On the banks of the River Bhagirathi, there is a hill called Griddhakuta, and upon it grows a giant parkati tree. In its hollow trunk there lived an old vulture called Jaradgava. Fate, in its cruelty, had deprived him of claws and eyes. The other birds who lived in that tree would, out of pity, give him some of their own food, and on that he lived. In return, he guarded their young in their nests.

One day a cat called Dirghakarna came there with the intention of eating the young birds. The little birds in their nests saw the cat approach and set up a terrified squawking and screeching. At this, the old vulture called out, “Who comes here?”

The cat saw the vulture and grew afraid. “Oh no! I am dead!” he said to himself. Had he known of the old vulture guarding the nests, he might have been more careful, but now there was nothing to be done. “I can’t escape this vulture even if I run,” he thought, “so now let whatever will be, be.” And reasoning thus with himself, the cat went up to the vulture and greeted him respectfully.

“Who are you?” asked the vulture.
”I am a cat.”
“Take yourself off at once, you villain, or I will kill you!” said the vulture.

“First hear what I have to say, good sir, and then, if I still deserve to die, kill me,” said the cat. "After all, it is not right that anyone, anywhere, should be killed or honoured merely on account of their birth. No, it is their conduct alone that should determine if they are to praised or punished!”

“Tell me, then,” said the old vulture, “why have you come here?”

“I live here on the banks of this holy river, bathing daily in its sacred waters, eating no meat and observing the month-long fast of the Moon,” replied the cat. “The birds all praise your knowledge and virtue, and so I came here, to learn about right conduct from you, steeped in the wisdom of years. But you are so virtuous that you seek to kill a guest! It is your duty to look after a guest, for in a guest reside all the gods!”

“You are a cat, cats like meat, and young birds live here,” replied the vulture. “That is why I said what I did.”

The cat pretended to be horrified, and touching first the ground and then his ears, declared, “I have undertaken this difficult fast after studying the scriptures and renouncing all passions, and while the scriptures might disagree with each other on many points, they all agree that non-violence is the greatest virtue. Those who give up all forms of violence and abstain from hurting others go straight to heaven. So why would I commit the grievous sin of killing when I can fill my stomach with the fruits and roots that grow in the forest in plenty?”

Thus convincing the vulture that he meant no harm, the cat began to live in the same hollow of the parkati tree. When a few days had passed, he began to catch the young birds and bring them, one by one, to the hollow, where he would eat them.

The birds whose young had been eaten were besides themselves with grief. With sorrowful cries, they began to search everywhere for their missing children. The cat, seeing this, decided it was time to leave, and quietly slunk away.

Meanwhile, the distraught parent birds found the bones of their young ones in that same hollow of the parkati tree. They immediately decided that the old vulture had eaten their children, and combining together, the birds killed the vulture there and then.

Never give shelter to one whose nature and disposition is unknown.