Are dogs man's best friend in Vedic culture as well?

[toronto]

I was watching an interesting documentry on dogs and their relationship with humans. It showed that in many cultures depended on dogs to go on the hunt with them and many wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the dogs help back then. Its also interesting to note that many of today's dog breeds only started to show up within the past few centuries.

[suchandra]

 

I was watching an interesting documentry on dogs and their relationship with humans. It showed that in many cultures depended on dogs to go on the hunt with them and many wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the dogs help back then. Its also interesting to note that many of today's dog breeds only started to show up within the past few centuries.

"Śivānanda Sena took a dog with him and even paid fees for it to cross the river. One night, however, the dog could not get any food and therefore went directly to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī. The next day, when Śivānanda and his party reached Jagannātha Purī, Śivānanda saw the dog eating some coconut pulp offered to it by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. After this incident, the dog was liberated and went back home, back to Godhead."

 

"One day, when they needed to cross a river, an Orissan boatman would not allow the dog to get in the boat."

 

"Śivānanda Sena, unhappy that the dog had to stay behind, paid the boatman ten paṇa of conchshells to take the dog across the river."

 

"When he learned that the dog had not been supplied food in his absence, he was very unhappy. He then immediately sent ten men to find the dog."

 

"Furthermore, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was throwing remnants of green coconut pulp to the dog. Smiling in His own way, He was saying to the dog, “Chant the holy names ‘Rāma,’ ‘Kṛṣṇa’ and ‘Hari.’”"

 

"Seeing the dog eating the green coconut pulp and chanting “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa” again and again, all the devotees present were very surprised."

 

"The next day, no one saw that dog, for it had obtained its spiritual body and departed for Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual kingdom.

 

PURPORT

 

This is the result of sādhu-saṅga—consequent association with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and promotion back home, back to Godhead. This result is possible even for a dog, by the mercy of the Vaiṣṇava. Therefore, everyone in the human form of life should be induced to associate with devotees. By rendering a little service, even by eating prasādam, what to speak of chanting and dancing, everyone can be promoted to Vaikuṇṭhaloka. It is therefore requested that all our devotees in the ISKCON community become pure Vaiṣṇavas, so that by their mercy all the people of the world will be transferred to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, even without their knowledge. Everyone should be given a chance to take prasādam and thus be induced to chant the holy names Hare Kṛṣṇa and also dance in ecstasy. By these three processes, although performed without knowledge or education, even an animal went back to Godhead."

 

Antya1.33

[yogesh]

All living beings. A Vaishnava (should) show mercy indiscrimanately.

 

vancha-kalpataraubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca

patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namah

Hare Krsna

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

It is mentioned that Lord Krishna had a pet dog. I don't recall the scriptural source at the moment, but if I remember I will post it. The dogs didnt live inside houses with the humans though.

[krishnadasa]

Guess making animals as pets was brought to India by Brits.. Otherwise its not recommanded to have any animal as pet, as that will affect one's consciousness.....

[toronto]

Im sure people had pets before the British came. Thats a very ignorant statement to make. And why aren't we allowed to have pets?

[Beggar]

 

 

 

Talk about being a pampered pooch … Here’s a story about one lucky dog:

Pampered doesn’t quite cover it. While some dogs might be prone to biting the odd slipper, this one actually choked on her own Cartier

And now Conchita, known to her family as The Boss, refuses to wear diamonds any more because of the mishap.

 

However, her owner still spends £7,000 a month on Louis Vuitton bags, bikinis, pearls, dresses and make-up for her.

She has her own special pink racing car bed, bathroom and TV, and lunches daily on fresh grilled chicken breast at the exclusive Shore Club in Miami.

 

With weekly, her own minder and publicist, this one-year-old 500g (1lb) chihuahua is living the dog life equivalent of Paris Hilton’s existence. And, like the hotel heiress, Conchita’s owner, socialite Gail Posner, is the daughter of a billionaire businessman.

 

Link

[Shakti-Fan]

PETA RUNS A PET SLAUGHTERHOUSE Government records show PETA (yes, PETA!) killed 97 percent of the animals it took in during 2006.

 

PETA collects $30 million a year, but has killed 17,400 dogs and cats (so far)!

 

See PETA's "death kit," its write-off for a cadaver freezer, and shocking crime-scene photos at PETA KILLS ANIMALS.Click here to read more..

