Indra and the Dove Reveal Their Divine Identity
As Ushinara ascends the scales, the hawk reveals itself as Indra and the dove as Agni. They came to test his dharma. Indra proclaims that Ushinara's deed will be celebrated as long as men speak in this world. Lomasha then shows Yudhishthira the sacred site where it happened.
The hawk spoke.
O one learned in dharma, it said. I am Indra. And that dove is the bearer of the sacrificial offerings — Agni himself.
We came to your sacrificial grounds to test you about dharma.
The king, stripped of flesh, stood on the scales. The gods stood before him in their true forms.
Indra said: This deed of yours — your cutting off flesh from your body — will be resplendent in the world. O king, as long as men talk in this world, so long will your eternal deed be established in this world.
The story ended there, in the telling. But Lomasha, the sage who had narrated it, turned to Yudhishthira and pointed.
O Pandava, he said. Behold the seat of that great-souled king. It is sacred and the cleanser of all sins. Look at it with me. It is here that the gods and the eternal sages are always seen by brahmanas (holy men), who are great-souled and performers of holy deeds.
The ancient story and the present pilgrimage met at a single point of ground — the place where a king had given everything, and the gods had witnessed it. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 428