The Guru's Next Life

"I will be reborn as a pig in my next life," the guru said to his loyal disciple. "See that pig over there? I will be her piglet. You'll recognize me by a mark on my forehead. Promise you'll kill me and release me from that life."

"I promise," said the disciple.

The guru died and the disciple mourned for thirty days.

Then he took a knife and grabbed the piglet, but the piglet screamed, "Stop! Don't! I didn't know how nice this life would be. Forget what I said: I want to live as a pig."

The disciple obeyed.

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Inspired by: "Living Like a Pig" in Folktales from India by A. K. Ramanujan

Notes: You can read about the Telugu people of southern India at Wikipedia. This story shares a theme in common with a story told by the ancient Greek writer Plutarch about one of Odysseus's men who does not want Odysseus to undo Circe's magic spell: Gryllus.

pig farm in India