Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/86

 the forced asceticism of those who came after them. The institution would appear to have been in a transitional stage—not perhaps a caste, but not without a deep touch of the world—at the time of Buddha; who had an enthusiastic admirer in Ambapali, who could vie with great lords in position and opulence. With that mighty emphasis laid upon a pure life which distinguished Buddhism, the women of light song and dance necessarily went down in status. In the days "of the Chinese pilgrims the singer and the courtesan were compelled to reside outside the village-walls, along with the fisherman and the scavenger." * History, however, "seems to indicate that she was not kept out long;" and as that wave of moral force which is associated with the name of Buddha ebbed away, she could, by the age of the dramas, regain through her charms and accomplishments the social position no longer merited by her life. As in course of centuries custom favoured by conveni-