King Shibi's compassion¹⁰

There was once a very great king. This king was kindness, compassion and self-giving incarnate. Not only his own subjects, but the subjects of other kings as well, appreciated him immensely. Nobody could come near him in virtue. He had a galaxy of virtues.

Now, Lord Indra sometimes allowed himself to be tortured by jealousy. He was the King of the Cosmic Gods, so it was too much for him that a mere human being could be so mightily appreciated, admired and adored by the whole world. He decided to examine King Shibi.

Brahma and Indra were very dear friends, so Indra went to Brahma to seek Brahma’s opinion and advice. Brahma immediately gave Indra advice. Then both of them took the form of birds, and they came down to earth. Indra played the role of a beautiful dove, and Brahma took the form of a hawk.

Indra the dove flew down and fell on King Shibi’s lap. The bird was crying for protection; it was utterly helpless. Why? Because the hawk was chasing it. The hawk wanted to kill and eat the dove.

The dove was begging and begging Shibi for protection. Shibi said, “Do not worry! You are now in my hands. Nobody will be able to kill you. I will protect you, I will protect you.”

The dove was so happy. It said to the king, “I heard that you are the greatest self-giver. Here is the proof.”

Once more Shibi said, “I will protect you.”

Then the hawk came and said, “Yes, it is your duty, O King. It is your duty to protect the ones who are suffering, to protect the needy. But where is your justice? This dove belongs to me. I found the dove, and it is my prey. I am so hungry! I am so hungry! Will you not think of me? Do you not have any concern for me? I must eat, I must eat! Will you not pay any attention to my hunger? This is not my greed; it is my genuine hunger. I chased the bird and now it is mine.” The hawk argued that it had every right to seize the dove.

At first, King Shibi was so surprised that these two birds had the capacity to talk like human beings in a language he could understand. Then he said to the hawk, “Can we substitute the meat of some other creature? Will you agree?” This was nothing other than King Shibi’s self-giving nobility.

The hawk answered, “I will only agree if you substitute the meat of a human being — specially your meat!”

All those who were present became furious. They wanted to kill the hawk. What kind of audacity it had to ask for the flesh of their beloved king!

It did not take a moment for King Shibi to say, “I am ready. If you want my flesh as compensation, I will give you whatever you require from my own body.”

Then the hawk said, “It has to be the same amount. On the scales it has to balance. Whatever the dove weighs, you have to offer the same amount of flesh from your body.”

“Oh, that is nothing!” said Shibi. Then he started chopping off flesh from his own body and putting it on the scales. Shibi’s wife and his entire family and the members of the court were all crying so pitifully. They were cursing and cursing the hawk, but they were helpless to prevent what was taking place. On one side of the scales was the dove, and on the other side was Shibi’s flesh. He continued cutting off his flesh until the two sides became equal in weight.

Then, all of a sudden, the dove and the hawk disappeared and Indra and Brahma took their own forms. Indra blessed Shibi and said to him, “I am really pleased with you. You have such nobility, such courage, such compassion and such generosity. And you keep your promise.” In the twinkling of an eye, Indra gave Shibi back his perfect body. Shibi regained his full health, his robust health.