Sarama and Her Children

by Bibek Debroy

  Second, they confirm killing of dogs was punishable. If a brahmana kills a dog, the recommended penance is one-sixteenth of the penance for a great sin. Moreover, as penance for killing a dog, one has to live on water for three days (payah pivet triratrantu).28 In so far as killing is concerned, dogs belong to the same category as frogs, mongooses, crows, pigs and rats.

  Third, one should not eat dog meat. Among prohibited meat was the flesh of lions, tigers, cats, dogs, pigs, jackals, monkeys and donkeys.29 On his travels in India, Hiuen Tsiang (629–45 CE) said, ‘Fish, mutton, gazelle and deer they eat generally fresh, sometimes salted; they are forbidden to eat the flesh of the ox, the ass, the elephant, the horse, the pig, the dog, the fox, the wolf, the lion, the monkey, and all the hairy kind. Those who eat them are despised and scorned, and are universally reprobated; they live outside the walls, and are seldom seen among men.’30

  Fourth, a dog’s life was not very comfortable. For instance, take the case of a sinner. When he is old, he nears death and his body becomes disfigured from age. His sons then neglect him the way one neglects a house dog.31

  Fifth, dogs were instruments of torture in hell. Dogs and vultures tore at the bodies of sinners.32 In some instances, there is a specific number. There may be kings or royal personages who harm their subjects through poison or arson or fail to protect travellers. When such evil people die, 720 terrible dogs will tear their flesh in hell.33 There is a taxonomy of 55 crore hells. And one of these is named Shvabhojana, meaning that one is eaten there by dogs.34

  Sixth, those who were evil were reborn as dogs, or as women, shudras and svapakas.35 There was a clear hierarchy and progression here. When one progressed to the animal stage, one was first born as a donkey, then successively as a shit-eating pig (that is, a domestic pig as opposed to a boar), a dog, a crow, a chandala and a shudra.36 There was a king named Hemanga. He donated cattle, land, gold and sesame seeds to brahmanas, but failed to donate any water. Consequently, he was reborn for three lives as a chataka bird, for one life as a vulture and for seven lives as a dog. Only after this was he reborn as a gecko.37 Markandeya Purana (8/135–48) has a dream sequence, where King Harishchandra is not actually reborn, but dreams of successive rebirths, first as a shit-eating dog, then as a donkey and so on through elephant, monkey, goat, cat, crow, cow, sheep, bird, worm, fish, tortoise, boar, deer, cock, etc. Not that this progression was always consistent. For example, the Markandeya Purana (5/10–11) also mentions a transition from mongoose to wolf, dog, jackal, crane, vulture, frog and crow. Alternatively, if you cheat your teacher, you are reborn as a dog.38

  Many years ago, there was a king named Shatadhanu.39 He had a righteous wife named Shaivya. Shaivya was humble, kind, devoted to cleanliness and the truth, and faithful towards her husband. Shatadhanu and Shaivya decided to pray to Vishnu. This they proceeded to do, through sacrifices and prayers undertaken every day. On one such occasion, when there was a full moon in the month of Kartika, husband and wife fasted and bathed in the waters of the river Bhagirathi. Just as they had finished their bath, they noticed a sinner. This sinner was a friend of king Chapacharya, whom king Shatadhanu knew well. By virtue of this acquaintance, king Shatadhanu chatted with this sinner, although queen Shaivya held her tongue and, indeed, glanced at the sun to cleanse herself from the sin of having glanced at the sinner. The sacrifice to Vishnu was performed. Soon after, king Shatadhanu died and Shaivya immolated herself on the same fire. But because Shatadhanu had chatted with the sinner, he was reborn as a dog. Shaivya was reborn as the daughter of the king of Kashi. The princess refused to marry. With her divine sight, she knew that her husband had been reborn as a dog in the city of Vidisha. She went to Vidisha, hunted out the dog and gave it a lot of good food to eat. The dog ate the sweet rice and as is the habit of dogs, began to fawn on the princess. Shaivya was ashamed at this fawning displayed by her husband. So she reminded Shatadhanu about what had happened in his earlier life. Having remembered, the dog went to the top of a mountain and hurled itself down on the desert. Shatadhanu was now reborn as a jackal. After the same process, with Shaivya’s intervention, the jackal killed itself and was reborn as a wolf, then as a vulture, then as a crow, then as a peacock. And finally as a human prince who remarried Shaivya.

  Seventh, sacrificial offerings were rendered unclean by dogs. Ancestors and gods do not partake of offerings at shraddha (funeral) ceremonies at which dogs, pigs and monkeys cast a glance.40 Assorted diseased humans and chandalas are also included in this prohibited list. Chickens, pigs and dogs must not be allowed to touch shraddha offerings, nor approach such ceremonies.41 Even the glance of a dog (or pig or chicken) spoils a funeral ceremony.42 A brahmana should not touch food touched by a dog, a crow or a chandala.43 As a very extreme example of the same syndrome, a menstruating woman who is touched by a dog or a chandala, does not become pure until she has had a bath.44 Matysa Purana (227/26) describes the kind of prisons kings should construct. And these prisons should be such that camels cannot look in and pigs and dogs cannot enter.

