by Bibek Debroy
In the evening, the man asked the animals if they had worked. ‘Yes,’ squealed the pig. ‘I have plouged the entire field. But the dog was lazy and slept throughout the day.’
‘The pig is lying,’ said the dog. ‘I have worked throughout the day.’
The man did not know whom to believe. Next morning, he went to the field to see for himself and found the dog’s prints all over the place. There were none of the pig’s. So the man returned home and beat up the pig. Since then, the dog has been man’s best friend and is allowed to live in the house. He is called ‘Ko-Ko’, which means, ‘You did the work’. As for the pig, he is not allowed inside the house, but has to live outside. And the pig is called ‘Mo-Mo’, which means, ‘You didn’t do any work’.
Tenalirama flourished in the court of king Krishnadeva of the Vijaynagara kingdom and was a bit like a court jester. Here is a dog story from Tenalirama’s exploits, though the story is an attempt to establish the brahmana’s supremacy.
Changing a black dog into a white one
One day, the king was sleeping, although it was well past the time when one should get up. The royal barber came to shave the king, but found that the king was still sleeping. Without waking the king up, the barber shaved him carefully. When he woke up, the king looked at himself in the mirror and was very pleased at what he saw. He called the barber and asked him what he would like as a prize.
‘Please make me a brahmana,’ replied the barber.
The king summoned several brahmanas. ‘You have six months,’ said the king. ‘You must make this barber a brahmana and eat with him. You must allow him to sit with brahmanas. If you fail in your task, I will confiscate all your lands.’
The brahmanas were very unhappy at this order. But what could they do? The king’s order was the king’s order. They made the barber bathe thrice a day. They taught him rites, rituals and the mantras. After six months the king decided to find out if his orders had been complied with. When the brahmanas came to know that the king would come to visit them, they were terrified and ran to Tenalirama for help.
Tenalirama promised to help. He found a black dog and chained it to a tank near the place where the brahmanas lived. He lit a sacrificial fire and began to perform rituals with the help of priests. The dog was bathed and taken round and round the sacrificial fire. The dog did not like this at all and kept on barking. But Tenalirama persisted. Every once in a while, despite the barking, the dog would be bathed and taken round and round the sacrificial fire. And the chanting went on. While all this was going on, the king turned up, on his way to visit the brahmanas.
‘What is going on? What are you doing to this dog?’ asked the king.
‘I am trying to change this black dog into a white one,’ replied Tennalirama.
‘Don’t be silly. How can a black dog turn into a white one?’ asked the king.
‘Why not?’ retorted Tennalirama. ‘If a barber can become a brahmana, why can’t a black dog turn into a white one?’
The king came to see the folly of his ways.
Gopal Bhand
Gopal Bhand is, in some ways, the Bengali counterpart of Tenalirama. He is supposed to have been a jester and a wit in the court of Raja Krishnachandra Roy (1710–83), although Gopal Bhand’s historicity is doubtful. However, Gopal Bhand stories flourished in local Bengali literature in the first half of the nineteenth century.
A neighbour borrowed two rupees from Gopal Bhand and refused to return the money. This made Gopal very angry and he decided to visit his neighbour, so that he could get his money back. But on the way, he met the neighbour’s younger brother who told Gopal Bhand not to go to their house, because they had a dangerous mongrel dog. It was trained to tear apart creditors. Gopal returned to his house and ventured forth again, with a club on his shoulders. As he was headed towards the neighbour’s house, he ran into that younger brother again. ‘Where are you going with that club?’ asked the brother. ‘You said that you have a dog in your house,’ replied Gopal Bhand. ‘So I have now got a club with me. There is a club for every dog. Let me see if I can handle the dog.’
Birbal
There are several stories about Birbal and the emperor Akbar. We know Birbal possessed a dog, because it features in one of these stories. ‘Who is powerful?’ asked Akbar. ‘Time is powerful,’ replied Birbal and promised to demonstrate this at the right time.
On a later occasion, the emperor and Birbal were out walking and a mad elephant came running towards them. They were scared, but Birbal picked up his dog and threw it at the elephant’s forehead. The dog must have therefore been walking with Akbar and Birbal. Anyway, the descent of the dog on his head quietened the elephant. ‘Now you see the magic of timing,’ said Birbal.
