A very long time ago in the Indian city of Varnasi lived a grand and wise buck who was known to all as the Banyan King. His fur was like shimmering gold and he had onyx colored hooves. He also had eyes with the luster of emeralds! The Banyan King was loved not only by his own herd, but also by the Branch King, another exquisite golden deer who ruled over another nearby heard. The Branch King so admired the Banyan King that he often came to him seeking advice on all matter of things.
The King of the city of Varnasi was known as a great and wise man, however, his weakness was his desire for fresh meat every day, with his absolute preference being deer meat. Because of this weakness, the King and his hunters would ride every day in search of deer upon which he could feast. In order to accomplish this, the King made all of the villagers abandon their daily tasks of farming, baking, sewing or anything else they might be doing so that they could run through the woods frightening the deer and causing them to run out into the open, making them easier targets for the King and his companions. This took a terrible toll on the lives of the villagers, as it took precious time away from their necessary daily activities.
During one of these afternoons, a young girl from the village suggested to the other villagers that they should herd all the deer into the Kings private park, so that he would be able to hunt whenever he wished and would be able to leave the villagers to their own duties. All of the villagers thought this was a wonderful idea and so the next day, they did just that. Amongst the deer entrapped in the Kings park were both the Branch King and the Banyon King.
The young girl was so proud of her idea that she went to the King personally and told him what she and the other villagers had done. The King was very pleased and thanked her and the others for their fine efforts.
While regarding his new herd of deer, the King spotted the two beautiful golden bucks and declared to all his hunters that these two deer should never be harmed, as they were too splendid. Instead, he shot an arrow away from them and into the herd, hitting a nearby doe. She was injured, but did not die until many more arrows pierced her body.
After some time, the King grew bored of this activity and simply sent his personal cook out into his park to slaughter a deer for his dinner. This constant attack on the deer population caused much fear amongst the deer and very often many of them were hurt just trying to run away. In an effort to protect as many members of his herd as possible, the Banyon King called a meeting of all the deer. During this meeting he suggested that all the deer draw lots to see who would be the sacrifice for the Kings dinner, that way none of the other deer would be injured trying to escape the bow and arrow because the choice would be predetermined.
