TEXT 57
kusthi-viprera ramani, pativrata-siromani,
pati lagi' kaila vesyara seva
stambhila suryera gati, jiyaila mrta pati,
tusta kaila mukhya tina-deva
SYNONYMS
kusthi-vipreraof the brahmana who suffered from leprosy; ramanithe wife; pati-vrata-siromanithe topmost of chaste women; pati lagi'-for the satisfaction of her husband; kailaperformed; vesyara sevaservice to a prostitute; stambhilastopped; suryera gatithe movement of the sun; jiyailarevived; mrta patithe dead husband; tusta kailasatisfied; mukhyathe principal; tina-devathree deities or demigods.
TRANSLATION
"The wife of a brahmana suffering from leprosy manifested herself as the topmost of all chaste women by serving a prostitute to satisfy her husband. She thus stopped the movement of the sun, brought her dead husband back to life and satisfied the three principal demigods [Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara].
PURPORT
The Aditya purana, Markendeya Purana and Padma Purana tell about a brahmana who was suffering from leprosy but had a very chaste and faithful wife. He desired to enjoy the company of a prostitute, and therefore his wife went to her and became her maidservant, just to draw her attention for his service. When the prostitute agreed to associate with him, the wife brought her the leprotic husband. When that leper, the sinful son of a brahmana, saw the chastity of his wife, he finally abandoned his sinful intentions. While coming home, however, he touched the body of Markendeya Rsi, who thus cursed him to die at sunrise. Because of her chastity, the woman was very powerful. Therefore when she heard about the curse, she vowed to stop the sunrise. Because of her strong determination to serve her husband, the three deities-namely Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara-were very happy, and they gave her the benediction that her husband would be cured and brought back to life. This example is given herein to emphasize that a devotee should engage himself exclusively for the satisfaction of Krsna, without personal motives. That will make his life successful.

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