[yogesh]

 

Im sure people had pets before the British came. Thats a very ignorant statement to make. And why aren't we allowed to have pets?

 

If you are practising Vegetarianism/Prasadatarianism it is difficult. Because you would have to go out and buy meat for your pet (if it is a carnivor like cats & dogs). Remember their digestive tracts are meant for meat not vegetables.

 

They cannot gain any bad reaction / karma from eating meat But you are most definately not immune to karmic reaction. Do not overburden yourself with more bad karma than what you already have.

 

This does not mean you should show no mercy. If a hungry stray dog / cat happens to come to your house give it some prasad and help that living entity advance by your mercy and kindness. But remember if you adopt it then you would most definately have to feed the dog/cat what its body is meant to have.

 

Hare Krsna/Krishna

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

[toronto]

So because I dont eat meat, my pets shouldnt either? I should let dogs/cats suffer because I cant eat meat?

[toronto]

And for your information the arrogance and condesending attitude that some veggies ahve over non-veggies can be bad karma too.

[Vedesu]

What about cats? I had a stray (abandoned from my next-door neighbor) "adopt" me for about 8 years until she died. I fed her cottage cheese (her main staple), milk, some occasional hard cheese, and sometimes veggie dog biscuits. She seemed quite pleased with the veggie diet and never got sick that I was aware of. I figured if she needed meat, she could catch a mouse, but I never saw her do that.

 

 

[suchandra]

 

So because I dont eat meat, my pets shouldnt either? I should let dogs/cats suffer because I cant eat meat?

 

 

When meat eating pets are getting vegetarian food from the very beginning, they become vegetarians.

There's a Buddhist monastary at Kanchanaburi, Thailand, where they keep vegetarian Tigers:

 

 

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/outram/bkklaosvietcam/1182411720/img_4213.jpg/tpod.html

[yogesh]

 

And for your information the arrogance and condesending attitude that some veggies ahve over non-veggies can be bad karma too.

If I have come across as condesending/arrogant. I have not stated that dogs/cats cannot have meat, they must have meat as part of their diet.

 

If You are non-veg than it is ok to feed the pet what you eat and let us end the conversation. But.......

 

if you are practising vegetarian than it shows you have some mercy towards some living entities (although plants are also living beings). But what kind of mercy is it??

 

You show mercy to your pets only what about the other animals that you have to chop up to feed your pets??

 

Regarding Karma:-

 

If I have stated anything that is hurtfull and wrong then yes I will have to accept my lot.

 

Hare Krsna/Krishna

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

[Beggar]

Generally bhaktas who are trying to approach Krsna in a pure way would not feed their dogs meat.

--------

 

 

"I wouldn't be dog gone I'd be long gone"

Marvin Gaye

 

 

[yogesh]

 

What about cats? I had a stray (abandoned from my next-door neighbor) "adopt" me for about 8 years until she died. I fed her cottage cheese (her main staple), milk, some occasional hard cheese, and sometimes veggie dog biscuits. She seemed quite pleased with the veggie diet and never got sick that I was aware of. I figured if she needed meat, she could catch a mouse, but I never saw her do that.

 

 

where I see the cat making advancement by taking your association and prasadam and hearing the holy name.That is truely mercifull.

 

At least the cat did the catching/hunting for its meat(if it did). So I do not see any bad karma associated. Just the good.

 

All glories to the mercifull devotees

 

Hare Krsna/Krishna

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

[Beggar]

 

 

 

"I wouldn't be dog gone I'd be long gone"

Marvin Gaye

 

 

 

My bad, it was actually written by Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin and Warren Moore.

[toronto]

I apologize for my outburst.

[sanatan]

I have three cats, all animal-shelter rescues. I feed them cat food, and they live in the house.

 

I'll take the "karma".

 

Pets or no pets...what a ridiculous subject to be making a big deal out of.

[indulekhadasi]

If Sivananda Sena's dog could eat prasadam then it leads me to believe all dogs can. Jivera swarupa hoy krishnera nitya das. Vegetarian food won't be foreign to the dog.

 

As long as one is not too attached to the dog, I think it is ok. Remember what happened to Maharaja Bharata!

[suchandra]

 

If Sivananda Sena's dog could eat prasadam then it leads me to believe all dogs can. Jivera swarupa hoy krishnera nitya das. Vegetarian food won't be foreign to the dog.

