The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

214 - The Grandmother’s Scheme
That is not all, our function is to be so attractive as to get into the
minds of everybody that sees us, and thus enslave their minds, and
remain with them so long as they proved profitable, giving them up
the moment they ceased to be.
She concluded by enquiring whether it was not the duty of kings to
bind such to their caste custom and to save them from the evil
reputation that is certain from the conduct of both her daughter and
grand-daughter.
Thus instigated, the prince drove down to the travellers’ hall, and
seeing Maṇimēkhalai there distributing food, approached her,
making the enquiry what her purpose was in assuming the form of an
ascetic. Thinking that it was due to him that she should make her
obeisance, the more so as he was her husband in the previous birth,
she made a profound obeisance, and told him,
‘Birth, growth and decay, disease ending in death; these are the
sufferings of the human body. Understanding this, I have taken it
upon myself to do permanent acts of charity in this life.’
Saying this, she wanted to get away from him and assume another
form. She entered the temple of Champāpati, and reciting the
incantation which the Goddess Maṇimēkhalā had taught her, she
assumed the form of Kāyaśaṇḍikai, and came out of the temple with
the begging bowl in her hand. The prince entered the temple and
enquired of the goddess where Maṇimēkhalai was in hiding after
handing her [158] begging bowl to Kāyaśaṇḍikai. He vowed that if
the goddess would not let him know, he would lie there hungry till she