The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

218 - Maṇimēkhalai feeds Prisoners
permission and, performing due obeisance from a distance, addressed
him:
‘May your Majesty live long! The Majesty of the monarch of the
strong arm, Māvaṅkiḷḷa, in whose behalf the white umbrellas of his
enemies were taken as spoils of victory by his younger brother at
Kāriyāṟu; enemies who, stimulated by a desire to get possession of
more of the earth, started from Vañji, prepared for an aggressive war,
taking with them broad-eared [160] elephants, cars, and horses and a
vast array of valiant warriors.
The army marched with the banners of the bow and the twin fish
floating in the air till they were defeated and dispersed by the young
prince, your brother. May our great king, our emperor, prosper. A
woman new to the city who used to wander about consumed with the
disease, “elephant-hunger” has entered the prison-house, and,
praising your Majesty’s good name, feeds from a begging bowl which
she carries in her hand, all persons to their uttermost satisfaction.
May it please your Majesty, she is still there.’
The king ordered her being fetched, and she appeared with the
salutation that the great king’s mercy may prosper.
The king desired to know who she was and what sort of a begging
bowl it was that she carried in her hand. Maṇimēkhalai replied:
‘I am the daughter of a Vidyādhara and have been wandering in the
city in disguise. May the rains never fail, may the earth not cease in
prosperity, may the great king know no evil. This begging bowl was
given to me by a goddess in the travellers’ hall of the city. This had the
power to cure even the disease “elephant-hunger” and is an unfailing
life-giver to human beings.’