The Cannibal King’s Redemption

Once, long ago, in the city of Varanasi, a powerful king ruled. He was wise and strong, and in his younger days, he had studied at Taxila, where he became close friends with another ruler—also a king—who had great admiration for him. This second king had a peculiar habit; he ate meat at every meal without exception. But one fateful day, the palace kitchen was ravaged by hungry dogs before dinner, and there was no meat left for the king’s meal. The cook, afraid of the king’s wrath, feared for his life and decided to take drastic measures. He sneaked into the nearby cemetery and, without hesitation, cut off a piece of flesh from a freshly buried corpse. Roasting it, he served it to the king with rice, hoping it would pass unnoticed.

But the moment the meat touched the king’s tongue, an unfamiliar thrill raced through his body. Unbeknownst to him, in a past life, he had once been a goblin who feasted on human flesh. The king’s instincts flared, and he immediately demanded to know what he had been served. The cook, after a moment of hesitation, admitted to the horrifying truth.

The king, overcome with a strange and uncontrollable craving, ordered that only human flesh be prepared for him from then on, and the cook complied, bringing prisoners into the palace to supply the king’s insatiable hunger. The taste of human flesh consumed the king’s mind, and he began to order random killings, sparking terror throughout the kingdom. His thirst for flesh was unquenchable, and the city sank into despair.

The people of Varanasi, in their misery, approached the commander-in-chief, pleading for the king to stop his monstrous ways. But the king refused. As the cannibal king continued his grisly feast, the commander-in-chief tried every approach he could think of, telling the king stories of those who were consumed by their desires, but all were to no avail. One of the stories he told was about a giant fish who, after accidentally eating one fish, became obsessed and began devouring his own followers, leaving the fish population in ruin. Eventually, the giant fish, in his desperation, bit his own tail, thinking it was another fish, and was devoured by his own people.

But the cannibal king remained unmoved by these tales. He countered each story with his own, claiming that without his human flesh, he would die. Yet the commander-in-chief did not give up. He continued to tell stories—of a young man who was tricked into drinking alcohol, leading to his ruin; of a boy who died from starvation because he couldn’t stop craving a rare fruit; and of a man who died from a broken heart because he could not have a beautiful celestial nymph.

Despite the relentless stories, the king remained adamant. He believed his craving was too strong to overcome, and nothing could change his fate. But the commander-in-chief, not willing to give up, came to one final solution. He brought the royal family and harem before the king, demanding he choose between his loved ones and his cravings. The king, unhesitatingly, chose his love of flesh over everything else. And so, he was cast out of the palace, exiled to a distant forest with his cook.

There, in the forest, the cannibal king’s madness only deepened. He turned to hunting innocent travelers and continued his cruel practices. But fate had a different plan. One day, a mystical fairy who lived in the banyan tree near the king’s dwelling appeared, and she informed the cannibal king that he would be granted a path to heaven if he made a proper sacrifice. The king, intrigued, believed the fairy’s words and set out to capture the Bodhisatta—the wise and virtuous king, his old friend, whom he had once studied with. He believed that his friend would make the perfect offering to the divine powers.

So, the cannibal king waited in ambush. As the Bodhisatta set out for a ceremonial bath at dawn, the cannibal king seized him and carried him off. Yet, as they traveled, the Bodhisatta did not weep out of fear, as the king expected. Instead, the Bodhisatta wept because he had made a promise to a brahmin to return and hear verses of wisdom. He told the cannibal king that he would fulfill his promise, and he asked to be released to do so. The king, surprised by the Bodhisatta’s honesty, agreed.

The Bodhisatta kept his word and returned to the palace, where he gave the brahmin a royal audience, delighting in the teachings the brahmin shared. But the Bodhisatta had more important work to do. He returned to the cannibal king’s forest lair the following day, and in the presence of the one hundred kings the cannibal king had taken captive, he spoke words of wisdom that stirred the king’s soul.

The Bodhisatta recited sacred verses about virtue, impermanence, and righteousness, and as he spoke, the heavens themselves echoed with divine approval. Moved by the Bodhisatta’s words, the cannibal king had a change of heart. He realized the depth of his wrongdoings and began to weep, confessing his sins and vowing to change. The gods of heaven roared in approval, and the one hundred captive kings were released and freed from their torment.

The Bodhisatta, seeing an opportunity to redeem the cannibal king, made four wishes: first, that the king be given a long and peaceful life; second, that the captives be freed and never harmed again; third, that they be safely returned to their kingdoms; and fourth, that the cannibal king would give up his gruesome taste for human flesh forever. The cannibal king, filled with fear of hell and hope for redemption, agreed, and thus he was saved.

In time, the cannibal king returned to Varanasi, where the people, moved by the Bodhisatta’s intervention, forgave him. The cannibal king was re-crowned and ruled with wisdom and righteousness for the rest of his days, bringing peace to his kingdom. And the Bodhisatta, ever compassionate, continued to guide him and others to the path of virtue.

Moral:
Cravings, once indulged, can grow uncontrollable and lead to great suffering. True happiness and liberation are found not in yielding to desire, but in transcending it through wisdom and self-mastery. Even the most depraved soul can find redemption when guided by compassion, virtue, and the willingness to change.