normal cyclicity was regained after one irregular cycle. The animals mated with males of proven fertility. On becoming pregnant, the pregnancy proceeded to term. Pups born to these mothers (previously treated with Praneem) were normal. Figure 2 gives the case history of two such baboons. The treatment had no apparent residual effects on reproductive functions.

Effect of Praneem Oral Treatment on Progesterone
Data in Figure 1 show that soon after institution of the treatment with Praneem, progesterone decline commences. On the other hand, no consistent kinetic correlation is seen with CG levels. One could, thus, hypothesize that the treatment may be causing the lysis of the corpus luteum, the ovaries being the source of progesterone in these species at this stage of pregnancy. To test this hypothesis, normally cycling baboons were given oral treatment with Praneem for six days at the same dose from day 18 to 23 of the cycle. However, no shortening of the menstrual cycles was noted. Thus, Praneem does not appear to impair the corpus luteum function of the nonpregnant female baboon. The mechanism by which abrogation is caused may be similar to those identified during the previous study2 in rodents.

Discussion
This study demonstrates that Praneem administered orally for six days after confirming pregnancy by the rising levels of CG in the blood, brought about termination of pregnancy; peanut oil given by the same route at the same dose did not show this effect. The effect was reversible and fertility was regained in the cycles subsequent to Praneem treatment. The treatment was well tolerated with no residual effect compromising the future fertility of the animals.

Table 2. Hematological and clinical chemistry parameters as studied in baboons with Praneem
Praneem (n=3)
Parameter Before Treatment
(Mean + SEM)		 After Treatment
(Mean + SEM)
Hb (g%) 11.7 + 0.26 11.6 + 0.1
TLC/mm3 (thousands) 7.3 + 0.44 7.0 + 0.26
DLC (%) Neutrophils 55.3 + 2.02 56.0 + 2.3
Lymphocytes 42.3 + 2.02 41.3 + 2.9
Moocytes 1.0 + 0.01 1.3 + 0.33
Eosinophils 1.3 + 0.33 1.3 + 0.33
Bilirubin (mg%) 0.43 + 0.03 .46 + 0.06
SGPT (IU/lit) 22.0 + 1.15 22.6 + 1.3
SGOT (IU/lit) 25.3 + 1.3 26.0 + 1.15
Urea (mg%) 27.3 + 0.33 29.0 + 0.01
Creatinine (mg%) 1.06 + 0.03 1.1 + 0.04
Glucose (mg%) 64.3 + 2.3 63.0 + 2.51
Total 7.1 + 0.2 7.23 + 0.14
Albumin 4.0 + 0.17 4.16 + 0.08
Globulin 3.1 + 0.033 3.13 + 0.06
n = number of baboons; TLC, total leucocyte count; DLC, differential leucocyte count; SGPT, serum glutamate oxaltate transaminase; SGPT, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase.


Figure 2
Perineal sex swelling (***) pattern of baboons Pan 52 and Pan 67 and after treatment with Praneem in pregnant cycle. Both animals regained fertility in a subsequent cycle.
Figure 2. Perineal sex swelling (***) pattern of baboons Pan 52 and Pan 67 and after treatment with Praneem in pregnant cycle. Both animals regained fertility in a subsequent cycle.

Neem (Azadirachta induce) extracts have strong immunomodulatory properties.7 Evidence has been gathered to show that immunological mechanisms play a role in maintenance of pregnancy.8 Cytokines secreted by T-helper 1 cells, i.e., gamma interferon and TNF alpha, have detrimental effects on fetal survival, whereas cytokines IL-3 and GM-CSF help in gestation.9 Our previous work has shown that oral administration of purified neem seed extracts (Praneem) caused an elevation of both the immunoreactive and bioactive TNF alpha and gamma interferon in the sera. The draining mesenteric lymph node cells synthesized and secreted these cytokines and Th 1 type of cytokines were also present in the fetoplacental cultures. These transitory changes were presumably the basis of termination of pregnancy in rodents. Similar mechanisms may be responsible for termination of pregnancy in primates following ingestion of the neem seed extracts.

