“Then I grant their lives to the rest, my Lord.”
“Thus, then, great king, the deer in the park will have gained security, but what will the others do?”
“They also shall not be molested.”
“Great king! even though the deer dwell secure, what shall the rest of the four-footed creatures do?”
“They also shall be free from fear.”
“Great king! even though the quadrupeds are in safety, what shall the flocks of birds do?”
“Well, I grant the same boon to them.”
“Great king! the birds then will obtain peace, but what of the fish who dwell in the water?”
“They shall have peace as well.”
And so the Great Being, having interceded with the king for all creatures, rose up and established the king in the Five Precepts,[286] and said, “Walk in righteousness, O great king! Doing justice and mercy to fathers and mothers, to sons and daughters, to townsmen and landsmen, you shall enter, when your body is dissolved, the happy world of heaven!”