The wonder that was the dog

This book is a wonderful overlap of literature, mythology and history. Only a versatile mind such as the author’s could cover the span from the treatment of dogs in other societies in the past (Greek, Roman, Persian, old English, Chinese, native American), to the changing treatment of dogs in India from the earliest Vedic times to that of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Dharmashastras, the Puranas, the Nitishastras, to more recent literature, most particularly that of turn-of-the 19th century Bengal.

Priceless learnings for us in India, nuggets we didn’t know: Sanskrit for dog is not kutta, but kukkura, shva (as in, possibly Vishvamitra), and shuni.

Yudhisthira was not accompanied by a dog, but by Dharma disguised as a dog. So this well-known example of kinship between man and dog in early India doesn’t count; an early Punjab (Kekaya) vs UP split: with the former favouring the breeding and export of dogs (to Persia), and the latter full of brahmanical canon relegating dogs to chandal status.

The earlier historical period from the Vedic times through the Ramayana and the Mahabharata maintained the status of dogs, exemplified by the story of Sarama, given their utility. The Yajur Veda describes an astounding prayer to Rudra as Shvapati, Namah shvabhyah ca shvapatibhayay vah namah;

This status declines with the replacement of the early Gods (Indra, Rudra and Yama) who were associated with dogs with the popularity in the worship of Vishnu and attendant brahmanical influence.

Dattatreya, the sixth avatar of Vishnu, though learned but a mendicant, is followed by the Vedas in the form of four dogs.

The Shiva/Shakti cult, in this as in so many other ways, destroys the notions of caste society, and so we have a banjara-built Bhairava temple in Delhi where dogs are worshipped, the lovely 10th century Kukkura Math temple (also known as the Rina Mukteshvara Mandir) at Dindori in MP (visited by Adi Shankaracharya) with the tomb of a faithful dog, and the exile of a brahmana from Ayodhya of the Ramayana on the compliant of a dog to become the kulapati of Kalanjara, famous for its Kala Bhairav temple on the Western wall of rock.

Vatukabhairava, one of the 64 Bhairavas, associated with Shiva, is seen riding a dog (shva cha vahanam).

The Nitishastras (the Panchatantra, Hitopadesha, and Kathasaritsagara), influenced by Buddhist jataka stories, do much to restore dogs to a better position after caste Hinduism had its way. The author asks the most intriguing question what would have happened had Buddhism not gone into a decline or if Islam had not arrived on the scale that it did. For the descendants of Sarama, our indigenous pure-bred Indian mongrel dog, in a fast equalising India, and bereft of the honorary upper-caste status given to Western pedigreed breeds, this is a most important question.

Suggestions I could make for a second edition that would include an index, a Sanskrit glossary, a better organisation of the cross-cultural literature so that it resides in one place, and the filling up of some blanks. While the author notes the fillip given to the status of dogs (Western breeds, at the least, not the Sarameyas) under colonial rule, I would add to this the coincident experience of Princely India. India during the Raj experienced a smorgasbord of shikar of every kind. Hunting dogs were reared by the British, the ruling class, and the rulers of the Princely states alike. The late Nawab of Junagadh, Sir Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III Rasul Khanji, adored animals. So much so that he saved us the last of the lions of Gir. His 300 dogs, we are told, had elaborate weddings planned for them.

Across India in colonial times, dogs and shikar were inseparable. Stories of the breeding of Rampur Hounds, the shooting of snipe in Bengal exclusively with gun dogs, of duck shooting and retrievers, of encounters between dogs and other animals during the beats … There must be a wonderful set of stories to be told about this 90-year span of history which would surely have revived the status of dogs, besides leaving us the great kennels of some of the old states. The story of Robin, Jim Corbett’s beloved Cocker Spaniel, is one such story. Though mentioned in the book, this theme could do with some elaboration, as there must be many dog stories in the Kipling-Corbett-Kenneth Anderson-Ruskin Bond-Davidar-Champion archetype.

We hope a book such as this leads to a new genre of multi-disciplinary excursions to fully reflect the talents of Dr Debroy.

SARAMA AND HER CHILDREN 
THE DOG IN INDIAN MYTH
Penguin
Rs 350; 243 pages

Bibek Debroy