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54. WOMAN
Mūladeva and Pundarika, two close friends were going on a journey. A man with his wife was also going the same way. Pundarika saw the man's wife and felt enamoured of her. He said to his friend Müladeva, "If you can't obtain this woman for me, there are slim chances of my living any longer." Mūladeva understood how terribly despondent his friend had become but asked him to be patient enough and assured him that he certainly would try.
Then both of them went past the man and his wife and walked far ahead of them. Mūladeva asked Pundarika to hide himself in a bush by the wayside and himself stood on the road awaiting the man and his wife. When they came, close enough, Müladeva made a fervent appeal to the man for help. "My wife is expecting a baby any time now. I have asked her to lie down behind the bush over there. Could your wife be kind enough to be of any help to her. You know this is a situation where a man is of no help at all. "The woman was quick enough to offer her help and went into the bush where she met Pundarika. She talked with him for a while. She came back to borrow some clothing from Mūladeva. She said with a cheerful smile on her face that she had some good news "A son is born to you." She went back into the bush again.
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