The following Ranga and Bhanga story is a Bengali folk tale, retold by Upendrakishore Raychoudhury.7
Ranga and Bhanga
There was an old lady, so old that she bent down when she walked and had to use a stick for support. The old woman had two dogs, named Ranga and Bhanga. The old woman wanted to visit her granddaughter and told the dogs, ‘Don’t go anywhere. Stay at home.’
The dogs agreed and the old woman set off, with her stick for support. After she had gone a short distance, she met a fox. ‘Old woman, I am going to eat you up,’ said the fox.
‘Wait for a while,’ replied the old woman. ‘I am all skin and bones now. There is nothing for you to eat. Wait until I become fat and plump at my granddaughter’s house. You can eat me when I return.’ The fox agreed.
After she had gone a little further, the old woman met a tiger and the same conversation transpired, and yet again with a bear.
Having reached her granddaughter’s house, the old woman ate a lot. She ate curds and cream, so much so that had she eaten a little more, she would have burst. It was time to return. But she was so fat that she was unable to walk. She would have to roll. Moreover, the bear, the tiger and the fox would be in wait. However, the granddaughter had a solution. ‘Get inside the shell of this large gourd,’ she said. ‘The bear, the tiger or the fox won’t know that it is you.’
The granddaughter put some tamarind and puffed rice inside the gourd for her grandmother to eat along the way and gave the gourd a kick. Off the gourd rolled and soon passed the bear. The bear examined the gourd, but decided it was not something he could eat. He gave the gourd a kick and it rolled even further, right up to the tiger. The tiger examined the gourd, but decided it was not something he could eat. He gave the gourd a kick and it rolled even further, right up to the fox. The fox was cleverer. He burst the gourd open and out came the old woman. ‘Old woman, I will eat you now,’ said the fox.
‘Of course, you will,’ replied the old woman. ‘That’s the reason I have come back. But how about some songs first?’
The fox agreed. After all, he also prided himself on his ability to sing. They climbed a small hillock and the old woman began to sing, ‘Come here, Ranga and Bhanga,’ she sang.
Immediately, the two dogs came running. One grabbed the fox by his neck. The other grabbed the fox by his waist. And they tugged and pulled. The fox’s neck broke. The fox’s waist broke. His tongue came out. His life left his body. But Ranga and Bhanga kept on tugging and pulling.
There is another famous folk tale from Bengal where dogs play a peripheral role. In this tale, known as ‘Kiranmala’, there were three sisters. The eldest sister wanted to marry the royal stable-keeper. The middle sister wanted to marry the royal cook. And the youngest sister wanted to marry the king himself. On learning of these wishes, the king granted them and the youngest sister became a queen. Her sisters were jealous. And when the queen was expecting the first time round, her elder sisters threw the baby away and replaced it with a puppy. The next time, it was a kitten and the last time, it became a wooden doll. The puppy has no further role in the story. Dogs often have such passing mentions in other folk tales also, such as the one that involves a dispute between a sparrow and a crow. Here is another folk tale from Bengal.8
Gold teeth
A student lived in the city of Barddhaman and went to Varanasi. He wanted to enter the university there and would have to go through an admission test. While waiting for that, he explored the new city and tried to find a place where he could stay. While exploring, he came to a park and found a mastiff and a greyhound fighting. Since there was no one else around, the student separated the two dogs. The greyhound seemed to thank the student for saving her and disappeared. As for the mastiff, it continued to growl and the student noticed that four of its teeth were made of gold.
He continued to explore the city, still looking for accommodation and near the Ganga, ran into a woman. Her teeth were exactly like the mastiff’s and she also had four gold teeth. Discovering that the student was looking for a place to stay, the woman invited him to stay with her. He was slightly uneasy, but accepted. During dinner, the woman said, ‘Why did you take a liking to Chandrika? Why did you let her get away?’
‘I don’t know anyone named Chandrika,’ replied the student. But he was too tired and sleepy to protest too much. He went to sleep, but was woken up around midnight.
