Ushinara Cuts His Flesh to Save the Dove

The hawk said: If you have so much affection for the dove, cut some flesh from your own body and weigh it against the dove. When your flesh equals the dove's weight, give it to me and I will be satisfied. Ushinara replied: I think this request of yours is a favour. I will give you an equal amount of my own flesh. He was learned in supreme dharma. He took a blade and cut flesh from his own body. He placed it on the scales against the dove. The dove was heavier. He cut more flesh and placed it on the scales. Still the dove was heavier. He cut again. And again. Piece after piece. The dove remained heavier each time. There came a point when there was no more flesh left on his body to cut. The scales still did not balance. The dove — small, fragile, barely filling a man's cupped hands — weighed more than all the flesh Ushinara had given. So the king, having given up all his flesh, ascended the scales himself. He placed his own body — what remained of it — on the balance. He gave the last thing he had to give: himself.