 At one point, Ahalya receives a visit from Indra's female messenger, who proceeds to mock husbands who avoid sex by saying that it is not the right day for pleasure.Ahalya protests, maintaining that she imagines Gautama to be Indra as they have sex and that a woman should be a stone, forgoing all thought of sexual gratification.That night, when Ahalya longs for conjugal bliss, Gautama refuses her, saying that she is not in her fertile period.