Tag Archives: The Ascetic And The Deer

26. The Ascetic And The Deer

Once upon a time in the reign of Brahmadatta, king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in the form of Sakka. At that time a man, who lived in the kingdom of Kasi, came into the Himalaya region, and adopting the life of an ascetic lived on wild fruits. One day he found in the forest a young deer that had lost its dam. He took it home to his hermitage, and fed and grew it. The young deer grew up a handsome and comely beast, and the ascetic took care of it and treated it as his own child.