By Binodan K D Sarma
“tasmān nāham jātu
katham canādya: tyaksyāmy enam svasukhārthī
mahendra” (Therefore, I shall never under any circumstances abandon him for my own
happiness, O great Indra)
These were Yudhishthira’s words to Indra, when the latter invoked him to enter heaven, but without a faithful companion who had accompanied the Pandava to the end in their final journey to mount Sumeru, believed to be the route to heaven. This companion, who Yudhishthira refused to leave and enter heaven, was an Indian Indie dog, later reveals himself as Lord Dharma (Yama) and that in his protest for a dog to enter heaven with him, the astute and righteous, Pandava passed the final test of ‘dharma’ (duty) in flying colours. And so a dog, made it to heaven because a common righteous man refused to abandon him and the right action. This is folklore and mythology. We are in a similar situation once again.
Dogs and Dharma (Duty) (incidentally start with the same letter) are now in moralistic debate of what or who is more important. The recent Supreme Court order to Delhi Government to round up all stray and street dogs from the ‘streets’ to shelters, to protect mankind from the infection of rabies, is what some have said is the dharma (duty) to a safe living in the city. As per the honourable judiciary, stray dogs are a ‘menace’ to society. The judge referred to an article of a national daily to refer to this judgement. The article pointed out that an average 20,000 stray dog bite cases are reported in India every year, of which 2000, are in Delhi alone. This led the judiciary to act on their role to be the protector of society and ensure that every citizen has a safe life in the city – this being otherwise that dog bites are not the scariest things to live in a city, but that debate can be set aside for this time.
Dharma or duty is a very grave term. Our mythologies and history books are full of examples of how the conflict of duty is a pertinent question in the mind of mankind since ages. Be it Ram in Ramayana, an Arjun in Mahabharata or Achilles in Iliad, the moral war of the right act has been pervasive in the history of evolution across cultures and religion. Our courts of justice have been erected in faith that they will be protector and arbitrators of the moral conflicts that arise in the best possible way. Dharma is not limited to bringing justice for mankind alone – it is supposed to be extended to every living creature on Earth alike. This is where, the honourable court’s decision seemed to be wayward and against the fundamentals of justice to every living being.
Dogs and mankind, have persisted together, as early as 4500 documented years ago, if not earlier if we refer to mythology. Their coexistence is built on a faith that the weaker of the two, will be protected whenever necessary. That the canines have fulfilled their part does not need a citation but whether we as humans have fulfilled the same, calls for introspection. The Indies or the Indian pariah is one of the most neglected breed in India till the last few decades, where animal lovers and communities have actively worked around in rehab programs for them. But that would have never been enough till as individuals we work towards their safety and right to live with dignity. Our duty towards these idiomatic ‘man’s best friends’ is much more than just feeding a few biscuits, milk, water and left over meals or even proper ones. It calls for an activism to question the respective governments to ensure that the authorities do their duty towards them, for which we as commoners pay taxes (Yes, we do). Every government has a budget (managed through taxes collected from various sources) that needs to be allocated to vet services of the state like sterilization and vaccination programs, building animal shelters and other services, all to ensure that the streets are ‘safer’ for mankind and stray animal live a life of dignity. We as a citizen of the state and city, rather than just complaining of the growing ‘menace’ of animals, can question the government on whether these have been implemented or not. This is our duty or dharma. Of course in a world where we forgo asking the government whether our votes are safe or not, asking for such a menial, lower-down-the-order requirement is never even a passing possibility of it being considered as our duty. This is where we fail ourselves and the animals. We have on our own proverbial journeys to heaven (happiness) forgone any action to protect the right of another living being.
The statistics will not lie that the Delhi MCD in its effort of sterilization has failed by 70-80 percent of the necessary coverage. With a staggering 1 Million strays this is an uphill task which requires that a systematic program is put in place and is governed and executed in precision. But like most government programs, this also could be lost in the maze of bureaucracy and red-tapism, unless we as citizens hold them accountable time to time. Stray dogs like any other animal live on a Darwinian instinct – to survive against odds. They will snap, bite and growl at anything that they consider as a threat. Does that mean, we round them up and pack them inhumanely in conditions that holocaustic? No, absolute not. Because we as the evolved species should understand how to manage this crisis without making a mockery of the weaker of the two. Yes, they are the weaker ones. Yes, we are the more evolved ones. So it deems us to act wisely and not arbitrarily, where we read an article, inspect a petition and then ask the government to act on something as Herculean as cleaning the Aegeon stables. Let there be a process that upholds the rule of ‘dharma’ in the right way and most importantly in a humane way, that we have inherited from our cultures.
Yama (The God of Duty and Dharma) in his praise for Yudhishthira in the final journey did after all say what we all should pay heed to- “O- Kunteya, You are indeed a great man, a righteous man; your compassion for all living beings is exemplary. A dog has been as dear to you as your own brothers. Your conduct will remain a shining example to all men for all times. Now, you can mount the chariot without any hesitation.”
(The author is a dog lover and animal activist who also runs an advertising agency in Delhi. He can be reached at [email protected])