The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

234
Book XXIII
[The Queen seeks Revenge]
Under the auspices of the king there lived in the city a very old
woman who had the privilege of instructing the king, the prince, as
well as the ladies of the royal household in what was good, what was
approved of the learned, and of offering consolation at the
occurrence of sad events. Her name was Vāsantavai. She went to the
queen and without letting her give way to sorrow, made the usual
salutations and said:–
‘Kings met their death in winning victories, in protecting their
subjects and in annexing the kingdoms of inimically disposed
neighbours; and, if perchance they died of age without falling in
battle like warriors, they were given a hero’s death by their body
being laid on a bed of sacrificial grass 101 and cut in two, as though
they fell in battle. I cannot fetch a tongue to say that monarchs of this
land died a natural death by reaching ripe old age. To say so would be
to disgrace the dynasty. Without [173] falling in defending his
kingdom, without falling in taking over other’s kingdoms, how can I
describe the way that your son fell by the sword? Show, therefore, no
sorrow in the presence of the sovereign, your husband.’
Overpowered as the queen was with sorrow, she hid it in her heart,
and appearing as though unaffected, she resolved to make
Maṇimēkhalai pay the penalty for her having been the cause of her
son’s death. She managed one day to persuade the king that the prison
house was not a suitable place of residence for the pretty bhikṣuṇi
Maṇimēkhalai. The king in reply said that she might arrange to keep
101 (Poa cynosuroides).