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by research grants of the Rockefeller Foundation and South-to-South collaboration in Reproductive Health. We would like to thank Dr. Om Singh and Dr. S. Majumdar for helpful suggestions.

References
1. Silvestre L, Dubois C, Renault M, Rezvani Y, Baulieu EE, Ulmann A. Voluntary interruption of pregnancy with mifepristone large-scale 645-8. (RU486) and a prostaglandin analog: A large-scale French experience. New Engl J Med 1990; 322: 645-8.

2. Mukherjee S, Talwar GP. Termination of pregnancy in rodents by oral administration of Praneem, a purified enema seed extract. Am J Reprod Immunol 1996; 35: 51-6.

3. Devkumar C, Sukh D. Chemistry. In: Randhawa NS, Parmar BS, eds. Neem Research and Development. India: Society of Pesticide Science, 1993: 63-97.

4. Siddiqui SS, Mahmood T, Siddiqui BS, Faizi S. Nonterpenoidal constituents from A. indica. Planta Medica 1988; 54: 457-62.

5. Van Damme MP, Robertson DN, Diczfalusy E. An improved in vitro bioassay method for measuring luteinizing hormone (LH) activity using cell preparations. Acta Endocrinol (kbh) 1974; 77: 655-71.

6. Brenner PF, Guerrero R, Cekan Z, Diczfalusy E. Radioimmunoassay method for sex steroids in human plasma. Steroids 1973; 22: 775.

7. Labadie RP, Van der Nat JM, Simons JM, Kroes BH. An ethanopharmacognistic approach to the search for immunomodulators of plant origin. Planta Medica 1989; 55: 339-48.

8. Wegmann TG, Lin H, Guilbert L, Mossmann TH. Bidirectional cytokines in the maternofetal relationship: successful allopregnancy is Th2 phenomenon. Immunology Today 1993; 14:353-8.

9. Chaouat G, Menu E, Clark DA, Dy M, Minkowski M, Wegmann TG. Control of fetal survival in CBA x DBA/2 mice by lymphokine therapy. J Reprod Fertil 1990; 89: 447-58.

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Science: Dymaxion Sleep

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Time Magazine: Monday, Oct. 11, 1943

Sleep is just a bad habit. So said Socrates and Samuel Johnson, and so for years has thought grey-haired Richard Buckminster Fuller, futurific inventor of the Dymaxion* house (TIME, Aug. 22, 1932), the Dymaxion car and the Dymaxion globe. Fuller made a deliberate attempt to break the sleep habit, with excellent results. Last week he announced his Dymaxion system of sleeping. Two hours of sleep a day, he said firmly, is plenty.

Fuller reasoned that man has a primary store of energy, quickly replenished, and a secondary reserve (second wind) that takes longer to restore. Therefore, he thought, a man should be able to cut his rest periods shorter by relaxing as soon as he has used up his primary energy. Fuller trained himself to take a nap at the first sign of fatigue (Le., when his attention to his work began to wander). These intervals came about every six hours; after a half-hour’s nap he was completely refreshed.

For two years Fuller thus averaged two hours of sleep in 24. Result: “The most vigorous and alert condition I have ever enjoyed.” Life-insurance doctors who examined him found him sound as a nut. Eventually he had to quit because his schedule conflicted with that of his business associates, who insisted on sleeping like other men. Now working for the Foreign Economic Administration, Buckminster Fuller finds Dymaxion working and sleeping out of the question. But he wishes the nation’s “key thinkers” could adopt his schedule; he is convinced it would shorten the war.

Intermittent sleeping was not originated by Fuller, has respectable scientific backing. Last week the Industrial Bulletin of Arthur D. Little, Inc., famed Cambridge, Mass, research firm, which published Fuller’s sleeping plan, noted a strong point in its favor: most sleep investigators agree that the first hours of sleep are the soundest. Some pro-Fuller evidence:

Photographs and electric devices to record movements show that the average sleeper, who changes position at least 40 times during an eight-hour stretch, is quietest in the first two hours, then grows progressively more restless.

