Dog's Life

It had been quite a while since I read a comic book, therefore, could not resist asking a colleague for Amar Chitra Katha’s triple volume of Mahabharata. Around the same time on a visit to an insurance broker’s office, found an almirah full of books, and as luck would have it, picked up Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya, which is the original name of the epic Mahabharata.  While people keep the Ramayana at home and is read by family members together, it is said that it is inauspicious to keep the Mahabharata at home as its presence leads to disputes in the family. And here we were with not one but two copies of the same dreaded book at the same time- the comic version was meant for me and the book version was for D. Maybe after thirty years of marriage, we’ve overcome many a Mahabharata of our own.

So then, both of us started reading the wonderful saga together, sitting on two different sides of the bed. After the initial enthusiasm, I could not go beyond the first volume of the comic book. The text in it seemed quite childish, even though the stories were being narrated in a simple manner. It somehow was not being able to hold my attention for long and I had to make an extra put-on effort to read it, just to show my wife that my decision to read the comic version was better than hers! It often happens that what seemed wonderful in childhood does not appear so great when revisiting later in life. It is better to leave those happy memories in our hearts and no attempt should be made to relive those moments again. D, on the other hand, took a huge liking to the longer version and was all praises for it. The author had done a good job of not only keeping it brief but tried maintaining honesty to the original version and added small, interesting anecdotes and folk tales sourced from various texts and different parts of the country to make it interesting. She even started drawing up in a diary, the family trees of various kings, hermits and gods to understand how each of the families were linked and how destinies of all were to again meet in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Everyday, when I returned from work, I would be treated to some new character or story from the mythology that she had read that day. She kept on pestering me to start reading Jaya. And then finally I decided to accept her advice and started reading the book and soon got hooked to it.

You must be wondering why I have chosen the strange heading for the blog. Am I leading you to Dogs of War situation and trying to retell the stories of valour and betrayal, sacrifice and greed, vice and integrity of those who came face to face in the greatest war ever fought? No, that day is not today. Today I am sharing with you two stories from Mahabharata where dogs played an important role.

The first one appears at the end of the epic and is one which is known to most but is still worth a revisit.

After establishing a strong kingdom post the Kurukshetra with Parikshit on the throne, the Pandavas felt it was time to leave behind the royal life and they walked together towards the snow clad virtuous peak of Mandara which touched Swarga or heaven. Even Draupadi followed the five brothers as they planned to enter the realm of Gods. As they walked the treacherous path, Draupadi fell off the mountain first and then in some time it was Sahadev and then Nakula. The remaining three brothers walked ahead without looking back. Then it was the turn of Arjuna and Bhima to fall down and then it was just Yudhishtira who walked ahead alone. It seemed, all except Yudhishtira, had flaws that prevented them from reaching the Gates of Heaven.

“Come inside”, said the Devas as they welcomed the lone Pandava to the Garden of Amravati, “But keep the dog out”, they added. “Which dog?” asked a surprised Yudhishtira as he turned around to find a dog wagging his tail standing behind, whom he identified as having seen in the city of Hastinapur. The dog had survived the cold and had followed Yudhishtira all the way to the peak. The dog looked at Yudhishtira and licked his hands in adoration. While the devas contended that the dogs are inauspicious  and dirty and cannot be admitted into heaven, Yudhishtira argued in vain that the dog should be allowed entry for it had earned the right after having undertaken the journey and survived.

Matters came to head when Yudhishtira said, ”Either I come in along with the dog or I do not come in Heaven.” “You refuse paradise for the sake of a dog!” exclaimed the Devas. They then smiled and said, we are pleased at your integrity and the dog following you is none other than Dharma or the God of Righteous Conduct.” Yudhishtira was then welcomed with great fanfare into the Gates of Heaven.

I personally have serious doubts about the right of Yudhishtira to enter heaven for it was almost his single folly in that dice game with Shakuni which culminated in the bloody war and his deceiving Dronacharya about the death of Ashwathama. The epic throws up a new facet about this entry into Heaven of which I was not aware of till I had read the book this time. When Yudhishtira entered Heaven, he found all the Kauravas there but none of his brothers. He asked angrily, “How did these warmongers reach Amravati?” To which the Devas replied that all of the Kauravas were killed in battle in the holy land of Kurukshetra and thus had purified themselves to enter the Gates of Heaven.

One of the morals of the story is that you should not treat dogs badly, who knows they may be the Devas following you and testing you hard sometimes with a rabid bite as well. Secondly you will be often surprised at the heavenly justice and find strange people in heaven when you go there…possibly they too would have died in battlefield…Heil Hitler!

The second story is based on a folk tale from Punjab and is completely a new twist to a thing we have all seen in life, but gives you a plausible explanation to the ‘act’.

Draupadi was known as Panchali or the wife of five men.  So, mythology says, the characters then planned it out to manage such a situation where five men had one woman to themselves. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas had declared that each of the five brothers would be with Draupadi for one year at a time. There was another rule that no brother could enter the bed chamber of Draupadi when she was there with the brother whose turn it was at that moment. Things were going on fine and to ensure that no one even by mistake breached this rule of not entering the bed chamber, it was decided that the footwear of the man who was with Draupadi would be kept outside the room, signaling to the other four brothers that they shouldn’t enter the chamber at that moment.

It so happened that one day Draupadi was with Yudhishtira whose footwear was kept outside the chamber. A stray dog entered the palace and took away the footwear. Arjuna came looking for his bow and not finding a footwear outside, he assumed Draupadi was alone, he entered the room. Seeing him, Draupadi was embarrassed and cursed the dog that since his actions caused her intimate moments to be known to another, all dogs in future would copulate in public in full view of all, stripped of all shame.

Please do not ask me how authentic this folk tale is, just read it, shut it and forget it…surely you will not forget this easily, will you? After all men will be men! Do not ask me for the moral of this immoral story. The only thing that comes to mind is Amar Chitra Katha is Sanskari and children should be encouraged to read it and no more lest they be polluted with such F-tales… Folk tales.

SS