One day, as we were returning from
evening walks in Dehradun, we heard a pup crying under a small lychi
tree. Too young to stand up, eyes not opened yet fully, hardly a few
days old. All pups are lovely at young age but he appeared of good breed
Alsatian. Enquires led us no where to his owner, nor could we find his
mother in the vicinity. So the pub became our youngest family member.
Since he appeared dumb he was named “Dumbo”.
Dumbo grew up with our other 3 sons disciplined, orderly, well-behaved,
and though not of high breed – just a stray one- he was all his life
remained a vegetarian. For good 16 years he was integral part of our
family. At night he would sleep under Nirmala’s bed and make sure that
the mom was safe and sound. He would see her and brothers off to office
or school, and always ready to welcome back all of us in the evening. In
the morning with me he would jog 3 miles and with his brothers, fight to
be the first to greet Mom returning from the office. But one thing was
unique with him- he could not tell lie, nor could he cheat like his
human brothers.
He enjoyed freedom of the house but was not allowed to enter the
kitchen, nor could he climb on beds and sofas. But like all other
members of the family, he was provided his own rug and sleeping place
inside the house. During winter, however, often he was caught sleeping
in Mom’s bed and was severely reprimanded for this violation.
Normally he would welcome us but if he were sleeping on the bed and/or
on the sofa, somehow he knew that he would be caught. So, his body
language would betray the misdeed. Mom would be going after him and he
head down and the tail in, would be hiding under the table. His absence
at the gate not welcoming us would tell the story.
Having grown with us and lived with us for the full sixteen years, one
winter morning he could not jog with me. He limped and went into circles
for a few minutes. Somehow I managed to bring him home but he would not
come-in, preferring to stay out in the open lawn. He suffered stroke and
could not stand up on his four legs. Finally, he looked at Nirmala, bid
farewell …as if saying “Mom, time has come..I am going. Forgive me for
any mischief but I love you dearly…may meet again in next life. ”
We decided to give Dumbo a proper funeral befitting to a son. Wrapped
into a white cotton sheet I took him to the nearby Lodi Cremation
ground. The priest was explained the nature of the dead body and the
wish of the family. He agreed to conduct the last rites but at a special
dakshina ( fees). Agreed, all the ingredient were collected and outside
the human burning zone, some rough ground was cleared where we made a
small pyre, and I lovingly placed the body of the deceased. The priest
asked me to light the fire without reading any mantras. I asked him
chant the relevant Vedic texts but he refused: “there is no Vedic
provision to recite any mantra for burning an animal..” he said rightly.
But I urged him that following our doctrine of Karmic Law, any animal
could be a human in the previous or in the next life. “Since we do not
know the gene-continuing, but do believe in the punar-janma ( re-birth
of the soul), there is no Vedic or Manu’s sanction against reciting the
at the funeral of animals.”
The ill-lettered priest agreed to chant some mantras but at increased
fees and began to say “Om, vishvani dev..”. I interrupted, “But you must
first read samkalpam - to establish the identity of the dead.”
And I began to enlist the family linage-“ Mr. Dumbo, age 16, son of
Professor Dhirendra Sharma, grandson of Pandit Surendra Sharma, and
great grandson of Pandit Jay Dev Sharma, died this day of the Christian
Era…”
The priest stood up in disgust and shouted “you are disgrace to our
Dharma, you have debased entire Brahman caste. Keep your filthy money,
no Brahman would perform the Vedic ceremony for a wretched animal- not a
cow, but a stray dog…shame, shame, kali-yuga (dark-age) had come all
upon us..” and he fled the scene. A dozen bystanders enjoyed the drama.
I took this opportunity to educate the people. Invited all of them
irrespective of caste or religion, some of them were obviously muslims
and most of them were low caste Hindus, and explain to them the
significance of animal life for us humans.
I also emphasised the importance of non-killing (ahimsa) and explained
the age-old belief in the Karmic paradigm. “Think, this dog who had
lived with a Brahman family, was he destined to come to us by his good
karma in his previous life. Moreover, due to his good karma – he served
loyally our family – most probably this soul would come to take birth in
one of my children or grandchildren’s family. Because of strong bonds
between us in this life, we may have to meet his soul in some other
life. So why not treat this one with proper love, respect and
consideration.” Assembly of the onlookers now turned into the funeral
party and bid the farewell to Mr. Dumbo Sharma.
I led the brief prayer for the departed soul’s peace and good life
hereafter.
All of us recited the final mantra: “ Om, Shanti, Om, Shanti, Om, Shanti.”