At Colgate University sleep investigator Donald A. Laird found that people awakened after four hours’ sleep were just as alert, well-coordinated physically and resistant to fatigue as those who slept eight hours (but they did lose in accuracy and concentration).

* A Fuller word representing “dynamic” and “maximum service.”

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How Many Days Are You Fertile?

Monday, January 3rd, 2011
I’m not sure where this article originally appeared, otherwise I would surely cite it. The print-out was given to me years ago by some clinician and I still refer to it as one of my most concise explanations of fertility timing. It’s a brief summary of an excellent study done by the New England Journal of Medicine: Timing of Sexual Intercourse in Relation to Ovulation — Effects on the Probability of Conception, Survival of the Pregnancy, and Sex of the Baby

Sex
 & Health

How many days are you fertile?
Until now the majority of studies to determine when a woman is most fertile have suggested that this period lasts from three to four days before ovulation until two to three days after, although some studies show a longer “window” of ten days per cycle. A new government study, however, establishes a shorter and different fertility window—crucial information regardless of whether you’re trying to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy. All women who conceived during the study did so within a six-day period in their cycles, ranging from five days before ovulation through the day of ovulation. No pregnancies occurred when intercourse followed ovulation (see chart). The study isn’t definitive, but the tests used were more accurate at confirming timing of ovulation and conception than were those previously available.

The researcher, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, recruited 221 women to provide daily urine specimens and keep records of each day’s sexual activity. The researchers established the dates of ovulation in the 625 menstrual cycles by analyzing 27,000 urine specimins. One issue they addressed was how frequently couples should have sex when they’re trying to conceive: The study showed that intercourse every other day during the fertile period was nearly as successful in achieving pregnancy as daily sex was.

The study also has implications for women using home-testing kits to determine when ovulation is about to take place. If a woman waits until she’s about to ovulate to have sex, she has missed all but the end of her fertile period. In light of this study, kit manufacturers may need to revise their enclosed directions, which suggest that women have sex on the days following ovulation to up their chances for pregnancy. Women who want to avoid pregnancy should know that using any method to pinpoint ovulation—including monitoring basal body temperature or cervical mucus—is imprecise. “Even with the new findings, these women should allow some margin of error.” says the study’s author, Allen J. Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., “and avoid unprotected sex for at least three days after they think they’ve ovulated.”

The chances of conception
DAYS IN RELATION TO OVULATION
CHANCE OF GETTING PREGNANT (RESULTING IN LIVE BIRTH)
6 days prior
5 days prior
4 days prior
3 days prior
2 days prior
1 day prior
Day of ovulation
1 day after
0%
7%
11%
9%
18%
21%
22%
0%
Adapted from data in The New England Journal of Medicine (December 7, 1995)

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Politicows: A Bovine Guide to Political Theory

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010


{an old favorite… September/October 97 – Utne Reader}

Feudalism: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

Pure socialism: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

Pure communism: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

Bureaucratic socialism: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need.

Russian communism: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

Pure democracy: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk. Representative democracy: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

American democracy: The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for it. After the election, the president is impeached for speculating in cow futures.

Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Local governmental capitalism: The government condemns your cows under rights of eminent domain, knocks them over, and allows the mall to expand its parking lot.

Hong Kong capitalism: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt-equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cow’s milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the feng shui is bad.

Totalitarianism: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.

Anarchism: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to kill you and take the cows.

Dictatorship: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

Surrealism: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

–Anonymous

September – October 97 – Utne Reader.

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Everything I Need to Know About Freelancing that I Learned From the Kama Sutra

Thursday, April 15th, 2010


~PART 6: ABOUT COURTESANS~

Chapter 5: Occasional Profits [Lābha Vishesha]

1. Sleeping with different individuals, her daily earnings come from various persons, since she does not settle on a single one.

2. Considering the country, the period, her own condition, her qualities and chances, her advantages, whether greater or lesser than those of the others, she establishes her price for the night.

3. She uses a messenger for her amorous relations. If he encounters difficulties, she gives up the enterprise.

4. If by chance, she manages to obtain from a single customer the price of two or three or four nights, she stays with him, behaving like a wife.

