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332 TWO PRAKRIT VERSIONS OF THE MAŅIPATI-CARITA 531. In a certain village there was a man Cārabhata whose
wife was Cārabhati and in the enclosure of her house
a mongoose dwelt unafraid. 532. Cārabhati had a young son and to play with him she
took the young offspring of the mongoose giving it
curds and milk and whey to lap up. 533. Now one day having lulled her child to sleep in the cradle
Cārabhați was standing at the door of the house grinding, 534. when the mongoose came up near to her, its mouth
dripping with blood, having killed a snake which was
minded to bite the child. 535. Cārabhati thought to herself: 'My child has been
destroyed by this beast' so she killed it with a pestle
but when she looked for her son 536. She found him unharmed and near him the snake killed
by the mongoose, then, struck with remorse, she fell
into piteous grief. 537. So disciple Kuñcika reflect in your heart lest speaking
without due consideration you may be seized by
remorse. 538. Thus in the Manipaticarita which is like the elixir of the
desire for release the history of Cārabhati, the twelfth,
has been told in brief by Maņipati 539. Said the layman Kuncika : Maņipati, you are like the
rustic.' 'How?' asked the muni. Then Kuñcika
began to narrate: 540. In a forest there was an elephant, leader of a herd of
elephants. Somehow a khädira thorn got into the
sole of its foot. 541. Seeing him distressed by the pain of it a clever female
elephant picked up in her trunk a man who was asleep
in a field and carried him thither. 542. The lord of the herd showed his foot to the man who
extracted the thorn with a knife and restored him to health.
