Tag Archives: The Bodhisatta As Stag

285. The Bodhisatta As Stag

Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta lived in the forest, having been born as a stag. Now the king much delighted in hunting, and a mighty man was he: he reckoned no other man worthy of the name of man. One day as he went a hunting he said to his courtiers. “Whoever lets a deer go by him, such and such shall be his punishment.” They thought, “One may stand in the house and not find the granary. When a deer is put up, by hook or by crook we must drive him to the place where the king is.” They made a pact among them to his effect, and posted the king at the end of the path. Then they surrounded a great covert and began to beat on the ground with cudgels and the like.