5. According to the masters of old, when two customers present themselves to enjoy her and propose the same fee, she must clearly go with the one from whom she can obtain an extra.

6. According to Vātsyāyana, anything may be obtained by giving something in exchange: the coin is the basis of every transaction.

7. They are, as the case may be objects of gold or silver; copper, bronze, or iron utensils. hangings; shawls; garments; perfumes; spices; accessories; ghee; oil; wheat; cattle.

8. When two candidates are similar, if she likes them both equally and they are equally rich, she refuses or accepts to sleep with one them according to the advice of her household.

9. According to the masters of the old, she should prefer the one that pays well rather than a passionate lover, because it is to her advantage.

10. She must be capable of leaving a lover for someone who pays.

11 “He who is in love parts easily with his money, even if he is mean; but one who wants to go away cannot be recovered.”

12. According to the masters of the old, between a rich man and one who is not rich, it is the rich man who is interesting, and between one who spends willingly and one who tries to render services, the useful one is often preferable.

13.”He who renders services and acts immediately is useful in enterprise, while the spender will end by going away,” says Vātsyāyana.

14. There too, of the two of them, one must consider whose absence will cause the most inconvenience.

15. According to the masters, between a serious, faithful man [kritajna] and a fickle man, it is advisable to favor the fickle one.

16. The past attentions of the fickle man [tyāgī] who has been courting her for a long time, even if he once behaved badly and has betrayed her with other courtesans, must be taken into consideration.

17. Fickle people are often impulsive, changeable, distant.

18. He who is faithful is conscious of what he has acquired and will not let himself be easily seduced. Careful in his behavior, he does not commit the offense of deceiving her, Vātsyāyana explains.

19. Here too, it is the yield that counts.

20. She must follow her assistants’ advice in sleeping with the one from whom she will obtain the most money She must always prefer a relationship that pays, say the masters.

21. According to Vātsyāyana, if she chooses to sleep with one for a matter of money, without following the counsel of her assistants, they will make difficulties.

22. She may not neglect her assistants’ advice.

23. In such a case, she summons the assistant who organizes her work, saying, “Tomorrow I will do what you advice, and you will recoup the money for my transgression.”

24. According to the masters, when there are several possibilities, the collection of money is always preferred by prudent persons.

25. According to Vātsyāyana, earnings may be meager, but if no money is produced by what one does, one will not know what to live on.

26. There is also a difference to establish between the fat and the thin.

27. When one fears that money may be lacking, the different levels concerning the lack of money must be considered.

28. Having temples and reservoirs built, setting up altars or raised platforms for Agni, the fire god, giving Brahmans herds of cows and covered vessels, arranging pūjās and offerings to the gods, bearing the expenses involved with the money they earn, this is the concern of high-ranking courtesans who reap large profits.

29. Covering all her limbs with jewels and carefully decorating her home with priceless vases, utilizing her servants to polish all the openings of her house, those who live on their charms succeed in improving their status.

30. A slave water carrier who wishes to make considerable gains must always wear spotless clothes and feed well, always have scented betel, and wear silver-gilt ornaments.

13. According to the masters, prostitutes of middle and low class also make considerable profits.

32. Vātsyāyana explains that the profits and remuneration given are determined according ti place, times, living standards, ability, eroticism, and customs.

33. A courtesan may even accept to have intercourse for very little money, if it is a question of taking another girl’s lover, preventing him from setting up house with her, stealing the permanent lover of another or appropriating another’s profits, separating her from a potential lover by appropriating him, widening her relations through her amorous contacts, or else, to have his assistance in the spiteful actions she has in mind, to induce another’s steady lover to behave badly: considering everything her has done for her in the past, the courtesan willingly accepts him for a small sum.

34. Her protector has no money, but is expecting considerable funds. To safeguard the future, she takes nothing from him.

35. On leaving this man, I shall find another with whom I can have a serious attachment; going back to his wife, that man will leave me in poverty; another is under the thumb of his master, or father, etc; or his position is threatened; or he is unstable: in all of these cases, she must take in advance the remuneration given on account.