  Eighth, there was the association with chandalas, mentioned earlier. Thanks to encountering the sage Vishvamitra’s rage, Harishchandra was sold to a chandala in Varanasi. And the chandala gave him the job of looking after the cremation ground (shmashana). One-sixth of any wealth obtained from dead bodies belonged to the king, half to the chandala and one-third to Harishchandra. At the cremation ground, Harishchandra is described as surrounded by vultures, jackals and dogs (shvavrindaparivaritam), other than ghosts and demons.45 Extrapolated, brahmanas had no business to be associated with dogs. There may be evil brahmanas who use domesticated dogs and donkeys to help them with their hunts. Once such evil brahmanas die, they are pierced with arrows in hell.46 Those who keep dogs or cats or chickens, go to the hell named Vaitarani.47 And in extreme form, a brahmana who touched a dog or a shvapaka would have to perform penance.48

  The story about the Adi Shankaracharya is therefore understandable. One day, in Varanasi, Shankara and his disciples were going to the Ganga to have a bath. They approached Manikarnika Ghat. A terrible looking chandala approached from the other direction, and he had four chained dogs with him. ‘Chandala! Please stand aside and move your dogs so that we may pass,’ said Shankara. The chandala paid no attention, so Shankara repeated his request. The chandala now burst out laughing and spoke in Sanskrit shlokas. ‘Who are you asking to step aside?’ he asked. ‘The soul or the body? The soul is everywhere, always pure and is inactive. As for the body, it has no will of its own. How can it move aside? In any case, how is my body different from yours? You are supposed to be learned and wise. Why do you then suffer from this false pride? Is there any difference between a brahmana and a chandala? Is there any difference between the sun that is reflected in the water of the Ganga and the sun that is reflected in some wine? And you call yourself learned!’ Shankaracharya was ashamed and stunned. The chandala and the dogs vanished and Shiva appeared in their place.

  Nevertheless, the unclean dog sometimes helped, as in the following story. King Vena was wicked.49 Nonetheless, after his father retired to the forest, Vena began to rule the entire world. (His father was righteous, but his grandfather was wicked and Vena took after his grandfather.) He decreed that there was no need for sacrifices. There was no need for the gods. There was no need for the vedas. The sages protested, but Vena would not listen. At this, the sages uttered mantras over a piece of straw and used this to slay Vena. Now the earth had no ruler. Robbers ruled and subjects suffered. People begged the sages to find a solution. How could the earth continue without a ruler? Thereupon, the sages kneaded Vena’s dead body. When the left arm was kneaded, the forefather of hunters (nishads) emerged. When the right arm was kneaded, the great king Prithu emerged. He ruled the world extremely well. However, Prithu was still concerned about what had happened to his father Vena after death. Thanks to the sage Narada, Prithu got to know that Vena had been reborn among the mlecchas (unbelievers). And because of his past sins, his body was diseased
. As a son, Prithu had to do something about this.

  The sage Narada told him that the only solution was to take Vena to a place of tirtha (pilgrimage). Prithu recovered his ex-father, who was now suffering from leprosy and tuberculosis, and took him to the sacred pilgrimage centre of Kurukshetra. The idea was that Vena would bathe in the sacred waters there. But immediately voices were heard from heaven, asking Prithu to desist. Vena had been a great sinner. If he bathed in the waters of the tirthas, he would only pollute the waters. So Prithu was asked to do the bathing instead. After bathing, he would sprinkle the waters from his body on Vena’s body. That was the general idea. Days passed. And father and son were at a tirtha on the banks of the river Sarasvati.

  There was a dog. This dog had been a kulapati earlier. Is this a reference to the dog that appeared in the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana? The kulapati performed his tasks well. However, on one occasion, he committed the crime of stealing the property of the gods. Thanks to this, when he died, he was taken before Yama who commanded that he should be born as a dog. The dog lived in the company of other dogs. One day, the dog was thirsty and entered the waters of the river Sarasvati. This immediately freed the dog from all its sins. However, the dog was thirsty and entered the hut where Vena was. The dog looked frightened and Vena stroked it. At this touch of the sacred waters of the river Sarasvati, Vena was immediately freed of his disease. Vena prayed to Shiva and was freed from all his sins. Reminiscent of Yudhishthira, Vena prayed that the dog should also be freed. And Shiva promised that the dog would also attain heaven, interpreted as Shivaloka. This is the only instance of a dog having actually gone to heaven and we should note that this is Shivaloka.

  Given this negative association, it is rather intriguing that dogs have been used for divination.

