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"But great is the power of a god, and the things asked for were no bigger than a trifle All these things were done to the full satisfaction of everybody. The boy was dipped in the holy water brought from the four sources, and the princess was duly married with him The other eight girls who were already betrothed were also married to him With the position changed, it was no longer difficult for Metarya to regain acceptance in the seth's family The young man was now happy in the company of his nine wives
MUNIPATI
"But the god was alive to his mission When he found that Metarya was deeply engrossed in conjugal life, he gave him a reminder to attract him towards renunciation. Said Metarya to the god, 'Sir, is it enough that you have settled me in a married life? If I am not permitted to see through this life, then why did you settle me in it ? Besides, you should have consideration for these ladies too So please don't talk about renunciation at this time'
"The god saw reason in these words and yielded But he fixed a limit of 12 years after which, he said, he would come again To this Metarya agreed
"Now, this limit of 12 years was nearing its end The god came again But this gave a great shock to Metarya who did not want to disturb the even tenor of his married life But the god would not agree So he humbly begged to be spared for another 12 years and the god could not but concede Metarya was again immersed in the pleasures of life He belonged to an affluent family and he got anything for the asking To him now this was the essence of worldly life, and he had the very best of it. Soon he forgot all about his promise to the god. But the god did not forget He came back in time Metarya was surprised and sad He was in no mood to renounce, but this time the god was determined to push him out He issued
