tale of King Siva, son of Suratha

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from the Mahabharata, tale of King Sivi, hawk and dove:

 

"Markandeya said, 'One day it was resolved by the gods that they should descend

on the

earth and try the goodness and virtue of king Sivi, the son of Usinara. And

addressing each

other,--'Well'--Agni and Indra came to the earth. And Agni took the form of a

pigeon

flying away from Indra who pursued him in the form of a hawk, and that pigeon

fell upon

the lap of king Sivi who was seated on an excellent seat. And the priest

thereupon

addressing the king said, 'Afraid of the hawk and desirous of saving its life,

this pigeon

hath come to thee for safety. The learned have said that the falling of a pigeon

upon one's

body forebodeth a great danger. Let the king that understands omens give away

wealth for

saving himself from the danger indicated.' And the pigeon also addressed the

king and

said, 'Afraid of the hawk and desirous of saving my life I have come to thee for

protection.

I am a Muni. Having assumed the form of a pigeon, I come to thee as a seeker of

thy

protection. Indeed, I seek thee as my life. Know me as one possessed of Vedic

lore, as one

leading the Brahmacharya mode of life, as one possessed also of self-controland

ascetic

virtues. And know me further as one that has never spoken disagreeably unto his

preceptor, as one possessed of every virtue indeed, as one that is sinless. I

repeat the

Vedas, I know their prosody; indeed, I have studied all the Vedas letter by

letter. I am not a

pigeon. Oh, do not yield me up to the hawk. The giving up of a learned and pure

Brahmana can never be a good gift.' And after the pigeon said so, the hawk

addressed the

king, and said, 'Creatures do not come into the world in the same particular

order. In the

order of creation, thou mayst, in a former birth, have been begotten by this

pigeon. It is

not proper for thee, O king, to interfere with my food by protecting this pigeon

(even

though he might have been thy father).' And thus addressed, the king said, 'Hath

any one,

before this, seen birds thus speak the pure speech of man? Knowing what this

pigeon

sayeth, and this hawk also, how can we act to-day according to virtue? He that

giveth up

an affrighted creature seeking protection, unto its foe, doth not obtain

protection when he

is in need of it himself. Indeed, the very clouds do not shower rain seasonably

for him, and

the seeds though scattered do not grow for him. He that giveth up an afflicted

creature

seeking protection unto its foe, hath to see his offspring die in childhood. The

ancestor of

such a person can never dwell in heaven; indeed, the very gods decline to accept

the

libations of clarified butter poured by him into the fire. He that giveth up an

affrighted

creature seeking protection, unto its foe, is struck with the thunder-bolt by

the gods with

Indra at their head. The food that he eateth is unsanctified, and he, of a

narrow soul,

falleth from heaven very soon. O hawk, let the people of the Sivi tribe place

before thee a

bull cooked with rice instead of this pigeon. And let them also carry to the

place where

thou livest in joy, meat in abundance.' And hearing this, the hawk said, 'O

king, I do not

ask for a bull, nor, indeed, any other meat, nor meat more in quantity than that

of this

pigeon. It hath been given to me by the gods. The creature, therefore, is my

food today in

consequence of its death that hath been ordained. Therefore, O monarch, give it

up to

me.' Thus addressed by the hawk, the king said, 'Let my men see and carefully

carry the

bull to thee with every limb entire. Let that bull be the ransom of this

creature afflicted

with fright and let it be carried to thee before my eyes. Oh, slay not this

pigeon! I will yield

up my very life, yet I would not give up this pigeon. Dost thou not know, O

hawk, that this

creature looketh like a sacrifice with the Soma juice? O blessed one, cease to

take so much

trouble for it. I cannot, by any means, yield up the pigeon to thee. Or, O hawk,

if it pleases

thee, command me to do some such thing which I may do for thee, which may be

agreeable to thee, and upon doing which the men of the Sivi tribe may yet in joy

bless me

in terms of applause. I promise thee that I will do what thou mayst did me do.'

And at this

appeal of the king, the hawk said, 'O king, if thou givest me as much flesh as

would be

equal to the weight of the pigeon, cutting it off thy right thigh; then can the

pigeon be

properly saved by thee; then wouldst thou do what would be agreeable to me and

what the

men of the Sivi tribe would speak of in terms of praise.' And the king agreed to

this and he

cut off a piece of flesh from his right thigh and weighed it against the pigeon.

But the

pigeon weighed heavier. And thereupon the king cut off another piece of his

flesh, but the

pigeon still weighed heavier, and then the king cut off pieces of flesh from all

parts of his

body and placed them on the scale. But the pigeon still weighed heavier, and

then the king

himself ascended the scale and he felt no grief at this and beholding this, the

hawk

disappeared there saying--(The pigeon hath been) Saved,--And the king asked the

pigeon

saying, 'O pigeon, let the Sivis know who the hawk is. None but the lord of the

universe

could do as he did. O Holy One, answer thou this question of mine!' And the

pigeon then

said, 'I am the smoke-bannered Agni called also Vaiswanara. The hawk is none

other than

Sachi's lord armed with the thunder-bolt. O son of Suratha, thou art a bull

among men. We

came to try thee. These pieces of flesh, O king, that thou hast cut off with thy

sword from

thy body for saving me have caused gashes in thy body. I will make these marks

auspicious and handsome and they will be of the colour of gold and emit a sweet

perfume,

and earning great fame and respected by the gods and the Rishis thou shall long

rule

these subjects of thine, and a son will spring from thy flank who shall be

called

Kapataroman. O king, thou shalt obtain this son of the name of Kapataroman from

out of

thy own body and thou wilt behold him become the foremost of the Saurathas,

blazing

with renown, possessed of bravery and great personal beauty!"