Vishnu Purana 1.13.68

1.13.68

tvaṃ no vṛttiprado dhātrā prajāpālo nirūpitaḥ
dehi naḥ kṣutparītānāṃ prajānāṃ jīvanauṣadhīḥ //

The virtues thus celebrated by the Súta and the Magadhá were cherished in the remembrance of the Rája, and practised by him when occasion arose. Protecting this earth, the monarch performed many great sacrificial ceremonies, accompanied by liberal donations. His subjects soon approached him, suffering from the famine by which they were afflicted, as all the edible plants had perished during the season of anarchy. In reply to his question of the cause of their coming, they told him, that in the interval in which the earth was without a king all vegetable products had been withheld, and that consequently the people had perished. "Thou," said they, "art the bestower of subsistence to us; thou art appointed, by the creator, the protector of the people: grant us vegetables, the support of the lives of thy subjects, who are perishing with hunger."