Dog in Ramayana

Courtesy: Sri.Bryan Hill
=================

This incident is from Uttara kanda of Ramayana. Many of you would
already be knowing:

A dog comes to meet Lord Rama and starts pleading with its 2 hands
raised in standing position.
Laxmana asks the dog what does the dog have to fear in Ramarajya? (
'Rama rajye kim bhayam te' ?)
The dog does not want to talk to Laxman and insists on being taken to
Rama. When taken to Rama, the dog says, it has been beaten up very
badly by a brahmana 'sarvasamartha' by name for no reason. Rama calls
up the brahmin and figures out that the dog which was hungry had eaten
up part of the havissu from the brahmana's place and hence he had
beaten it up.

But, Rama rules that the brahmana was wrong and the dog is innocent,
as its every person's duty to feed the animals/birds in his vicinity
(note the bhoota yajna/baliharaNa). {The explanation given by the
commentators (Bannanje Govindacharya) is that its similar to the
incident when a kid unknowingly eats up a portion which was there for
havissu. Do we hit the kid? }

Further to this, Lord Rama asks the dog to decide the punishment for
the brahmana!!
And the dog says: "make him the kulapati of the temple/maTha at kuranjala"!!!

Rama calls His aids and makes the brahmana head of the kuranjala maTha
(Kuranjala is a temple place near a hill mentioned in Sangraha
Ramayana). Astonished by this ruling, Rama's court ask Him what is the
reason for this brahmana being rewarded instead of being punished as
Rama Himself ruled that the brahmana is punishable.
Rama replies: "this dog was the kulapati of a maTha in its previous
janma and because of the bad deeds it has gotten this janma of a dog"

The explanation given (V.Prabhanjanacharya) is:
if a person being in a responsible position works for the sake of his
svaartha, he will be punished like this (by getting a shvaana yoni in
future birth)
"pourOhityam cha-archakartvam maaThaapatyam tathaiva cha | yaH karOti
sa dEvOpi shvaanayOni samashnute ||" (from karma vipaaka)

(Reference: Sangraha Ramayana, Uttara kanda.,verses 3.10 to 3.20)

knr
--
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.

  Every moment, thank God