E. abhi before sṛ to go, vuna affix which leaves ka, and ṭāp fem. do. also abhisāriṇī.
by assignation (Amarak.: kāntārthinī tu yā yāti saṃketaṃ
sābhisārikā; Hemach.: yāti yā priyaṃ sābhisārikā; Śabda-
ratnāv.: kāntamuddiśya saṃketaṃ yāti yā sābhisārikā); Bharata
defines this character which is of frequent occurrence in
poetry and affords an insight into the amorous customs
of the ancient Hindus, as ‘a woman who, having lost all
modesty and fear, under the influence of love or passion
invites her paramour to come to her (as quoted by He-
mach.'s comm.: hitvā lajjābhaye śliṣṭā madanena madena vā--
by Vallabhagaṇi: madena ca--. abhisārayate--Vallabh.:
abhisārayedyā--kāntaṃ sā bhavedabhisārikā); or as ‘one
who cannot even wait for the arrival of the messenger she
has sent out, but suffers unbearable pains of thirst after
the water of love, desirous as she is to drink the lips of her
absent friend’ (Vetalapanch.: yā dūtikāgamanakālamapārayantī
sā duḥsahasmarajalārtipipāsiteva . niryātavallabhajanādharapānalo-
bhātsā kathyate munivarairabhisāriketi); similarly the Rasi-
kasarvaswa which defines her as ‘one who having lost all
modesty, attracted by her lover's youth and by love invites
him to meet her’ (lajjāṃ hitvā samākṛṣṭā yauvanena madena ca .
abhisārayate kāntaṃ kīrtitā sābhisārikā); but if we follow
other works on Hindu rhetoric, this definition would only
apply to the second or the last of the three categories of the
abhisārikā, as mentioned e. g. by the Sāhityadarpaṇa and the
Saṅgītadāmodara; the former of which works, after having
prefaced the definition that ‘wise men call abhisārikā a woman
who under the dominion of love either invites her lover to
come to her or goes herself to him’ (abhisārayate kāntaṃ yā
manmathavaśaṃvadā . svayaṃ vābhisaratyeṣā dhīrairuktābhisārikā) dis-
tinguishes between gentle-women who go to meet their lovers,
courtesans and servant girls; ‘the gentle-woman will make
herself on such occasions as small as possible, deafen the
noise of her ornaments and wrap herself up in a veil; the
courtesan will make a display of gay apparel, her ankle-
ornaments will merrily tinkle and her face smile with joy;
if a servant girl goes to meet her lover, her speech will
stammer with delight, her eyes stare wide open with flurry,
and her gait will be awkwardly bewildered’ (Sāhityad.:
saṃlīnā sveṣu gātreṣu mūkīkṛtavibhūṣaṇā . avaguṇṭhanasaṃvītā ku-
lajābhisaredyadi .. vicitrojjvalaveśā tu valannūpuranisvanā .
pramodasmeravadanā syādveśyābhisaredyadi .. madaskhalitasaṃlāpā vi-
bhramotphullalocanā . āviddhagatisaṃcārā syātpreṣyābhisaredyadi ..).
But the rhetorico-musical work Saṅgītadāmodara is appa-
rently more in keeping with the general division of amorous
ladies (see nāyikā) into such as are their own mis-
tresses, or such as belong to another (as a married
woman and a maiden) and such as belong to every body
(comp. svastrī, anyastrī and sādhāraṇastrī), when it sub-
stitutes for the servant girl the second category; for its
story runs thus: ‘the gentle-woman goes to the lover's
house wrapped up, afraid, bashful, concealing her emotions,
confused (?), with downcast looks; a married woman will
go to him her speech somewhat stammering, her eye glaring
wide open with flurry, her gait awkwardly bewildered,
with slow steps, and no one will see her; but a courtesan
walks up to her lover in the company of a friend, full
of passion, her eyes trembling, fearless, decorated with
all kind of ornaments, surrounded by people, with tinkling
anklets: (in short) just as she pleases’. This work tells
us besides that some of these ladies prefer assignations
during the light half of a month, i. e. from new to full
moon,--hence called śuklābhisārikāḥ or dames of the
light fortnight--and others during the dark half, when
the moon is in the wane--hence called kṛṣṇābhisārikāḥ
or dames of the dark fortnight; the former wear garlands
of Arabian jasmine, are anointed all over with Sandal
preparations and dressed in silk, but do not make their
appearance by moon-light; the latter are anointed with
black aloe unguents, are fond of dark colours, and are
also afraid of the moon-rise; (kulajānyāṅganā veśyā tridhā
syādabhisārikā .. kulajā saṃvṛtā trastā savrīḍā tadgṛhaṃ vrajet .
saṃlīnā sveṣu bhāveṣu srastā vikṣepitānanā .. mandaskhalitasaṃlāpā
vibhramotphullalocanā . āviddhagatisaṃcārā śanairgamanakāriṇī .
