Chapter 70 - On the features of women (kanyā-lakṣaṇa)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

1. He who wishes to rule over countries shall marry a woman the nails of whose toes are glossy, high, thin and red, whose ankles are large, beautiful and both alike, whose toes are close and the soles of whose feet are of the colour of the lotus.

2. If the lines in the feet be of the shape of the fish, the elephant driver’s hook, the lotus, barley-grain, the plough or the sword, or if the feet be dry and soft, if the shanks be round and without hair and visible muscles, and if the knees be fleshy and both alike, the woman will be happy.

3. If the thighs be like the trunk of the elephant, without hair and firm, the genital organ be broad and triangular in shape, the part just above it be large and high and like the shell of the turtle, and if the clitoris be hid from view, the woman will be wealthy and happy.

4. If the buttocks be large, broad and fleshy, the woman will wear a girdle; if the navel be broad, deep and turning from left to right, she will be happy.

5. If the abdomen be without hair, with three skin folds, and if the bosoms be round, firm, large and both alike, the breast above it be without hair and soft and the neck be like the conch-shell, the woman will be wealthy and happy.

6. If the lower lip be red like the China rose, fleshy, beautiful and red like the cherry fruit, if the teeth be even and like the buds of jasmine, the woman will enjoy the pleasures of married life and will be happy.

7. If the voice be sweet, simple and not meek and like the sound of the cuckoo or the swan, if the nose be smooth and beautiful and the holes alike, and if the eyes be of the colour of the leaves of the blue lotus, the woman will be happy.

8. If the brows do not meet and be not very broad, if they do not hang, if they be bent like the young moon, if the forehead be like the half moon, without hair and even, the woman will be happily.

9. If the two ears be not very long, be fleshy, soft and both alike, and if the hair on the head be glossy, black, soft, befit and grow singly, and if the head be even, the woman will be happy.

10. If the lines in the hands^[1] and feet be of the shape of a pitcher, a seat, a horse, an elephant, a chariot, the bilva tree, an eight-sided post, an arrow, a flower wreath, a pendant, a Cāmara, and elephant driver’s hook, a barley grain, a mountain, flag-staff, an arch-way, a fish, a cross, a sacrificial altar, a fan, a conch-shell, an umbrella or a lotus flower, the woman will become a queen.

11. If the wrists be invisible, the hands be like the lotus flower and soft, and if the finger joints be long, the woman will become a queen; if the palm of the hand be neither deep, nor high, if it be covered with benefic lines, the woman will live long, leading a married life and will have sons; she will live in comfort, be wealthy and in the enjoyment of sexual pleasures.

12. If there be found a line issuing from the wrist and reaching the middle finger, or if vertical lines be found in the palm of the hand, either the woman will become a queen or her husband will become a king.

13. If there be found a line issuing from below the little finger and reaching a place between the forefinger and the middle finger, the woman will live long; if short, her age will be proportionately short.

14. The big lines below the root of the thumb indicate sons and the small lines daughters. If the lines be perfect, the children will live long, and if broken or short they will die early.

15. Thus have been described the good features of women (kanyā-lakṣaṇa); the bad features are the reverse of these. We shall however proceed to state briefly the more remarkable ones.

16. If either the little toe or the one next to it do not touch the ground, or if the toe next to the big toe be longer than the big toe, the woman will become unchaste and will commit deeds of wickedness.

17. If the calves of the leg be found to grow larger as they approach the knees, or if the shanks be covered with muscles, without flesh or with too much flesh or covered with hair, if the genital organ be sunk, small, with the hair growing from right to left, if the belly be like a pot, she will suffer grief.

18. If the neck be short, the woman will be poor; if very long, her family will perish; and if large she will be of angry temper.

19. If the eyes be wild and disturbed and of yellow colour, or if they be brown and of wandering look, or if dimples appear in the cheeks while laughing, the woman will become unchaste.

20. If the forehead be low, the brother of the woman’s husband will die; if the belly be found to hang, her father-in-law will die; If the buttocks be found to hang, her husband will die; if the upper lip be covered with hair or if the woman be taller than her husband, she will suffer miseries.

21. If the bosoms be covered with hair, or if they be not of bright appearance, or if they be too large, or if the ears be not both alike, the woman will suffer grief. If the teeth be large, uneven and of disagreeable appearance, if the gum be black, she will suffer miseries and be addicted to thieving.

22. If the lines in the hands be of the shape of a hawk, a wolf, a crow, a heron, a serpent, an owl, or if the hands appear dried up, covered with muscles and both not alike, the woman will be poor and miserable.

23. If the upper-lip be high, if the front lock be of disagreeable appearance, the woman will be quarrelsome. Generally vice follows deformity and virtue follows beauty.

24-26. The (1) feet and ankles. (2) the shanks and knees, (3) the thighs and genital organ, (4) the loins and the navel, (5) the belly, (6) the breast and the bosoms, (7) the shoulders (8) the neck and the lips, (9) the eyes and the brows, and (10) the forehead and the head represent the ten daśā periods beginning from birth; so that if a particular organ be defective, a person will suffer miseries in the daśā period represented by it. If the organ be perfect and beautiful, he will be happy during such period.

[Note—120 years is the maximum length of life and each daśā period consists of 12 years. If, for instance, there be defects in the thighs, the person will suffer miseries between the ages of 24 and 36.]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

In the case of a woman, the left hand and in the ease of a man, the right hand, shall be examined.