And the King said: “Thy prayer is granted: thou didst ask for one eye, behold I will give thee both eyes.”
And then the news spread quickly through the town that the King was about to give his eyes to a blind Brahmin, and the Commander-in-Chief and all the officials gathered together that they might turn the King from his purpose.
And they said: “O great King, are there not other gifts which thou canst bestow upon this sightless Brahmin—money, jewels, elephants with cloth of gold? Why shouldst thou give to him that most precious of gifts, thy royal eyes?”
And the King said: “Behold, I have taken this vow, and I should be sinful if I were to break it.”
And the courtiers said: “O King, why doest thou this thing? Is it for Life, or Beauty or Strength?”
The King answered: “It is for none of these things: it is for the joy of giving.”
Then the King bid the Surgeon do his work. And when one of his eyes was taken out, he gave it to the Brahmin, and it remained fixed in his socket like a blue lotus flower in bloom. And the King said: “The eye that sees all things is greater than this eye,” and, being filled with ecstasy of joy, he gave the second eye.
And after many days and much suffering, the King’s sight was restored to him—not the natural eyes which see the things around—but the eyes which see perfect and absolute Truth.
And he reigned in righteousness and justice, and the people learnt of him pure wisdom.