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Vishakanya


The Visha Kanya (Sanskrit विष कन्या; singular: Visha Kanya) (English: Poison girl) were young women reportedly used as assassins, often against powerful enemies, during the times of the Ancient India. Their blood and bodily fluids were purportedly poisonous to other humans, and was mentioned in the ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340–293 BCE).

A Hindu mythology text, the Kalki Purana, mentions that they can kill a person just by looking at them, and talks about a Visha Kanya named Sulochana, the wife of a Gandharva, Chitragreeva.

However, in time, "poison damsel" passed into folklore, became an archetype explored by many writers, resulting in a popular literary character that appears in many works, including classical Sanskrit texts such as Sukasaptati.

The Poison Damsel (Sanskrit Viṣakanyā) is a literary figure that appears in Sanskrit literature as a type of assassin used by kings to destroy enemies. The story goes that young girls were raised on a carefully crafted diet of poison and antidote from a very young age, a practice referred to as mithridatism. Although many would not survive, those that did were immune to other poisons and their body fluids would be poisonous to others; sexual contact would thus be lethal to other humans. There also exists a myth that says a Visha Kanya can cause instant death with just a touch.

According to Kaushik Roy, Visha Kanyas would kill their targets by seducing them and giving them poisoned alcohol.


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