Once upon a time, Brahmadatta was king of Benares, and the Bodhisatta was his chaplain; and he had mastered the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of knowledge. He knew the spell entitled ‘Of subduing the World.’

One day, the Bodhisatta thought that he would recite this spell; so he sat down in a place on a flat stone, and went on reciting it. It is said that this spell could be taught to no one without use of a special rite. It so happened that a jackal lying in a hole heard the spell at the time that he was reciting it, and got it by heart. This jackal in a previous existence had been some Brahmin who had learnt the charm ‘Of subduing the World.’

The Bodhisatta ended his recitation saying, “Surely I have that spell by heart now.” Then the Jackal arose out of his hole, and cried “Ho, brahmin! I have learnt the spell better than you know it yourself!” and it ran away. The Bodhisatta chased, and followed it, crying “Jackal will do a great mischief; catch him, catch him!” But the jackal ran into the forest.

The Jackal found a she jackal, and gave her a little nip upon the body. “What is it, master?” she asked. He asked, “Do you know me,or do you not?”

She said, “I do not know you.” He repeated the spell, and thus had under his orders several hundreds of jackals, and gathered round him all the elephants and horses, lions and tigers, and all other fourfooted creatures; and their king he became, under the title of Sabbadatha or Alltusk, and a she jackal he made his consort. On the back of two elephants stood a lion, and on the lion’s back sat Sabbadatha, the jackal king, along with his consort the she jackal; and great honour was paid to them.

Now the Jackal was tempted by his great honour, and became puffed up with pride, and he decided to capture the kingdom of Benares. So with all the fourfooted creatures in his army, he came to a place near to Benares. His host covered twelve leagues of ground. From his position he sent a message to the king, “Give up your kingdom, or fight for it.” The citizens of Benares, filled with terror, shut their gates and stayed within.

Then the Bodhisatta went to the king, and said to him, “Fear not! mighty king! Leave me the task of fighting with the jackal king, Sabbadatha. Except only me, no one is able to fight with him at all.” Thus he gave hope and courage to the king and the citizens. So he mounted the tower over one of the gates, and cried out “Sabbadatha, what will you do to get possession of this realm?”

“I will make the lions to roar, and with the roaring I will frighten the multitude; thus will I take it!”

The Bodhisatta thought, “Oh, that’s it, and down he came from the tower. He made proclamation by beat of drum that all the dwellers in the great city of Benares must cork their ears by cotton. The multitude heard the command; they corked their ears by cotton, so that they could not hear each other speak; they even did the same to their cats and other animals.

Then the Bodhisatta went up a second time into the tower, and cried out “Sabbadatha!”

He asked, “What is it, Brahmin?”

The Bodhisatta asked, “How will you take this realm?” he asked.

He said, “I will make the lions to roar, and with the roaring I will frighten the multitude; thus will I take it!”

“You will not be able to make the lions roar; these noble lions, with their tawny paws and shaggy manes, will never obey the commands of an old jackal like you!”

The jackal, stubborn with pride, answered, “Not only will the other lions obey me, but I’ll even make this one, upon whose back I sit, roar alone!”

“Very well,” said the Bodhisatta, “Do it if you can.”

So he tapped with his foot on the lion which he sat upon, to roar. And the lion on the Elephant roared thrice. The elephant was terrified and dropped the jackal down at his feet; they trampled upon his head and crushed it. Then and there Sabbadatha died. And the elephants, hearing the roar of the lion, were frightened to death, and wounding one another, they all perished there. The rest of the creatures, deer and swine, down to the hares and cats, perished then and there, all except the lions; and these ran to the woods. There was a heap of carcases covering the ground for twelve leagues.

The Bodhisatta came down from the tower, and ordered to open the city gates. He ordered to declare by beat of drum, “Let all the people take the cotton out of their ears, and whoever want meat, let them take!” The people all ate whatever meat they could eat, and the rest they dried and preserved.

It was at this time, according to tradition, that people first began to dry meat.