Dogs in Mahabharata

Dogs have an important role to play in Mahabharata. The first parva in Mahabharata is the Pausya Parva.

This starts with with Sarama, the celestial dog, who comes to Janamajeya and rebukes him for striking her son.

janamejayaḥ pārikṣitaḥ saha bhrātṛbhiḥ kurukṣetre dīrghasattram upāste tasya bhrātaras trayaḥ śrutasenograseno bhīmasena iti
teṣu tat satram upāsīneṣu tatra śvābhyāgacchat sārameyaḥ sajanamejayasya bhrātṛbhir abhihato rorūyamāṇo mātuḥ samīpam upāgacchat

(Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, was, with his brothers, attending his long sacrifice on the plains of Kurukshetra. His brothers were three, Srutasena, Ugrasena, and Bhimasena. And as they were sitting at the sacrifice, there arrived at the spot an offspring of Sarama, the celestial dog).


In the end of Mahabharata, when the Pandavas hear of the death of Krishna and their mother, they decide to leave all to Parikshit, Arjuna's grandson and leave on a journey towards heaven. There also Yudhistira is accompanied by dog, who eventually turns out to be Dharma, in the guise of a dog.

Sad thing

I saw something this morning which saddened me.

On the main road, I saw this playful lab (dog) running around trying to play around with people.
It was a fairly young dog.

The owners had left town, and the dog had been abandoned. Hungry but playful,m the dog was looking for companionship.

If I had the option, I would have taken the dog home with me.

Neither here nor there

This is for Kousik and his question.
It came from a conversation about the washer man's dog.

In Hindi there is a saying :

DHOBI KA KUTTA
NA GHAR KA, NA GHAT KA

 (The washer man's dog
Not of the house or the washing place).

The origin, I think relates to another abused animal, the donkey.

Traditionally, the washer man would have a donkey. The laundry load would be piled on the donkey's back. Then it would reach the spot, usually the banks of a river, where the washing would happen. The dog would remain at home, guarding the house.

On the days when the donkey was not there, the washer man would put the load on the dog, and lead it to the river.

And among the other donkeys and the washing, the dog would be totally at a loss - neither here nor there.

This is how I think I saying came to be.