Sarama and Her Children

The Most Recognized Dog In Indian Myth Is The Dog In The Mahabharata That Accompanied The Pandavas Not Actually A Dog But Dharma In Disguise. There Are, However, Several More References To Dogs In The Classical Texts. Mentioned For The First Time In The Rg Veda, The Eponymous Sarama Is The Dog Of The Gods And The Ancestor Of All Dogs. In Sarama And Her Children, The Evolution Of The Indian Attitude Towards Dogs Is Traced Through The Vedas, Epics, Puranas, Dharmashastras And Niti Shastras. The Widespread Assumption Is That Dogs Have Always Been Looked Down Upon In Hinduism And A Legacy Of That Attitude Persists Even Now. Tracing The Indian Attitude Towards Dogs In A Chronological Fashion, Beginning With The Pre-Vedic Indus Valley Civilization, Bibek Debroy Discovers That The Truth Is More Complicated. Dogs Had A Utilitarian Role In Pre-Vedic And Vedic Times. There Were Herd Dogs, Watchdogs And Hunting Dogs, And Dogs Were Used As Beasts Of Burden. But By The Time Of The...