SELF-SACRIFICE: SUFFERING AND DYING FOR ANIMALS
There was once a very kind and generous king called Shibi. One day he was sitting
on his palace terrace when a dove flew straight into his lap, and lay trembling there.
“Grant me refuge!” pleaded the dove to the king. “Fear not, little dove, for I will
protect you,” said the king.
Then a hawk arrived, in pursuit of the dove. “Give me my dinner,” said the hawk to
the king. “I cannot allow you to eat this dove,” said King Shibi, “for I have granted
him protection.” “Then what am I supposed to eat?” asked the hawk, “I am starving
and will surely die if I don’t get a meal soon. And my family will starve too, if I
cannot bring this dove to them.”
The king offered the hawk all kinds of alternative foods, but the hawk refused,
saying “I only eat fresh meat.”
“Then have some of my flesh,” said the king. The courtiers cried out in alarm.
“Bring some scales!” commanded the king, and they brought out a huge set of scales
and placed them in the centre of the terrace. On one side of the scales the king
placed the dove, who was still trembling with fear. Then King Shibi took his sword
and began slicing pieces of flesh off his own thigh and placing them on the other
side of the scales, aiming to equal the weight of the dove. But however much flesh
he added to the scales he could not equal the bird’s weight. It was very strange.
Despite the wailing of his courtiers and the extraordinary pain of his open wound,
the king kept slicing. Eventually, unable to equal the dove’s weight, the king
climbed up onto the scales, declaring to the hawk: “Eat me! Spare the dove!”
At that moment the birds transformed. The dove revealed himself as the god Agni,
god of the fire. The hawk revealed himself as the king of the gods, Indra. “We came
to test the extent of your goodness,” Indra declared, “and we are more than
satisfied!” Indra healed the king’s wounds and the two gods disappeared, leaving all
the humans astounded by the events.
http://www.storyandreligion.div.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/King-Shibi-and-the-Dove.pdf
Detailed version with original sources:
https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/maha-prajnaparamita-sastra/d/doc225478.html
SELF-SACRIFICE: GIVING UP FAMILY
"Shibi once slew his own son to satisfy a Brahma, who saw his folly and resurrected the boy back to life." (Like the Biblical Abraham)
SELF-SACRIFICE: GIVING UP ORGANS
"Indra came as a blind person to King Shibi and asked him to donate one of his eyes so that he could regain his sight partially. Sibi, however, offered both eyes for the complete restoration of the blind man's sight. The ready willingness of king Sibi to sacrifice both his eyes moved Indra into revealing his true form and blessing the king."
RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM: INFLUENCE ON GREEK AND ISLAMIC TRADITIONS
DANA: THE ART OF GIVING
Proper "giving" has two moral components - 1) selflessness, and 2) unmeasured