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Ushinara, a MythSource painting
Indian

Ushinara

01Identity

Ushinara in Indian tradition

In the Mahabharata’s Vana Parva, King Ushinara is tested during a sacrifice. A dove pursued by a hawk drops onto his thigh and asks for protection. The hawk argues that it too must live, and that its mate and young will starve if the king takes away its food. Ushinara listens to both claims, but refuses to surrender the bird that has sought refuge with him. He offers the hawk other food, then proposes a harder exchange: flesh from his own body equal in weight to the dove.

The scales do not balance as he expects. The flesh he offers still weighs less than the dove. He has no more flesh left to weigh, so he steps onto the scale himself. At that point the hawk reveals himself as Indra and the dove as Agni, who have come to test the king’s promise to protect. The episode shows Ushinara weighing the hungry hawk’s claim against a frightened creature’s plea for refuge.

SourceMahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts): Mahabharata Vol. 3, Vana Parva, Sections 427(130)-429(132), Ushinara’s test by Indra and Agni

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Ushinara

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Ushinara Protects a Dove

During a sacrifice, a dove pursued by a hawk alights on King Ushinara’s thigh and seeks shelter. The king promises protection. The hawk says the dove is its destined food, and that its wife and young will also suffer if it dies of hunger. Ushinara hears the claim, but will not hand over a frightened creature that has come to him for shelter. He offers the hawk other animals instead; the hawk refuses and asks for the dove’s weight in the king’s own flesh.

Ushinara agrees. He cuts flesh from his body and puts it on one side of a scale, with the dove on the other. The dove remains heavier. The king adds more of his flesh, until there is none left to offer; still the balance does not change. He climbs onto the scale himself. Then the hawk identifies himself as Indra and the dove as Agni. They explain that they came to test Ushinara’s conduct, and praise his act of protecting a creature that sought refuge.

Ushinara Protects a Dove, a MythSource painting of the scene

4 sources· checked 2026-10-03

  1. 1Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)T1
  2. 2Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)T1
  3. 3Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)T1
  4. 4Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)T1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Ushinara, each on that figure’s page.