A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.230

v2.c19.s3.t2.230

In the fairy tales of man-eating giants too, genuine popular fairy tale motifs mingle with moral tendencies. These cannibal fairy tales are associated with the name of King Kalmāṣapāda, familiar from Brahmanical literature, who became a cannibal through a curse. The real point of the Buddhist narrative however, is that the pious King Sutasoma is caught by the cannibal and again released by him, in order to redeem his promise to a Brahman, but again returns to the monster to be devoured, according to his promise, whereupon the cannibal, touched by such a love of truth, is converted.²