Story:The Great Shibi Chakravarti Once upon a time there was a King named Shibi. He was very generous and just. If anybody approached the king for any help, he would never return disappointed. King Shibi would always take care of the needs of all his subjects. Once a pigeon came to King Shibis court. It was trembling with fear. The king lovingly held it in his hands. Just then, a hawk flew towards King Shibi and said, O king, return my prey to me. However King Shibi refused and said, This pigeon has taken refuge with me. If I return it to you, you will eat it and I shall acquire sin. The hawk said, I am hungry and this pigeon is my food. If you snatch away my food from me, I shall die of starvation. Wont you acquire sin then? King Shibi replied, No, that is not my intention. You ask for any other food and I shall give it to you. The hawk said, I eat meat. You give me your flesh, equal in weight to that of the pigeon. To the shock of everyone present King Shibi readily agreed. He ordered his men to get a weighing scale. The pigeon was kept on one side of the weighing scale and Shibi placed a piece of flesh from his thigh on the other. To everyones surprise, no matter how much flesh was cut from the kings body and kept in the scale, it still could not outweigh the pigeon. Finally, King Shibi himself sat on the scale. Suddenly, the pigeon and the hawk vanished and in their place stood Agnidevata (The Deity of Fire) and Deity Indra. They both blessed King Shibi and said, O King. We had come here to test you. You really are very kind and just. They restored his body and left the palace. Because Shibi did his shariira Daanam to save the life of a sharanaagati, we now also remember him. Whenever people talk about maha-daatas, his name will surely be taken. That is why even the Gods had to descend from the heavens to bless him. We should learn to be kind and helpful to others. Morals in the story: The Daana-gunam and Dharma-rakshana of Shibi must be learnt by all of us. The knowledge of the Dharma-shastras helped Shibi decide what to do in the difficult situation.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 02:18:04 +0000
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