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 2nd 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 2nd 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