  Systematized discussions of divination on the basis of animal behaviour first began to appear in the early centuries of the common era, in such works as the sixth-century Brhat Samhita (‘Great Compendium’) of Varahamihira. Although it was mainly devoted to astrology, this work devoted a number of chapters (especially chapter 89) to the oracular interpretation of animal behaviour, and particularly to the prediction of future events in the light of the random behaviour of urinating dogs. Varahamihira’s observations would be duly reproduced, nearly verbatim, in at least two other sources. These were the twelfth-century Manasollasa (‘Splendour of the Mental Faculties’), an encyclopedic work attributed to kin Bhulokamalla Somesvara—which devotes portions of the thirteenth chapter of its second volume to urinating dogs—and a portion of chapter 83 (verses 275–312) of the Sarngadhara Paddhati50 entitled ‘Traveller’s Omens Deriving from the Auspicious Movements of Dogs.’ Sarngadhara immediately singles out the dog as the most eminent of all omen creatures. He clearly states his reasons for his choice: the dog’s wide variety of behavior patterns, as well as its bark, are easy to understand. Dogs are, moreover, easy to come by and easier to approach and observe than are wild animals or birds … Perhaps as a result of the familiarity that has obtained between the human and canine species, the dog is, in its behavior, more like man than are any other creatures. Dogs talk (bark), cry, show joy, yawn, scratch themselves, hiccup, cough, urinate, defecate, have sex, eat, drink, sleep, and so on, in ways that are quite human.51

  Such divination also exists in other texts. For instance, before one is beginning a journey, if deer, snakes, monkeys, cats, dogs, pigs, mongooses, mice or birds are seen on the right hand side, that is a good sign.52

  Sarngadhara Paddhati notes, ‘White is the color associated with brahmans; red with ksatriyas; yellow with vaisyas; and black with sudras … It is the stated opinion of the sages that concerning the dog, black is the only natural colour.’53 Gordon White suggests some reasons why dogs are not that liked and why they have been identified with outcastes. They are indiscriminate about when they sleep, what they eat, with whom they have sex (members of their immediate family, females in menses), etc. There is also the association of dogs with cremation grounds and death. But this association also exists in other countries and that has not prevented the dog from being accepted. There is also something else that is distinctive, the act of canine intercourse and the special characteristic of a bitch’s vagina, so that the penis is temporarily stuck.

  Dog behaviour for purposes of divination figures prominently in a purana like the Agni Purana, where such divination sections exist (232/14–20). Here is a sample. If dogs howl in an army division, camp, royal capital or residence (skandhavara), that signals the death of brahmanas. Similarly, howling in the central hall (indrasthana) signals the death of kings and in temples (gopura) the death of the ruler of the city. And howling in the interior (antahpura) of a house signals the death of the householder. But if a dog sniffs the left side of your body, your wishes are fulfilled. If it sniffs the right side, there is reason to be frightened. When you are about to embark on a journey and a dog approaches you from the opposite direction, the journey will be impeded. If a dog obstructs your path, you will suffer from theft. You will lose something if the dog has a rope, a piece of cloth or a bone in its mouth. But if it has meat in its mouth, your desire will be satisfied. And it is also a good sign for a dog to have hair in its mouth. If it urinates in front of you and departs, that is a bad sign. But if the dog heads towards a tree, that is a good omen. There is also the rather odd mention of dogs with horns. If dogs with horns are seen, monkeys have a tough time.54

  In North India, particularly in undivided Punjab, a somewhat unorthodox variety of Hindu astrology prevailed and was different from what is described as Hindu or Vedic astrology. Although this drew on oral tradition, several books on this kind of astrology were published in the 1940s, and since these were red volumes, this variety of astrology is known as ‘Lal Kitab’. Dogs are conspicuously present in this variety of astrology and are associated with Ketu. A black and white dog is believed to be a true representative of Ketu. Similarly, a pure black dog has Saturn’s influence and a pure golden dog has the Sun’s influence. Since Ketu represents sons, male members, travel and so on, ill-treatment of dogs brings travails in these. For propitiating Ketu or Saturn (Shani), one needs to serve a black dog, and if Ketu is particularly bad (in the 12th house), even keep a dog in the house. Perhaps the most intriguing statement is that to propitiate a really bad Ketu, one needs to serve three kinds of dogs—a real dog (preferably black), the son-in-law and the daughter’s children.

  Table 1: Gods and goddesses and their vahanas

  God or goddess

  Vahana

  Agni

  Ram

  Brahma

  Swan

  Chandi, Durga

  Lizard, lion

  Chandra

  Deer

  Ganesha

  Rat

  Ganga

  Makara (fish or crocodile)

  Indra

  Ucchaishrava (horse), Airavata (elephant)

  Jagadhatri

  Tiger

  Kamadeva

  Makara, parrot

  Kartikeya

  Cock, peacock

  Shri/Lakshmi

  Lion, peacock, goose, owl

  Manasa

  Elephant

  Sarasvati

  Sheep, lion, peacock, swan