'Who to his subjects wishing good, himself exerts,
Thus brings about salvation, glory, happiness.
No other should be of a king the business.'
And it may be added as follows: '(The prince) who strives after material prosperity, ought to act in accordance with the precepts of religion, thinking a religious conduct of his subjects to be the source of prosperity.'
Further this is here to be said: 'Injuring animals never tends to bliss, but charity, self-restraint, continence and the like have this power; for this reason he who longs for bliss must devote himself to these virtues.' And also when discoursing on the Tathâgata: 'In this manner the Lord showed his inclination to care for the interests of the world, when he was still in his previous existences.']
This story is not met with elsewhere, it seems, at least in this shape. No. 50 of the Pâli Gâtaka is told with the same intention but in a different manner. The resolve of the Bodhisattva and his stopping bloody sacrifices is better accounted for in our text.
XI. The Story of Sakra.
(Comp. Fausb., Gât. I, p. 202, translated by Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, pp. 284-287.)