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RATNASAR JATAKA (Story of his previous birth)
"In the land of Bharata, in the city of Rajpur, there reigned King Jitasatru, whose son was Srisar. The prince had three friends in the son of a general, the son of a minister and the son of a merchant One day there was a theft in the king's harem and the thief was caught red-handed by the police chief Now, as the police chief was taking the thief to the execution ground, he saw the prince on the way. On enquiry by the prince, the police chief on his own part gave an account about the theft, but the thief also got a chance to apprise the prince of his part of the story On hearing the two versions, the prince turned to the police chief and said,
"As the case concerns my mother's ornaments, you leave the thief with me. I shall deal with him appropriately."
"The prince brought the thief outside the city, where he gave him good counsel not to steal any more. The fellow was truly inspired and he took the vow not to steal. So the prince set him free.
"The prince's enemies came to know of this and reported the matter to the king. The king at once sent for the prince, rebuked him severely and ordered him to leave the city. His friends too went with him. As the four had gone a long way, they reached a forest and spent three days there. On the fourth day, they reached a village They cooked their food and were about to eat when a monk came there, Amiable by nature, the prince served him food and the minister's son, and the merchant's son approved of it The general's son however, suggested that some food should be kept aside for their own use
"After some time, as the king's wrath was pacified, he
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