[The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana]@TWC D-Link book
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana

CHAPTER I
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These friends should bring to the notice of the girl's parents, the faults, both present and future, of all the other men that may wish to marry her, and should at the same time extol even to exaggeration all the excellencies, ancestral, and paternal, of their friend, so as to endear him to them, and particularly to those that may be liked by the girl's mother.

One of the friends should also disguise himself as an astrologer and declare the future good fortune and wealth of his friend by showing the existence of all the lucky omens[43] and signs,[44] the good influence of planets, the auspicious entrance of the sun into a sign of the Zodiac, propitious stars and fortunate marks on his body.
Others again should rouse the jealousy of the girl's mother by telling her that their friend has a chance of getting from some other quarter even a better girl than hers.
A girl should be taken as a wife, as also given in marriage, when fortune, signs, omens, and the words[45] of others are favourable, for, says Ghotakamukha, a man should not marry at any time he likes.

A girl who is asleep, crying, or gone out of the house when sought in marriage, or who is betrothed to another, should not be married.

The following also should be avoided: One who is kept concealed.
One who has an ill-sounding name.
One who has her nose depressed.
One who has her nostril turned up.
One who is formed like a male.
One who is bent down.
One who has crooked thighs.
One who has a projecting forehead.
One who has a bald head.
One who does not like purity.
One who has been polluted by another.
One who is afflicted with the Gulma.[46] One who is disfigured in any way.
One who has fully arrived at puberty.
One who is a friend.
One who is a younger sister.
One who is a Varshakari.[47] In the same way a girl who is called by the name of one of the twenty-seven stars, or by the name of a tree, or of a river, is considered worthless, as also a girl whose name ends in "r" or "l." But some authors say that prosperity is gained only by marrying that girl to whom one becomes attached, and that therefore no other girl but the one who is loved should be married by anyone.
When a girl becomes marriageable her parents should dress her smartly, and should place her where she can be easily seen by all.

Every afternoon, having dressed her and decorated her in a becoming manner, they should send her with her female companions to sports, sacrifices, and marriage ceremonies, and thus show her to advantage in society, because she is a kind of merchandise.


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