The people in King Brahmadatta’s kingdom were very superstitious. When they prayed to God, they always offered animal sacrifice, along with flowers and perfumes. They believed that God would not hear their prayers without the sacrifice. The king’s eldest son was very wise. He was a Bodhisattva in previous birth. He thought, ‘I must stop this superstition. It is very unfair to kill so many animals needlessly.’ One day, the prince rode to a banyan tree in the middle of the city and started offering prayers. The people were delighted to see the prince and said, “Please tell us how we can help you. Which animals do you want us to bring for sacrifice?” The prince replied, “We must sacrifice the anger and evil thoughts within us, instead of killing innocent animals.” From that day onwards, the people of the kingdom stopped animal sacrifice.
Moral: Sacrifice your own wrongdoing, not some helpless animal.