Episode 53
Story of the king Sibi – a king known for bounteousness
[i]
King Sibi is a well-known known
name in the annals Indian mythology. Sibi is known for his charity, bounteousness,
truthfulness and the sense of Kshatriya dharma of giving protection to the
refugee.
When Moral Science happened to be
a subject, this story invariably used to find place in textbooks of children
just some two decades back.
Apart talking about the virtues of
charitable nature, the story discusses dharma and supreme dharma (parama
dharma).
The story indirectly distinguishes
morals and ethics and underscores the importance of ethics.
The Story
Lomasa Maharshi was as usual
taking the Pandavas to different tirthas of spiritual significance and he was
narrating the significance of each and every important place. Dharmaraja was the chief listener and he was interested in
knowing the dharmic deeds that exist anywhere or everywhere.
On their way, they came across Yamuna
river surrounded by two rivulets- Jala and Upajala. Lomasa asked the Pandavas
to take bath in the holy tirtha once inhabited by a famous Samrat Sibi. ‘Who
was Sibi? How was he great?’, Dharmaraja curiously enquired with Lomasa.
Once upon a time, there lived a
great king, Sibi who was known for his charity, truthfulness and righteousness.
His fame was such that there was none who left empty handed from his place. One day Lord Indra and Agni wanted to test his charitable
nature. Indra assumed the form of a falcon and started chasing Agni who
assumed the form of a pigeon.
The pigeon was in the grip of fear
and rushed towards Sibi and hid behind his thighs. The Kshatriya
was supposed to protect whoever that sought refuge and ‘śaraṇāgatavatsalata’ distinguishes
Kshatriya from others (क्षतात् त्रायति इति क्षत्रियः - kṣatāt trāyati iti kṣatriyaḥ). Sibi gave
protection to the pigeon. The chasing falcon reached Sibi’s place and perched
upon a prominent place- eager to catch hold of its prey. The pigeon was
shuddering with fear at the sight of the falcon.
The falcon started telling: ‘Oh,
king! You are known for your righteousness and dharmic deeds. You know that the
pigeon is my food and by giving protection to the
pigeon, you are committing the sin of commission. You release the pigeon
and don’t come in the way of my natural food.
मा रक्षीर्धर्म लोभेन
धर्ममुत्सृष्टवानसि |[ii] (Don’t protect it with adharma. In fact, by giving protection
you are violating dharma’).
The king heard the falcon. ‘Oh,
Falcon! With fear gripped in its heart, this pigeon has approached me for protection.
It is seeking protection for its life. Protecting the person from life threat
is Parama dharma (supreme dharma).
यो हि कश्चिद् द्विजान्
हन्याद् गां वा लोकस्य मातरम् |
शरणागतां च त्यजते तुल्यं
तेषां हि पातकम् ||[iii]
(Killing
of a dvija(person refined by rites), killing of the mother cow and desist the refugee
are all equal sins. They stand on equal footing. So, I cannot abandon this poor
pigeon).
The clever falcon did not leave
the king. ‘Oh, king! All living beings sustain on food. When this pigeon escape
from my hands, I shall die of hunger. All my family members who depend upon me
for food shall also perish. By protecting one pigeon, you become the cause for
the death of other birds. Certainly, this is not dharma’.
धर्मं यो बाधते धर्मः
न स धर्मः कुधर्म तत् |
अविरोधात् तु यो धर्मः
स धर्मः सत्य विक्रम ||[iv]
(‘Oh,
king! Listen. If a dharma of a person troubles the dharma of another person,
that is adharma. That is dharma which does not obscure dharma of others”)
‘Oh, king! While deciding which is
apt dharma, one should follow the golden principle of ‘GURU LAGHAVA CHARCHA’
(which dharma gives more merit over the other) and follow that’.
The king was pleased by the nice
presentation by the falcon. He felt whether Garutmanta (the birds’ king and the
vehicle of Lord Vishnu) came there in the garb of falcon.
The king said, ‘I believe you know
the nuances of dharma thoroughly. But how can you think that leaving the person
who seeks refuge with you is good? All your efforts and
arguments are for earning the food only. Well! I can provide your food in a
different form. You choose the meat of any other animal, say- cow, bull,
pig, deer or anything. I shall give you all, but I shall not let this pigeon
which has sought refuge with me’.
The falcon thought for a while and
told, ‘Oh, king! I don’t eat all those animals leaving aside the one chased by
me. Oh king! Pigeon is the food given to me by gods.
Vedas also say that falcon’s food is pigeon’.
