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.And so too with thesecond, third, fourth and fifth kings.In the same way the sixth king was cap-tured.But one of his loyal bodyguards leaped outfrom hiding and thrust his sword deep into theside of the brave Knowing-one.With bloodstreaming from the wound, he carried the cham-pion knight and the captured sixth king back tothe city.When the knight saw the terrible wound, hesuddenly became afraid to ride the weakenedKnowing-one against the seventh king.So he be-gan to dress in armour another powerful warhorse, who was really just as big as Knowing-one. 105Seeing this, though suffering in great painfrom his deadly wound, Knowing-one thought, This champion knight has lost his courage soquickly.He has not understood the true nature ofmy power the knowledge that true peace is onlywon by peaceful means.He tries to defeat the sev-enth king and his armies in the ordinary way, rid-ing an ordinary horse. After taking the first step of giving up thekilling of living beings, I cannot stop part way.My great effort to teach a new way would disap-pear like a line drawn in water! The great horse Knowing-one spoke to thechampion knight. Sir knight, the seventh kingand his armies are the mightiest of all.Riding anordinary horse, even if you slaughter a thousandmen and animals, you will be defeated.I of themighty tribe of Sindh horses, the one calledKnowing-one, only I can pass through them harm-ing none, and bring back the seventh king alive! The champion knight regained his courage.The brave horse struggled to his feet, in greatpain.While the blood continued to flow, he rearedand charged through the four armies, and theknight brought back the last of the seven warlikekings.Again all those in his path were sparedfrom harm.Seeing their seven kings in captivity,all the armies laid down their weapons and askedfor peace. 106Realizing that the great horse Knowing-onewould not live through the night, King Brahma-datta went to see him.He had raised him from acolt, so he loved him.When he saw that he wasdying, his eyes filled with tears.Knowing-one said, My lord king, I haveserved you well.And I have gone beyond andshown a new way.Now you must grant my lastrequest.You must not kill these seven kings, eventhough they have wronged you.For, a bloody vic-tory sows the seeds of the next war.Forgive theirattack on you, let them return to their kingdoms,and may you all live in peace from now on. Whatever reward you would give to me,give instead to the champion knight.Do onlywholesome deeds, be generous, honour the Truth,and kill no living being.Rule with justice andcompassion. Then he closed his eyes and breathed hislast.The king burst into tears, and all mourned hispassing.With the highest honours, they burned thebody of the great horse Knowing-one theEnlightenment Being.King Brahmadatta had the seven kingsbrought before him.They too honoured the greatone, who had defeated their vast armies withoutspilling a drop of blood, except his own.In hismemory they made peace, and never again did 107these seven kings and Brahmadatta make war oneach other.The moral is: True peace is only won bypeaceful means. 10825Dirty Bath Water[Cleanliness]Once upon a time, in a kingdom in India,the finest of the royal horses was taken down tothe river to be bathed.The grooms took him to thesame shallow pool where they always washedhim.However, just before they arrived, a filthydirty horse had been washed in the same spot.Hehad been caught in the countryside and had neverhad a good bath in all his life.The fine royal horse sniffed the air.Heknew right away that some filthy wild horse hadbathed there and fouled the water.So he was dis-gusted and refused to be washed at that place.The grooms tried their best to get him intothe water, but could do nothing with him.So theywent to the king and complained that the fine welltrained royal stallion had suddenly become stub-born and unmanageable.It just so happened that the king had an in-telligent minister who was known for his under-standing of animals.So he called for him and said, Please go and see what has happened to my 109number one horse.Find out if he is sick or what isthe reason he refuses to be bathed.Of all myhorses, I thought this one was of such high qualitythat he would never let himself sink into dirtiness.There must be something wrong. The minister went down to the riversidebathing pool immediately.He found that thestately horse was not sick, but in perfect health.He noticed also that he was deliberately breathingas little as possible.So he sniffed the air andsmelled a slight foul odour
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