The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

165
Book V
[Sutamatī and the Kind Bhikṣu]
At sight of the fair form of Maṇimēkhalai, he stood for a moment
rapt in admiration of the beauty of her form, like a painter who had
just conceived the idea of a beauty for painting.
Realizing however, that it was Maṇimēkhalai herself, enchanting in
her beauty like the goddess Lakṣmī dancing in front of the Asuras, his
one thought was to enter the pavilion. He went round the crystal wall
feeling with his hand for the door, and not finding anything to give
indication of an opening, he turned round to Sutamatī and asked her
to describe to him what sort of a maiden her companion was. She
replied:
‘If she is not attracted by your youthful beauty and will not feast her
eyes with the sight of your young [122] form, she is undoubtedly one
given to austerity as a result of her previous good deeds. She is
capable of invoking imprecations that will not fail. She is one on
whom love has no influence.’
The Prince said in reply that when love gains possession of her heart,
there is nothing that would restrain her, and that, enchantingly
beautiful as she was, he would still make her his own, and turned
away from both of them to return to the Palace.
As he turned round, he told Sutamatī that the whole town used to
speak of her as one that was left in the midst of a Jain nunnery by a
Vidyādhara, and asked her to let him know how it happened that she