All,
I found this story and thought I would share. I think we all love a good dog story.
Some of you have heard these before but they are favorites of mine and I love to share them and they are always worthy of a moment's reflection.
I don't know how many of you have read the Mahabharata but it is the epic of India and the story of the wars and founding of her peoples. It ends with the hero/king,Yudhisthira, going to the Himalayas to die. He has grown old and weary and is thinking of his parents and uncles and brothers, his beloved and faithful wife, and the allies who all fought beside him and who have now passed on. All he has left is his old, mangy dog who has always followed him, even in battle, one step behind. With a heavy heart these melancholy musings are running through his mind when before him on his path a shining god appears and tells him that he has been granted immortality for his deeds and he can now ascend to heaven without dying where he can live forever (something only gods and heroes get to do) while enjoying happiness and light.
On seeing and hearing this Yudhisthira is delighted, Who wouldn't be? It sounds kinda cool - but he looks at his dog and asks the god if he can come, as well. The god says there are no dogs in heaven - only the immortal souls of heroes. After a lot of struggle and grief Yudhisthira listens to his heart and finally tells the god that he cannot leave his faithful dog alone and has to decline the offer and die a painful death like an ordinary man. At that moment the dog transformed himself into the god Dharma (you can think of it as the Oriental counterpart of Natural Law here in the West). He has passed the final test - Loyalty - and immortality and the highest heaven is granted, not only to him, but also to his loved ones. I always hoped when reading this that Dharma went back to being a dog in heaven. I suspect he must. He once appeared to me in the form of a dachshund.
In the same vein there is another story from modern India I love that comes from the biography of a doctor I read years ago in Austin. When this doctor was a young intern he went on duty one evening and learned that a woman patient wouldn't last through the night and later her husband showed up and he had to tell the man the bad news. They had been married for nearly their whole lives. The man thought for a moment and said, "Well, a gentleman always holds the door open for his lady." The doctor thought it a peculiar response and patted his shoulder in solace and went about his rounds for a few minutes until he was called back to the woman's room for an emergency. The old man had sat beside her and died of a heart attack. His wife passed shortly thereafter. Only later did he understand the meaning of the mans words.
Quis ut Deus?
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