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quite convinced that his son was entirely unfit for the life of a recluse and turned him out of the monastery. As the young son, who was never used to do any work for himself, came out he found it difficult even to obtain any food for himself. Once at a public feast, he ate greedily and soon after died of indigestion. As a punishment for his attachment to sensual pleasures, and overindulgence, he was re-born as a buffalo.
The old man, after his death, was admitted in the world of the gods where through his avadhi-jñāna he knew about his son. Out of compassion for him, he bought the buffalo from its owner and yoked him to a cart and forced him to pull heavy loads. When the buffalo could not drag it, the father flooged him hard. But every time he used the whip, the old man, now turned god, kept on saying, "I cannot go abegging for food." "My feet pain." "I cannot sleep well. The floor is hard." The old man repeated all the complaints that his son had made in the previous existence. The buffalo wondered where he had heard all the words that old man uttered. He tried hard to recollect and suddenly he remembered his previous existence.
The buffalo experienced a flash of enlightenment. He refused all food and starved himself to death and went to heaven.
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