No To Animal Sacrifice

It was a dark and stormy night. Flashes of lightning litup the evil faces of shrieking ghouls and laughing vampires. Sheets of rain poured down. The howling of jackals and the baying of wolves made the atmosphereeerie and frightening. But King Vikram swerved not. He strode fearlessly up to the ancient tree. He pulled the corpse down, put it on his shoulders and started for the cremation ground. The vampire inside the corpse then said, "You come to this ghastlycremation ground alone every time. This is a land of ghosts and vampires and fullof danger. Your action makes me wonder what exactly you seek. In my view, what you are doing is very foolish. There are times when a learned person does not know what to do. Listen to the story of Shashankaand you'll understand." The Vetala then begannar rating the story.

Shashanka, son of the royal priest o fKarnasuvarna, and Prince Swarnakirti, heir to the throne, were friends from childhood. After the ireducation was complete, King Makaranda of Karnasuvarna decided that his youthful son must go tothe university of Takshashila for mastering the martial arts and warfare techniques. And so the two friends parted, Swarnakirti made his way to Takshashila, while Shashanka retreated deep into the forests for meditation.

Shashanka had decided to become an ascetic. So he spent years in meditation. His spiritual strength grew by leaps and bounds. Soon he could foresee future events.He could walk on water. He learnt to levitate. He conquered hunger and thirst and subsisted on tulsi-water.He could even stop his breath at will. But these powers sat light on his shoulders. ‘All material power is transitory,'he mused. "I must gain the spiritual power to conquer death and become immortal.

 "Shashanka was not aware that his progress was being watched; that his spiritual strength was making some beings feel insecure and uncomfortable. They were some gundharvas. "If he continues his steadfast meditation,he'll soon grow more powerful than we are!" said Soumitra, the gundharva chief.

"He may become immortal and take our place in the celestial world," observed his friend, Guna. "We'll haveto bow and prostrate before him!" "How can we stop his progress?" A third gundharvaalmost wrung his hand in despair.

"We must make him commit a sin so that he'll lose all the spiritual strength that he has gained. Only then will we be safe," suggested Soumitra. After a long and involved discussion, they decided to play a simple trick on Shashanka. To put the plan intoaction, Guna assumed the form of a soothsayer and went to meet King Makaranda.

"Your son has the potential to become the greatestking on earth. You can help clear his way by performing a great animal sacrifice," he said.
"What must I do?" asked the king. "On an auspicious day, you must sacrifice one of every species of animal and bird to be found in your kingdom. And the sacrifice must be done by someone who has conquered hunger and thirst, and has been subsisting only on tulsi-water for more than a year," said the soothsayer.

The more he thought of it, the more King Makaranda liked the idea. He ordered one animal of every kind tobe caught for the sacrifice. He then he made anannouncement that he was performing a grand animal sacrifice for the welfare of the entire land. Such a sacrifice had never been undertaken by any king. The sacrifice had to be performed by one who had conquered hunger and thirst, and had lived on only tulsi-water for one year.If anyone came across such a man, the king was to be informed immediately.
Everyone looked out for an eligible man to perform the sacrifice. At last, a hunter remembered having seenan ascetic in the forest who was never seen eat anything. So, he went to King Makaranda, who immediate lysent a team led by the minister in search of Shashanka."Offer him anything, anything at all, but make him agreeto perform the sacrifice," he told the minister.

The minister met Shashanka in the forest and said: "O holy one, if you conduct this great sacrifice which will benefit the entire kingdom, the king will make you his chief advisor and help you set up a great hermitage and school for aspiring students. "But Shashanka turned down the offer politely. "Killing animals is a sin, even in the name of sacrifice. It is against my principles to do so," he said.

But the minister was insistent. "The king would build for you a great palace with a wonderful garden. You can have whatever you ask for!
"But Shashanka was still not impressed. "They are fine things to possess, but I still prefer my life in the forest .I've a goal to reach!" he replied.
The minister went back to the king and told him what Shashanka had said. The king would not take a ‘no' foran answer. "Tell him I'll give him my kingdom and m ydaughter in marriage!" he roared.

Bhargavi, the beautiful princess, did not like the idea of marrying an ascetic, but her father said they could later go back on their word, and deny the ascetic his dues once the sacrifice was over. Though she did not like the trick that her father intended to play, she agreed to be a party to the ruse, for the good of their subjects.

So Bhargavi accompanied the minister to the forest. "My lord," he told the ascetic, "the beautiful princess of Karnasuvarna will be your wife if you perform the sacrifice. And you shall succeed King Makaranda! "Shashanka looked at the blushing princess and wa stempted to agree to marry her. His spiritual quest was forgotten and he was as if in a trance. ‘To be a king and to be married to such a beautiful princess!' He agreed to the minister's request and followed him into the king's golden chariot.

The sacrificial pit was ready. Thousands of animals were lined up for the sacrifice. The king was watching while the princess looked on tensely. After all, her lifewas hanging in balance, too. Shashanka stood at the mouth of the pit, sword in hand, and in front of him was a wonderful huge elephant waiting to be sacrificed. As Shashanka raised the sword, the elephant instinctively realizing what was to happen raised his trunk and trumpeted in terror. It was a death call; all the animal scried out in unison, in alarm and panic.

The ascetic was as if he was struck: he dropped the sword and turned away. "My lord," he told the king, "I can't do this. Pardon me. And now permit me to go away and atone for my sinful thoughts." Before the king could say a word, he turned and walked away, elbowing his way through the milling crowds who stood mesmerized at the scene.

"The Vetala finished his narration and posed his riddle to King Vikram: "O King, Shashanka was enchanted by the beautiful princess and agreed to perform the animal sacrifice though it was against his principles to kill animals. Yet when it was time for the sacrifice, he suddenly changed his mind and bowed out of the scene. Why did he do such a thing? Did he suddenly lose his courage to be at the sight of so many animals to be sacrificed? Or did he suspect that the king might cheat him of the princess and the kingdom and so he decided not to go ahead with the sacrifice? If you know the answer and still choose to remain silent, your head will split into a million pieces!

"King Vikram answered immediately. "Neither of your conjectures is true! You mentioned that on seeing the princess, Shashanka went into a trance. That was the effect of the stratagem of the gundharvas. But when he was ready, sword in hand, and waiting for the sacrificialrites to commence, the death cry of the elephant and the panic among the other animals jerked him out of the trance. It brought him down to realities and he realized the enormity of the sin that he was about to commit – all for the sake of a kingdom and a wife! That was why he sought the king's pardon and went away — to atone for his evil desires.

"As soon as King Vikram answered the question put by the Vetala, the corpse slipped away from his shoulders and glided back to the tree.