Seeing me being harried, a spirit said to me: ‘Kill that vile, wicked thing with your horns and hooves.’
When he spoke, I said this to that spirit: ‘Why would you smear me with a wicked, ignoble carcass?
If I were upset with him I would degrade myself, violating my ethics, and being criticized by sensible people.
Better to die from purity than live in shame. How could I, for the sake of life, harm another?’
Thinking of me, this one will do the same to others, and for that they will kill him. Then I shall be free.
Forgiving disrespect from the low, middle and high, the wise one gains their heart’s desire.”
The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood The Chapter on an Elephant The Perfection of Ethics (6th) Ruru the Deer King’s Conduct
“Then again when I was the king of deer named Ruru, in appearance I was like burnished gold, focused on the highest ethics.
There was a pleasant, delightful region, free of humans, so I went there and stayed on a lovely bank of the Ganges.
Then a man upstream, harassed by creditors, fell into the Ganges, thinking, ‘I live or I die!’