Dog's Life

Few months ago I visited Sai Baba temple near Bhadrakali temple, Warangal.  There is a room beside the hall having main deity.  In this room there is also idol of Sai Baba and Lord Dattatreya.  A dog was seen lying in the corner.  It was not afraid of any visitors.  It looked rather sick and unable to move.  Actually a dog is not allowed into the temple.  I don’t know why the temple staff allowed it to rest there.  Lord Dattatreya is followed by dogs as per Hindu mythology.  As idol of Lord Dattatreya was there and dog is associated with him, I think the temple staff did not mind the dog being there.

Since the day I have seen this I wanted to write something about dog and its association with man and mythology.  Dog is the first animal that is domesticated by man.  It is adapted to living with man for more than 5000 years.  There are many type of breeds, some meant for hunting, some for guarding and some for entertaining as a simple pet. Dogs are good at tracking with strong sense of odour.  Dogs can be trained to understand humans and work for them.  Their strong olfactory sense is used by the Police department world over in tracking criminals and lethal objects and drugs.  Modern police department will have dogs as employees and treated well.  The shepherds or farmers have dogs to protect their sheep and cattle and also guard their homes. 

The commonest pet animal in the world is dog.  A well trained dog forms part of family.  It is taken care of as any other member in the family and often stands as emotional pillar of support for lonely person.  Once taken care of, its love is supposed to be unconditional.  It can adjust to social norms in the family.  Its attachment to its loved ones is permanent. 

The dog though regarded as icon of faithfulness, is socially adjusted and adapted to live and serve man, loved as a member in the family is considered a lowly animal.  The carnivorous domesticated mammal is kicked as much as it is pampered.

Dog and Religion:

Christianity (W)

In most religious scriptures there will be mention of dog in some context, as pet or guard or suggesting lowly beast.  In Bible the dog is mentioned 18 times (www.Dogquotations.com) with many interesting dog quotations.

God made earth, sky, water, sun, moon, man, bird, and beast but not the dog as he already had one – Native American saying.

Islam (W)

Islam regards dog as unclean animal and should not be kept in home.

Buddhism (W)

Buddhism considers every being is sentient including dog.

Zoroastrians (W)

Zoroastrians regard dog as beneficent, clean and righteous creature and drives away the demons.  The dog is believed to guard the ‘Chinwad Bridge’ to heaven.  Zoroastrians are supposed to take utmost care of dogs, feeding them and particularly it is important for a house owner, if there is pregnant dog near his home, he has to take care of it until the puppies are born and are able to take care of themselves.  Sangdid (dog sight) is a funeral ceremony in which a dog is brought into the room where the dead body is lying (to make sure that the person was really dead).

Hinduism

 In Hinduism dog is considered as the messenger of Yama (God of Death).  God Yama has two dogs, Sarameyas, each guarding hell and heaven.  The Sarameyas are said to be the offspring of the divine dog Sarama.  Sarama is Indra’s (King of Heaven and other gods) dog, which pursued and recovered the cows stolen by asuras and hidden in ‘pathala’.

Lord Bhairava or the Kala Bhairava regarded as manifestation of Lord Shiva in furious form has the dog as his vehicle.  Lord Dattatreya the manifest of trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara) is followed by four dogs. 

In Mahabharat when King Yudhishtara was walking towards heaven initially his four brothers, Draupadi and a dog followed him.  On the way, one after other, Draupadi and brothers fall dead.  Yudhishtara walks forward without looking back for his kin.  Finally when he reaches heaven he is accompanied by dog.  Indra asks Yudhishtara can enter heaven with mortal body leaving behind the dog.  Yudhishtara refuses saying that it had followed him all along the way and he cannot leave it, he can as well give up heaven.  Then Indra is pleased and dog takes original form of Yama and praises Yudhishtara for being a benevolent king.  Yudhishtara enters heaven with mortal body which is never possible for any other mortal being.

Adi Shankaracharya, a great saint and religious scholar well versed with Vedas, was once walking along the Ganges at Kaashi along with his disciples.  He saw a man with dogs (Chandala, a lowly person) coming opposite his way.  He asked the man to move away from his path.  Then Chandala questions him who has to move whether his mortal body or that of dogs; all which were made of five elements or the ‘atman’ which is nothing but part of ‘paramatma’ that is Omniscient and Omnipresent. That question dawns the fundamental message of Vedas, that everything manifest is nothing but Almighty.  Atman is same in all beings and it is pure.  A realised soul will never find any distinction between any being and sees that Almighty pervades the Universe.  Adi Shankaracharya bows to the Chandala and realises that Lord Shankara himself had come in guise to make him realise the essence of Vedas.

Dog festival (W)

Hindus in Nepal celebrate Tihar a five day festival, which in general is festival of lights – similar to Deepavali in India.  The variation is that in Nepal during this festival reverence is showed not only to Gods and elders, but also to animals like crow, cow and dog.  Dog is worshipped on 2^nd day, Kukur Tihar.

Dog in China (W)

The dog is one of the 12 animals honored in Chinese astrology.  A year in Chinese calendar is named after dog.  The 2^nd day of Chinese New Year is considered as the birthday of all dogs and on that day people take care to be kind to dogs.  For Chinese dog meat is a delicacy.  But they do not kill the pet dog for meat.  Different dogs are reared for meat.

Dogs in India

Unlike in West in India dog is kept as pet in few house holds.  There are many stray dogs or village dogs which survive on food thrown out in dust bins or stale food.  Though not cared in particular by any single individual the street dogs do guard the streets and whenever it sees a suspicious person, or a new person in the street in the night it will start barking.  In India the dog is more of a guard in rich people’s houses than as pet in general.  It surprises me the amount of care taken by children and adults of their pet dog in West, allowing it inside the house and sharing bed and sofa with it.  One of my cousins once commented that being a pet dog in West is more pleasurable than being a poor man in India.

Dogs -Diseases

If a dog is kept as pet good care should be taken of its habits and regular vaccines should be given to prevent any diseases to it.  Some of the diseases can be transmitted from dogs to human beings.  The common ones are worm infestations.  People who handle and fondle dogs should wash their hands with soap before eating.  The most fearful disease that can be transmitted from dog is Rabies.  This is a viral infection and the affected dog falls sick and dies within a week or two.  During the course of its illness it may become ferocious and bite everyone in its way.  Its saliva contains virus and if that enters the body even through a minor injury can result in Rabies which is in generally fatal.  Any person bitten by a stray dog should take anti rabies vaccine.  Even if the pet dog is not vaccinated, bite by pet dog also needs immediate attention and treatment with vaccine.

I do not know if other state people in India believe it, we in Telangana believe that a dog can see impending death.  If a dog keeps crying regularly in the night or early hours it is said that death is lingering nearby and someone in the family or locality will die soon.

 

In nature every being has its purpose.  Dog, the first domesticated animal by man, serves man faithfully and needs reverence. 

W = Wikipedia