The Banyan Deer

The Bodhisattva was once the King of the Banyan Deer. In the same forest lived another herd, led by the Branch Deer. The human King of Varanasi loved hunting and terrorized the forest daily, killing many deer indiscriminately and wounding others.

To prevent the chaotic slaughter, the two deer kings met with the human King. They agreed to a heartbreaking pact: every day, one deer from the herds would voluntarily walk to the royal kitchen to be slaughtered, sparing the rest from the terror of the hunt.

One day, the lot fell to a pregnant doe from the Branch Deer herd. She pleaded with her king, 'I am willing to die, but please wait until my fawn is born. Do not make two die for the lot of one.' The Branch Deer king refused, saying she could not pass her turn to another.

Desperate, she went to the Bodhisattva, the Banyan Deer king. Hearing her plight, his heart swelled with compassion. 'Go back in peace,' he said. 'I will take your turn.'

The next morning, the human King was shocked to see the magnificent Banyan Deer king place his own head on the chopping block in the royal kitchen.

'King of Deer!' the human King cried. 'I promised not to kill you. Why are you here?'

'A pregnant doe's turn came,' the deer replied. 'I could not force another to take her place, so I brought my own body.'

Tears filled the human King's eyes. 'I am a human in shape, but a beast in heart. You are a beast in shape, but divine in heart.' The King instantly abolished the daily sacrifice and granted safety to all deer.

But the Bodhisattva did not stop there. He asked for the safety of all four-legged animals, then all birds, and finally all fish. The human King agreed, establishing the first kingdom of complete non-violence (Ahimsa).