Nalayini
is the wife of the temperamental sage, Maudgalya. Maudgalya, deciding to test
Nalayini’s chastity, turns himself into a leperous old man. However, good
Nalayini remains devoted to Maudgalya, fulfilling his every desire without
complaint, including his wish to sleep with a prostitute. She carries him to
the prostitute’s home and back in a basket on her head. When they are returning
home, the basket accidentally bumps the feet of a rishi hanging in mid-air, who
becomes angered and curses Nalayini to become a widow at sunrise. In response,
Nalayini, calling on her powers as a pativratā, a faithful and devoted wife,
orders the sun never to rise until the rishi retracts his curse. The sun does
not, indeed, rise, and the gods rush to appease the rishi so that he takes back
the curse and allows the sun to reappear. Maudgalya is pleased that the power
of Nalayini’s faithfulness has come to the attention of the gods and resumes
his original form.
