Note 14 — D

“No doubt,” Monier Williams writes,14 “Dāsis drive a profitable trade under the sanction of religion, and some courtesans have been known to amass enormous fortunes. Nor do they think it inconsistent with their method of making money to spend it in works of piety. Here and there Indian bridges and other useful public works owe their existence to the liberality of the frail sisterhood.” The large tank (lake) at Channarayapatna in Mysore was built by two dancing-girls.