The Hero Who Sacrificed Heaven for a Dog

Recently, a Hindu friend shared a wonderful story about compassion from the great Hindu epic the Mahabharata with me. This is my paraphrase of the tale, based on various sources.

King Pandu had five sons by his two wives. In fact, however, these sons were fathered by the gods, and each one was powerful and heroic. The most powerful and heroic of all was the eldest, Yudisthira, King of the Bharata people. After many adventures, including a great war, the time came for the Pandava brothers and their mutual wife, Princess Draupadi, to leave this world and ascend to Heaven.

(How Draupadi came to have five husbands was remarkably casual: After Prince Arjuna won her hand with his unbeatable archery skills, he rushed home and shouted to his mother: "Come see what I have brought home with me!" His mother, who was presumably busy with her chores, said before seeing Draupadi, "Whatever it is, be sure to share it with your brothers.")

At the end of their lives, the six pilgrims set out to make their way to Heaven, accompanied by a small dog who attached himself to Yudisthira. The route they had to follow was arduous and required serious mental and spiritual discipline. One by one, the four younger brothers and Draupadi succumbed to the hardships of the journey. Yudisthira accepted their loss with equanimity, knowing that they died because of their sins and weaknesses, among which were vanity, gluttony and pride.

Yudisthira himself was hardly perfect, by the way. Among other things, he famously told a lie that is still being debated on moral and ethical grounds. He was a compulsive gambler, too, and once lost himself, his brothers and Draupadi in a game of dice!

Shortcomings not withstanding, Yudisthira, with the dog, reached the end of his journey. Amidst thunder and lightning, Lord Indra arrived in his glorious chariot to take Yudisthira to Heaven. Yudisthira, however, started to bargain. First, he said he couldn't go to Heaven without his brothers and wife. Lord Indra assured him that his loved ones were already there, waiting for him. It would be his honor to be taken to Heaven in his human body, without having to die first.

Yudisthira next demanded that the dog that had followed him be allowed to come with him.

Lord Indra was not pleased. "There is no place in Heaven for dogs. Why do you you have attained the perfections of Heaven care about a worthless mongrel like that? Leave it behind and come with me."

"I cannot," Yudisthira replied. (And pretty cheeky he was, talking back to a god!) "He has been my faithful companion on my journey. It would be a sin to abandon a devoted creature who needs me."

"Yet you left your brothers and your wife along the road."

"I did not abandon them while they yet lived and needed me. Neither will I abandon this dog while he and I both live, even for the rewards of Heaven."

At that, the dog transformed itself into Lord Dharma, the God of Justice and the divine father of Yudisthira. "You are the most compassionate of men, my son, and I am well-pleased with you. You were willing to give up the very hope of heaven for the sake of a dog. Truly, no-one in Heaven is your equal."

The gods carried Yudisthira to Heaven in a burst of glory. Once there, he faced a horrifying final test of his compassion -- he was led to believe his brothers and wife were in Hell and he opted to join them there rather than desert them -- before being reunited with his family and entering Heaven for eternity.

Thank you, Saras, for introducing me to this beautiful tale.