Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

The present paper examines the Theravāda Buddhist attitude towards prostitution and explores its solutions. Prostitution, often known as the world’s oldest profession, existed in India prior to the Buddha’s time. Like polygamy, prostitution was never expressly condemned by the Buddha. Prostitutes, called vesiyā, gaṇikā, nagara-sobhinī at different times in Pāli texts, are not bound by marital relations; therefore, having sexual intercourse with them is not in violation of the prohibition against debauchery. However, in the Vinaya-piṭaka, a prostitute is identified as a temporary wife (muhuttikā), which falls under the ten types of wives (dasa-bhariyāyo) and twenty types of women to whom the observance of this precept applies. This suggests that if someone else were to approach a prostitute while she is already under contract with a man, both the man outside of contract and the prostitute would violate the precept. From the Theravādin perspective, prostitution itself is neither wholesome (kusala) nor unwholesome (akusala), but is indeterminate (avyākata). In order to understand why this is so, one should recognize the fact that being a prostitute is a condition to which a person is reborn as a consequence of some unwholesome karma (akusala-kamma) accrued in a previous existence. This suggests that a prostitute is not an immoral criminal but a type of existence characterized by suffering (dukkha). We can never root out prostitution simply because the majority of people are governed by sexual desire (kāmā-rāga) in the sensual sphere (kāma-loka). Removing prostitution from society therefore would unleash uncontrollable lust and promote degeneracy. It is for this reason that prostitution is not defined as wrong livelihood (micchājīva) in the Pāli canon. The Theravāda buddhist way of dealing with the problem is not legalistic, but therapeutic. Sexual desire, like any other craving, is to be eradicated not by legal prohibition or suppression but by gradual removing its fundamental causes through mental development (bhāvanā) such as meditation on the foulness of the body (asubha-bhāvanā).