The Righteous Butcher

One evening in the forest of exile, Yudhishthira sat with the sage Markandeya and turned over in his mind a question that troubled him. He had given his life to dharma - to truth, to duty, to right conduct - and dharma had repaid him with a lost kingdom and years in the wilderness. Meanwhile men of no learning and small piety seemed to prosper.

"Holy one," he asked, "who truly knows dharma? Is it the learned brahmin deep in his scriptures? Is it the ascetic burning with the heat of his penance? Or can a plain man, who has read nothing and renounced nothing, understand righteousness better than they?"

Markandeya smiled, for it was the question he loved best. "Let me tell you," he said, "of a proud young brahmin named Kaushika, who thought that learning and penance had made him great - and of the two ordinary people who taught him that he knew nothing at all about dharma. One was a humble wife at her cooking. The other was a seller of meat in the marketplace of Mithila. Listen, son of Kunti, and learn where wisdom truly hides."

The brothers leaned in, and the old sage began the tale of the righteous butcher.