So nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to test his goodness.
And this was the way of the testing.
One day as the King sat in his great Hall of Justice, there came in at the window a poor frightened grey dove, nearly spent with flight, and flew straight against the heart of the King. Looking up, the King saw an eagle in pursuit, and without a moment’s hesitation he opened his white robes to shelter the dove.
The eagle turned its piercing eye upon the King. “So this, then, is your justice,” he said. “You rob me of my food.”
Sibi Rana and the Dove
“Nay,” said the King, “on the contrary, food equal in weight to the bird shall be given to you.”
“Whatever food I desire?”
“Yes, whatever you desire.”
“But if I desire your own flesh?”