A horse was neighing just outside and as he was about to get up and investigate, he heard the woman say, ‘Wait, Chandrika. I am coming. We will finish our fight.’ The student followed the woman to the courtyard and was amazed to find that she bathed in a fountain, uttered some unintelligible words and turned into a horse. Then she dashed out, and driven by curiosity, the student followed. The horse headed for the park where the two dogs had fought earlier on and the student was amazed to find another mare there. The two mares began to fight and the student noticed that the mare he had followed had four gold teeth.
Too frightened, the student ran away, leaving his possessions in the woman’s house. Next day, the student discovered from a resident of Varanasi that these two women were witches, with his hostess the evil one and Chandrika the good one. His hostess had the ability to turn herself, or anyone for that matter, into any animal that she wished. Chandrika was her rival and did her best to neutralize the evil woman’s charms.
The student had had enough. He forgot about Varanasi and headed back to Barddhaman.
Suka’s dog9
There was a miser named Suka. His father had also been an infamous miser. Once his father died, Suka inherited his wealth and he also possessed a dog. The dog was pampered. It had a mattressed bed, and rich food was served to it. Everyone laughed at Suka because of the way the dog was pampered.
Once, when Suka was not at home, a monk came to visit. The monk knew Suka was a miser and would give no alms for the monastery. However, he thought that every individual should be given a chance to redeem himself. On seeing the monk, the dog went mad with rage and began to growl and snarl. ‘Once upon a time, you used to scream “You, you!” Now you can only bark “Wow, wow!” Haven’t you still learned your lesson?’ On hearing these words, the dog was still angry. But it went to a corner of the house and sulked, refusing the mattressed bed or the rich food.
When Suka returned, he was angered to find his pet in this condition and dashed off to the monastery in search of an explanation. The monk told him that Suka’s father had been reborn as a dog and that was really the reason why Suka took such good care of a dog. When he was alive, Suka’s father screamed ‘You, you!’ at everyone. Now, he could only bark. Suka refused to believe this tall tale, but the monk told him to go and ask the dog himself. Even before his death, Suka’s father had refused to reveal his treasure trove to Suka. The dog would now reveal it to him and that would clearly prove that the dog was Suka’s father reborn. That was indeed what happened, and Suka got the treasure trove. But he could never come to terms with the fact that he was the son of a dog.
In earlier chapters, we have seen how caste Hinduism tightened up attitudes towards dogs, making them the lowest of the low. Do these folk tales, which extend beyond tribal areas alone, demonstrate this lowly association? Not quite. Admittedly, in many parts of the country, there are proverbs that do not quite say nice things about dogs. Here is a sample of such proverbs or popular sayings.
The rituals extend to the heavens, but the dog is licking the pots clean.
In a village that is a garbage dump, the fox becomes a tiger and the dog becomes a priest. And even a blind child is given Krishna’s name.
Half a seer of rice foams much. A useless dog barks the most.
The mongrel dog has nothing but barks.
Such is the sorrow that dogs and jackals cry.
A dog that barks does not bite.
A dog that does not bark, bites.
The dog barks behind the elephant.
The dog bites below the knee.
A dog remembers a beating only for a few hours.
When you have a stone, there is no dog. When you have a dog, there is no stone.
The stick has to suit the dog.
In its own citadel, even the dog is great.
One’s own dog never gets any medicines.
Massage a dog’s tail with ghee and it still will not straighten.
Even if you keep a dog’s tail inside a bamboo for twelve years, it will not straighten.
A dog cannot feed a single stomach, but comes and fawns at the door.
The wife has not got any food, the dog is nodding its head.
I was alone and like the goddess of the household. Along came a co-wife and I have become the dog in the garbage dump.
The butcher’s dog is satisfied with intestines.
The washerman’s dog belongs neither to the house nor to the ghat.
The blind dog is satisfied with rice gruel.
Your words make me smile. How can a dog without a tail become a tiger?
How does a dog know what a basil shrub is? It only wants to raise its leg and urinate.
You only want to make the dog lick oil, but all it wants is the garbage dump.
Even a good dog has tics.
Give the dog dainty sweets, but it will still head for the shit.
The pariah dog eats shit more.
A dog that is fed ghee and rice will vomit and die.
A dog that is a king will still eat shoes.
