The Guardian of the Trust

The sages told the Pandavas of Vipula, the disciple who guarded his teacher's wife from the designs of Indra, and of the honest disclosure that crowned his guarding - a tale of the lengths a faithful disciple will go to protect a trust, and of the purity of heart that such a charge demands.

There was a great sage named Devasharma, who had a beautiful wife named Ruchi, and a devoted and learned disciple named Vipula. Now Devasharma had occasion to leave his hermitage for a time, to perform a rite elsewhere, and he was troubled in his mind; for he knew that Indra, the king of the gods, was given to coveting the wives of others, and that Indra had set his desire upon the beautiful Ruchi and would surely try to seduce her while her husband was away. The sage feared for his wife's virtue and his own honor, and could not go in peace while she was unguarded.