But the king was ready to give
away the entire kingdom or any object in the kingdom except the pigeon. Then
the falcon told, ‘Oh, king! If you love this pigeon so much, you can compensate
me by giving your flesh’.
‘Oh, falcon! You have blessed me.
I shall give my flesh right now’. Then the pigeon was
put on one side of the balance and the king started cutting his limbs and he
was personally putting the flesh on the other side. But it was a
surprise. No amount of king’s flesh could match the weight of the pigeon. Then
the king got and came up to sit on the other side of balance.
The people in the court were
petrified by seeing the sacrifice of the great king. Suddenly the falcon and
the pigeon disappeared, and all the people could see Indra and Agni blessing
the king. Indra told, ‘Oh king, we have come to test your bounteousness and you
have come out in flying colours. Your fame will remain, and you will be
remembered by the people as long as the sun and the moon shine in the firmament’.
Then the gods disappeared.
Lomasa completed the narration and
told, ‘Hey! Yudhishtir, this is the place of king Sibi. Let us see this and get
blessed by Sibi’.
Understanding the story
King Sibi is a well-known known
name in the annals Indian mythology who is known for his charity, bounteousness,
truthfulness and the sense of Kshatriya dharma of giving protection to the
refugee.
When Moral Science happened
to be a subject, this story invariably used to find place in textbooks of
children just some two decades back. The story is a source of inspiration
to the generations of people over centuries to follow Sibi and imbibe his
qualities. In our classics we find Karna, Sibi, Dadhichi, Rantideva etc who
stood to their charitable traits at the cost of sacrificing their lives.
Apart from eulogizing the trait of
bounteousness, the story discusses dharma and supreme
dharma (parama dharma). While the falcon scholarly argues for dharma invoking
gods and vedas, the king stood for supreme dharma.
स्येनाः कपोतान् खादयन्ति
इति शृति प्रमाणः | (Falcons eat the pigeons, say the veda).
The
falcon harps on this dharma as ordained by Veda. But dharma is intricate, and the
general dharma can not be infallible. At one place Gita advocates to rise above
Vedas to pursue Higher Truth.
त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो
भवार्जुन।
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो
निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्।।[v] - Gita 2.45।।
(The Vedas deal with the three
modes of material nature, O Arjun. Rise above the three modes to a state of
pure spiritual consciousness. Freeing yourself from dualities, eternally fixed
in truth, and without concern for material gain and safety, be situated in the
self – Translation by Swami Mukundananda).
The greatness of Sanatana dharma
is that it is never dogmatic. It says to discard Vedas if necessary and raise
above to seek spiritual consciousness. No other religion advocates to shun its
own recognised sacred book. Hence Sanarta dharma is way of life and not a
religion. Sibi reached this pinnace of perfection and stood by the supreme
dharma. He stands for शरणागत तत्परता (śaraṇāgata
tatparatā - protecting the refugee) which is supreme
dharma. Ahimsa (non-violence) is the bedrock upon which
Buddhism and Jainism are construed and all other dharmas have to give way to this
supreme dharma. Sibi, being a Kshatriya, he holds śaraṇāgata
tatparatā as his supreme dharma.
While teaching students of school
of Business, we discuss Ethics and Morals. While both
are absolutely necessary for preserving the rhythm in the society, morals can
be discarded sometime to uphold ethical principles. Morals change from
time to time, place to place and person to person. They operate on lower plane.
When morals are subject to rationality, ethics evolves.
Hence, ethics operates on a higher plane.
Here Sibi is pondering
on ethical plane allowing space to morals to operate. He is not
denying food to the falcon. He is prepared to compensate meat but not trying to
disown his ethical values. The story of Sibi is a nice case study for younger
generations of students for discussing higher truths.
The story of Sibi is one of the
best stories of Vana Parva which talks of ethical values operating on the
higher plane.
Points to ponder
1.
Discuss the differences between Ethics and Morals?
2.
What are the fundamental traits to distinguish
supreme dharma?
3.
When there is a clash between dharma and supreme
dharma, how did Maha Bharata sort it out?
4.
How do you justify that the story of Sibi is a best
case-study for business students?
Footnotes
śaraṇāgatāṃ ca tyajate tulyaṃ teṣāṃ hi pātakam || -Vana Parva
131. 6
avirodhāt tu yo dharmaḥ sa dharmaḥ satya vikrama || - Vana Parva
131.11
nirdvandvo nityasattvastho niryogakṣema ātmavān।। Gita 2.45।।
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