{"collection":"Sacred Texts: Buddhism","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_bud_j1_j1053_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_bud_j1_j1053_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_bud_j1_j1053_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/j1/j1053.htm","summary":"This is a Jataka tale \u2014 a Buddhist birth story from the Pali canonical collection \u2014 recounting a past life of the Bodhisatta (the future Buddha) as a prince of Benares. The story centers on the Bodhisatta's scheme to end the widespread practice of animal sacrifice without coercing or harming any of his subjects: as viceroy, he publicly performs tree worship, then upon becoming king announces he has vowed to sacrifice one thousand *sinners* (those who kill living creatures or violate the ten precepts), using their flesh as the offering. The mere threat of this punishment causes the entire population of Benares to abandon their immoral practices, so that no one is ever actually punished. The tale's distinctive claim is that skillful deception deployed for compassionate ends \u2014 feigning religious devotion, then weaponizing superstition against itself \u2014 is not only permissible but exemplary of the Bodhisatta's wisdom. It frames the abolition of animal sacrifice as a social engineering problem solved through clever statecraft rather than moral preaching. The framing narrative situates this within a teaching session at Jetavana, where the Master identifies himself as the king of that past life, reinforcing the continuity of the Buddha's compassionate action across rebirths.","tags":["Buddha's Previous Lives","Jataka Tales","Pali Text Society"],"text":null,"title":"The Jataka, Volume I: Book I.--Ekanip\u0101ta: No. 50. Dummedha-J\u0101taka","tradition":"Sacred Texts: Buddhism","translated_text":null,"word_count":876}