Jataka — Prince Sattva and the Starving Tigress
In this most famous Jataka tale of self-sacrifice, the Buddha in a past life was born as Prince Sattva (sometimes called Prince Mahasattva). While wandering in the forest with his brothers, he came upon a starving tigress too weak to nurse her newborn cubs, about to eat them out of desperation. Overcome with compassion, the prince sent his brothers ahead, then lay down before the tigress, offering his own body. When she was too weak to even bite him, he cut his throat with a sharp stick. The tigress and her cubs survived by eating his flesh, and the prince attained a higher spiritual state thr