36. He is certain to receive considerable goods from the king, or he will be given an important post. He will soon be able to enjoy his revenues. His ship is about to come in. The revenue from his estates and houses is due. He does not forget what has gone by. He knows that she desires a constant income. without arguments. This is why she decides to stay attached to him.

37. “She must stay away from anyone from whom she can only just obtain her livelihood or from anyone who performs dirty work in the king’s service, even if she can make a profit thereby.”

39. The rich man, who gives without counting and is satisfied with little, is a magnificent character. She must go with him to assure her expense.

Chapter 6: Profits and Losses: Reflections on Doubts Concerning the Advantages and Disadvantages of Relations [Artha-anartha Anubandha Vichāra]

1. It can happen that in pursuing profit, one ends with a loss. A relationship must therefore be considered prudently.

2. They can be due to lack of intelligence, to excessive love, to vanity, dishonesty, cupidity, excessive trust, anger, pride, brutality, belief in luck.

3. The results of such defects are that, once the relationship is established, the promise of money as an income from the sexual relation does not materialize. Her earnings do not cover her expenses. He leaves her for another. The sexual relationship is a brutal one, injuring her body. He tears out her hair, throws her to the ground, breaks her limbs. These are the possible risks.

4. In order to avoid such risks, even if she could obtain a lot of money, she must give it up.

5. Money, virtue, and love are the three goals to be attained.

6. Lack of money, lack of virtue, and hate are the three sources of sorrow.

7. In practice, the other kinds of misfortune depend on these.

8. If the expected profit is not certain to be obtained without difficulty, it is proper to have some hesitation.

9. It is difficult to foresee the outcome right at the start.

10. It is only in practice that one or other of these eventualities may occur.

11. A relationship may also have a multiple outcome, of which examples will be given.

12. The form of the three kinds of success has been contemplated. Their opposites are the three kinds of failure.

13. Having had an excellent sexual relationship with someone, she expects that her monetary earnings, when she receives them, will show a tidy profit. If it is not so, it is a failure connected with money.

14. If she sleeps with just anyone solely for gain, the relationship is a purely commercial one.

15. By accepting money from someone else, she risks losing the affection of her faithful lover, who will cut off her allowance, so that there will be a money loss. Furthermore, she incurs everybody’s contempt. Or else, by sleeping with men of lowly status, she risks losing his esteem. In this case, the gain is accompanied by a loss.

16. Wishing to acquire notoriety by frequenting famous men or ministers at her own expense, sleeping with them will win her nothing, since her outlay is exaggerated. Although her lack of earnings is considerable, she gains in security. This is because there is a relation between advantages and disadvantages.

17. A girl who, believing herself to be very beautiful, is authoritarian, vain, or else very keen on sex, receives her lovers at her own expense, gaining nothing thereby. The absence of profit is not considered as a loss.

18. If she is courted by an upper civil servant with a particularly cruel characters who, after being generously welcomed by her, leaves her with threats, without giviner her anything, in this case, inconveniences are piled upon inconveniences.

19. From now on, the questions will be connected with virtue and pleasure.

20. Besides simple contrasts, there are also complex contrasts.

21. Even if he is satisfied, one does not know whether he will pay or not. The profit is doubtful [artha sanshaya].

22. Having squeezed his money from him without violence, she throws him out, seeking only her own advantage, and does not consider that it is unethical: her morality is doubtful [dharma sanshaya].

23. Having found someone she likes, she makes inquiries, through one of her assistant or some other low person, to find out whether or not he makes love well. This is erotic doubt [kāma sanshaya]

24. Because he comes of a good family, she believes he will not behave like a good-for-nothing. This is doubt concerning risks [anartha sanshaya]

25. Having found someone she likes, she makes inquiries, through one of her assistants or some other low person, to find out whether or not he makes love well. This is erotic doubt [kāma sanshaya].

26. She has made declarations of love to someone she likes and, not having got him, she wonders whether he lacks temperament or is hostile to her. This is the doubt of enmity [dvesha sanshaya].