If you give the dog licence, it will climb onto your head.
A dog that is given licence will eat off your plate and jump onto its master’s head.
A dog does not leave the village and a fish does not leave the pond.
A dog that sleeps on ashes will not sleep anywhere else.
Even when there is a flow in the water, the dog will lick.
There is no skin and there is no fur, yet the dog is called ‘Tiger’.
Even if it bites the chain, the dog cannot run away.
The pig, the dog and the water-bearer never walk slowly.
Birth, debt and a dog’s intercourse have one thing in common. Entrance is pleasant, but it becomes terrible at the end.
Even a bitch is blessed in its youth.
The first dog is a real dog. The second dog roams in other people’s houses. The third dog is the wife’s brother and the fourth dog is a son-in-law who lives in the house.
Despite such proverbs, one does not quite form the impression that dogs were the lowest of the low, not in the sense that the dharmashastras made them out to be. The Shiva–Shakti cum tantra tradition, Buddhist and Jain influences, tribal elements that were incorporated into the fabric of Hinduism and a general rejection of rigidities of caste Hinduism made dogs acceptable, certainly among non-brahmanas. And most holy men have been associated with dogs.
Since 1927, a dog was associated with the 68th Shankaracharya, Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati of Kanchi and the Kamakoti matha. This dog would only eat food given to it by the matha and, every day, the Shankaracharya would enquire if the dog had been fed. One day, a small boy hit the dog and fearing that the dog would retaliate, the matha officials took the dog to a village twenty-five miles away and left it there, blindfolded. But the dog returned to the matha and from that day onwards, woul
d never eat without having obtained the Shankaracharya’s darshana first. The dog stayed with the matha until its death.
Tukaram’s (1602–50) miracles include one where he calmed a vicious dog. Near Dehu, there is a sacred bathing place, where the rivers Mula and Bivara meet. Once, Tukarama went there for a pilgrimage. But on the way to the sacred bathing place, one had to pass a deserted stretch that was inhabited by a fierce dog. The dog attacked travellers, ripped out their throats and drank their blood. On seeing Tukaram, the dog attacked him. As the dog was about to lunge, Tukaram said, ‘There is no bark inside me. Why do you have a bark inside you?’ On hearing these words, the dog was pacified and became like a pet dog. On the way back, the dog was waiting for Tukaram and became his companion. The dog fasted on every ekadashi day and would always listen to kirtanas.
Shirdi Sai Baba kept several dogs with him in Shirdi and there is a temple of Shirdi Sai Baba in Madipakkam, Chennai, known as the Bhairava Sai Mandir, because this temple also has the bhairava or dog. This story concerns a devotee named Shirdi Sai Dasan, who loved dogs and used to visit the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple every year. In his prayers to Sai Baba, he asked for a dog and in 1976, when the devotee purchased a walking stick in Shirdi, he discovered that the handle of the stick had a dog’s shape. He prayed to Sai Baba again, wanting a real dog instead. In 1977, a completely unknown Muslim boy brought a Tibetan puppy to Sai Dasan and this dog lived with the devotee for fourteen years. In 1988, Sai Baba appeared in a dream to Sai Dasan and told him that after the dog’s death, a samadhi should be built for the dog, with Sai Baba’s statute near the samadhi. The dog almost died in 1990, but recovered when Sai Dasan took it to the Sai Baba Temple in Mylapore. The dog eventually died in 1991 and the temple in Madipakkam is in its memory. In another Shirdi Sai Baba story, in 1917, when the devotee Lakshmi Bai Shinde came to visit Sai Baba, Sai Baba told her he was hungry. But when Lakshmi Bai brought some food, Sai Baba threw it to a dog that was present and said that satisfying the dog’s hunger was no different from satisfying Sai Baba’s hunger. There is a slightly different story about this disciple Lakshmi Bai Shinde as well. Lakshmi Bai cooked some delicacies for Sai Baba. But when she left the kitchen to attend to some other household work, a dog entered the kitchen and ate up the tasty food. Lakshmi Bai beat the dog with a stick and cooked the dishes afresh. However, when she took this food to Sai Baba, he refused to accept them, explaining that she had beaten him when he had come to her house in the form of a dog.