Once upon a time there was a very famous priest in a small village. He misguided the people of the village into false ways of worship. He believed in sacrificing animals as part of worship.
One day he decided to sacrifice a goat. He ordered his servants to take the goat to the river and wash him and decorate him with flowers.
At the river the goat understood that the time had come for him to die. He also became aware of his past births, deaths and future rebirths. Suddenly he started to laugh. The servants asked him the reason to laugh. Then it stopped laughing and started to cry. So the servants took him to the priest.
The priest asked him what made him laugh. The goat answered that the memory of his previous births came to him and in his previous birth he killed animals and as a result of that he is going to loose his head and with that he will be free from his past wrongful actions. So the joy of this freedom made him laugh.
Then the priest asked the reason to cry. The goat answered that the priest committing the same mistake the goat did in his previous birth and as a result of that the priest will be killed by someone else in his next birth and this made him sad and that was the reason to cry.
The priest was afraid and said that he will not kill the goat. But the goat replied that he will loose the head today for his past wrongful actions.
Suddenly a thunderstorm appeared and the goat died instantly. No one could understand how it happened.
A fairy who lived in a nearby tree appeared saying “Look what happened to this poor goat. This was the result of killing animals. All wish to live not to die. Not seeing that some kill other animals. This causes suffering to those who kill, both now and in future rebirths.
