Trapa bispinosa, which is a nut belonging in the water chestnut species, is frequently used in amatory composition. The paste is prepared from the seeds or roots of the trapa bispinosa, kasurika, tuscan jasmine, and liquorice, and a bulb called kshirakapoli. The whole is mixed with milk, ghee, and sugar: then boiled into a consistency.
Wine, in India, is considered conducive to priapic performance. But only, as among the Greeks and the Romans and the ancient Hebrews, when taken in moderation. Otherwise, excessive drinking of wine is an object of condemnation. A rule in Hindu ritual establishes the criterion of sufficiency:
So long as the mind’s light flickers not,
For so long drink! Shun the rest!
Whoso drinks still more is a beast.
As a defensive measure against erotic aggressiveness, Hindu erotology suggests the following procedure. The woman who is the prospective object of an amatory approach should bathe in the buttermilk of a male buffalo. The milk is mixed with powder of yellow amaranth, the banu-padika plant, and the gopalika plant.