The Adhikari thought he had explained everything, and Kopal-Kundala thought she understood everything. She said, "Let it be so, but I do not feel inclined to abandon him who has supported me for so long."
Adhi. Don't you know why he has supported you? Don't you know that the Tantrik's mission is only accomplished by destroying the chastity of a woman? I too have studied the Tantras. Mother Juggadumba is the mother of the earth. She is the quintessence of chastity—the queen of chaste women—she never accepts worship that consists of destroying chastity. It is for this reason that I am thwarting the desire of the great man. If you flee, he will never be ungrateful! It is only because the proper
husband's substitute in matters of worship. On religious holidays the men of the educated class do not do pooja, but leave their womenkind to do it, just as in England the wife often goes to church for herself and husband also. Women of the upper and middle classes make pilgrimages to Gya and Kási (Benares) and offer up the pindas (sacrificial cakes) for their own as well as for their husband's ancestors, and such pooja is supposed to be as, or nearly as, efficacious as if performed by their husbands.
