lower than the lowest

[Guest guest]

(from Hari Sauri Prabhu's Transcendental Diary, September 26, 1976)

 

[srila Prabhupada] said there is nothing lower than a dog, yet even dogs

have one good quality-faithfulness. And he told me a story about a man, a

dog and a baby: The man had to leave his house for a few minutes, so he

placed his baby on a bed and left his dog in the room to guard it. When he

returned a short while later, the room was empty. He was horrified to find a

trail of blood leading out into the garden. Following it, he suddenly came

upon the dog running out from the bushes, its mouth covered in blood. The

man was shocked. He thought that the dog must have attacked the baby,

dragged it into the bushes and killed it. He angrily rushed inside, got a

gun, and returned to face the dog. As he pointed the gun at the dog, the

animal sat obediently before his master, making no attempt to run away.

Bang! He killed the dog. But at the loud report of the gun, the cry of a

baby rent the air. Confused, the man ran inside and found his child lying

under the bed, unharmed. Now perplexed, the man retraced the trail of blood

into the garden. Behind the bushes he found the body of a dead fox covered

in blood. It was clear what had happened: The fox had threatened the baby,

so the dog put the baby under the bed to protect it. It fought and killed

the intruder and dragged it out into the garden. The man lamented his hasty

action. The dog was so faithful that, although he knew he had fulfilled his

duty in a valiant way, still he did not protest when his master shot him.

 

The conclusion, Srila Prabhupada told me, is that the disciple should serve

the spiritual master in the same way. If the disciple cannot remain faithful

to his spiritual master, he is less than a dog.