nāyakaṃ paranārī tu vrajennānyena vīkṣitā .. sakhīyuktā madāviṣṭā
sphāritākṣī tvaśaṅkitā . nānābharaṇacitrāḍhyā tathā parijanāvṛ-
tā . sanūpurā yathākāmaṃ veśyā sarati nāyakam .. śuklapakṣe kṛṣṇapakṣe
dvidhā syādabhisārikā . mallikāmālyadhāriṇyaḥ sarvāṅgenārdraca-
ndanāḥ--Ms. E. I. H.; Ms. Paris. sarvāṅgīnārdracandanāḥ--.
kṣaumavatyo na lakṣyante jyotsrāyāmabhisārikāḥ . kālāguruvi-
liptāṅgī nīlarāgavadaṃvadā . candrodayaparitrastā kṛṣṇapakṣābhi-
sārikā).--[A specimen of the gentle-woman is doubt-
less Urvaśī--in the drama Vikramorv. act 2, scene 2--,
when she comes to meet Purūravas in a purple dress with
pearl ornaments (cf. Wilson's Hindu theatre I. p. 230 note:
abhisārikāveśā; Bollensen: kṛtābhisaraṇaveśā; ‘Urvaśi:
I feel my strength desert me; bring him quickly--or
quickly lead me to his royal palace’; or Rādhā in the
Gītagov.; comp. e. g. the words of her friend, ed. Lassen V. 19:
sabhayacakitaṃ vinyasyantīṃ dṛśau timire pathi . pratitaru muhuḥ
sthitvā mandaṃ padāni vitanvantīm . kathamapi rahaḥ prāptāmaṅgera-
naṅgataraṅgibhiḥ . sumukhi subhagaḥ paśyansa tvāmupaitu kṛtārthatām);
a specimen of the married woman may be found in the
daughter of alderman Samudradatta, in the third story of
the Vetālapañchavinśati. Instances of the courtesan are e. g.
Mithyādṛṣṭi (Heresy) in the drama Prabodhach. (comp.
e. g. act 2, scene 9: …nīlendīvaradāmadīrghatarayā dṛṣṭyā
dhayantī mano dolāndolanalolakaṅkaṇaraṇatkārottaraṃ sarpati);
or Amaruśat. v. 28 and 69. A servant girl who makes love in
the manner described, is exhibited in the Sāhityadarpaṇa: her
betel-stained teeth she always displays; with horse laughter
she laughs, but no one knows why; from place to place
she sets, to please, her staggering steps, and dancing high
her hips, she slily stops before young men’.] The best
time for abhisārikās to meet their lovers is, according to
the Saṅgītad., ‘during a dense fog, a winter-night, com-
plete darkness, at noon of a summer-day, while a whirl-
wind rages, during an uproar, at moon-rise, during a re-
volution, when the king is ill, or the town is on fire, during
a great festival, and in the evening’, for it seems ‘that on
such occasions the cowkeeper girls as well as the dames of
the dark as those of the light fortnight had their amatory
sport with Kṛṣṇa’; (but their meeting at moon-rise is
apparently at variance with the preceding definition; sphā-
rikujjhaṭihemantarajanīdhvāntasaṃcayāḥ . grīṣmamadhyāhgavātālī-
kolāhalavidhūdayāḥ . rāṣṭrabhaṅganṛpātaṅkapuradāhamahotsavāḥ .
pradoṣāśceti kathitā dvādaśānehasaḥ kramāt (Ms. E. I. H.; Ms.
Paris. dvādaśānekaśaḥ kramāt) . gokulasthāḥ puraiteṣu kaṃsārā-
tiriraṃsayā . suveśāstarasā yānti kṛṣṇaśuklābhisārikāḥ).
The Rasamañjarī (as quoted by Rādhākāntadeva) distin-
guishes in general between abhisārikās who meet their para-
mours in day-time, by moon-shine and in the dark (see
divābhisārikā, jyotsnābhisārikā, andhakārābhisārikā);
comp. e. g. Ṛtusanhāra: sutīkṣṇamuccai rasatāṃ payomucāṃ ghanā-
ndhakārāvṛtaśarvarīṣvapi . taḍitprabhādarśitamārgabhūmayaḥ prayānti
rāgādabhisārikāḥ striyaḥ; or Kumārasambh.: yatrauṣadhipra-
kāśena naktaṃ darśitasaṃcarāḥ . anabhijñāstamisrāṇāṃ durdineṣva-
bhisārikāḥ. For the places of assignation see abhisāra-
sthāna. E. sṛ with abhi, kṛt aff. ṇvul, fem. aff. ṭāp.
-sṛ-aka, f. A woman who goes to a
rendezvous.
f. (-kā) A woman who makes or keeps an assignation.
E.
abhi before sṛ to go, vun affix which leaves ka, and ṭāp fem. do. also
abhisāriṇī.
amatorem adit. UR. 40. 8. infr.