 

As long as one is not too attached to the dog, I think it is ok. Remember what happened to Maharaja Bharata!

 

As usual not the Vaishnavas but others come up with the solution, tested full-fledged vegetarian food for dogs and cats.

http://www.veggiepets.com/

[yogesh]

 

As usual not the Vaishnavas but others come up with the solution, tested full-fledged vegetarian food for dogs and cats.

http://www.veggiepets.com/

 

There you go a solution for those Vegetarians with pets.

 

Hare Krsna/Krishna

 

Jay Sirla Prabhupada

[suchandra]

From Rasananda prabhu who now lives in India, an instructive anecdote from Valmiki's Ramayana:

 

"Every day, Lord Rama would sit in his council hall and ask Lakshman to go outside the gates and see if there was anyone with a grievance. If there was, the person would be brought inside and his wrongs redressed.

 

One day, a dog was waiting outside. Ramacandra called him in and asked him what he wanted. The dog replied that he had been hit on the head by a brahmin.

 

Rama asked the council to decide some punishment but the court said that a brahmin could never be punished. So Rama asked the dog to decide on some way to redress his wrongs. The dog insisted that the brahmin should be given an honorable position, appointed to be the spiritual head of a certain monastery.

 

When questioned about this strange punishment, the dog replied:

"Your majesty, in my previous birth, I held that particular position, and though I was honest and sincere, the post is so full of pitfalls that when I died, I was forced to take this birth, as a dog. Can you imagine the plight of that avaricious man, who has an uncontrollable temper as well?"

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Here is a small dog story that happened today at our Ashram in Orissa. Somehow by fate our Ashram ended up with three puppies in 2004. A street dog who would visit the ashram for prasadam had given birth to 6 babies. There was another female dog in the village that had the terrible habit of hunting and eating puppies. She did it repeatedly for a number of years, and in this case our devotees witnessed it because these puppies were born so close to the ashram. Every day the evil dog would sneak up and attack and kill one of the puppies. After three of the puppies had been killed in that manner, the devotees decided to take the remaining three puppies in and protect them so they wouldn't be killed as well. Several times the evil dog still managed to sneak into the ashram and grab one of the puppies by the neck and run off with it, but the construction workers would chase it down and recover the puppy each time before it could be killed. So somehow these three dogs grew up in the ashram eating Jagannatha prasadam each day.

 

Today a very nice thing happened to one of these dogs. Attached is a picture of him taken yesterday (his name was Brindavan). He had stopped eating about 10 days ago. Day by day he became skinnier and he was pretty "sick" in the sense that he hadn't taken food for so many days. Since he wasn't eating food he became weak and would just lie down at his place behind the ashram. He hadn't walked for a few days, and then today was Nityananda's appearance day. So at the temple they were having an abhisheka around noon, with fasting from morning, followed by a feast. The abhisheka started and there was a loud kirtan going on, when suddenly Brindavan stood up, walked across the yard to the door of the ashram and started barking. He hadn't eaten in 10 days and hadn't been walking around at all, but suddenly he was walking and barking. One devotee saw him at the door barking and thought it was odd and she felt she should give him some charanamrita. So she went to the Jagannatha temple and brought charanamrita from the abhisheka. She poured some into his mouth, and he left his body instantly with the kirtan still going on. It is really miraculous that he would leave his body the second he received charanamrita, and on the day of Nityananda's appearance as the kirtan was going on just 30 feet away. He wasn't really sick or old. He was only 4 years old (which in dog years would make him 28). He just stopped eating, so he became thin and weak.

 

He was a fortunate dog. He was born at the ashram and spent his life guarding Lord Jagannatha's temple from thieves. His whole life he only ate Jagannatha prasadam, and in fact he would receive the rajbhog mahaprasadam from the deities plate every day after the noon offering. Funny how that happened, but somehow he was blessed to eat the direct remnants from Lord Jagannatha's plate every day. He fasted for 10 days, and on the day of Lord Nityananda's appearance he took charanamrita from the deities and instantly left his body surrounded by kirtan.

 

We never know who may be a great soul or yogi.

 

Here is a picture of him taken yesterday. His bones are really visible and his skin is hanging loosly over his body. Before he stopped eating 10 days ago he was fat and his skin tight.

 

 

 

[theist]

My obeisances to Brindavan. He just lived the life that I dare to dream about only occasionally as some far off possiblity when my wishful thinking is at it's most pure.