Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.3966

c9.3966

was filled with pity and sent Vasiṣṭha to her. He went there in the form of a Brahmin boy and taught her how to perform penance. After the return of Vasiṣṭha she continued the severe penance to Viṣṇu. Her penance became the subject of talk and wonder everywhere. After a short while Viṣṇu appeared before her sitting on his conveyance Garuḍa. She praised Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu was pleased with her and asked what her desire was. She said: “Lord, creatures should not be sexually excited at their birth. They should have sexual desire only when they are grown up. The three worlds must know that I am chaste. In all my births I should not look at anybody except my husband with sexual desire. The man who looks at me with sexual desire should lose his manliness and become a hermaphrodite.”