27. Now for complex doubts.

28. Someone whose character is unknown presents himself while an interesting lover is staying with her, or when an important personage is present. Is it reasonable or risky to receive him? This is the doubt.

29. A priest, a chaste student, an initiate, a wandering monk, a Buddhist monk [lingi], etc., having seen her, fall desperately in love with her; or someone else, according to his friends, wants to commit suicide for the same reasons. Sleeping with them is a charitable duty [dharma], yet contrary to their moral law [adharma]. There is doubt between duty and prohibition [dharma-adharma].

30. Having formed an idea of someone’s merits, according to public opinion, she goes with him without having verified his qualities. The doubt is as to whether there will be love or enmity [kāma-dvesha].

31. If one’s feelings are uncertain, the one as compared to the other, this causes complex doubts [sankirna sanshaya].

32. If she goes with another for money while living with her steady lover, she gains on both sides.

33. When she has intercourse at her own expense without earning anything, and her regular lover in fury stops her allowance, , she loses on both sides.

34. When there is some doubt since she does not know whether, in sleeping with another man, she will obtain money, nor whether her steady lover will give her something for living with her, a financial doubt exists in both cases.

35. She does not know whether her former lover, who kept her, being angry, has become hostile to her and will cause her trouble. Neither does she know whether the new one to whom she has attached herself will lose patience and stop paying her. On both sides there is a doubt about money. Such, according to Uddālaka, is the description of a double relationship.

36. Here follows the opinion on the Bābhravyas.

37. By sleeping with another, she earns money as well as receiving some from her steady lover, even without intercourse. She gains doubly.

38. When she sleeps with a man without profit, and the one who gives her a pension stops her allowance, she undergoes a loss in both cases.

39. When she goes with someone without first fixing her rate, not knowing whether he will give her anything and whether her steady lover, even without sleeping with her, will pay her remuneration, there is a doubt as to her gain in both cases.

40. She is put to the expense of sleeping with someone but, since he is under the influence of his steady mistress, she does not know whether he will pay her. Moreover, she does not know whether her steady lover, with whom she does not sleep, will cut her allowance out of anger. In both cases she risks a loss.

41. In her relations with her two lovers, she must contemplate: the gain on one side, the losses on the other; the gain on one side, uncertain profits on the other; the gain on one side, the risk of losses on the other, to which six cases of complex problems are added.

42. By reflecting with the aid of these remarks and considering her assured profits, doubtful gains, and avoiding any great risk, she must decide how to behave.

43. Having determined the relation between duty [dharma] and pleasure [kāma], their relative importance must be considered before establishing relations.

44. When several profligates gather together to possess a woman, it is called group possession [goshthi parigraha].

45. Uniting with them, she takes money from each for sexual relations.

46. For the spring festival and on other similar occasions, the mother sends messages stipulating that the first to copulate with her daughter will be the one who sends her certain gifts.

47. When they argue about sleeping with the girl, she arranges matters to her advantage.

48. At these collective unions, she can earn from one or earn from all, lose with one or lose with all, earn from half and lose with half.

49. Even in the case of uncertainty about her profit and about her losses, relations can be performed by taking into account questions concerning ethics or pleasure.
These are the reflections with regard to doubts concerning profits and risks in sexual relations.

50. The various kinds of prostitue are: the water carrier [kumbhadāsī], the servant ]parichārikā], the corrupt woman [kulata], the lesbian [svairinī], the dancer [natī], the worker [shilpakārikā], the divorcee or widow [prakāshavinashtā], the harlot who lives on her charms [rupājīvā], and the courtesan [ganikā].

51. Reflections on prostitution include all these categories, comprising those who sleep with them, their servants, those who are enamored of them, the ways of making love for money, of breaking off, of resuming, special profits, doubts about gains, and the risks of relationships.

52. In this connection, a quotation: “Men look for love and women too look for love.” The main goal of the treatise is the way to have intercourse with women.

53. Some women look for pleasure, others seek money. The pleasure deriving from amorous relations with prostitutes has been described in connection with prostitution.

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