GONE to the DOGS in ANCIENT INDIA Willem Bollée

GONE TO THE DOGS IN ANCIENT INDIA Willem Bollée Gone to the Dogs in ancient India Willem Bollée Published at CrossAsia-Repository, Heidelberg University Library 2020 Second, revised edition. This book is published under the license “Free access – all rights reserved”. The electronic Open Access version of this work is permanently available on CrossAsia- Repository: http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-crossasiarep-42439 url: http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/4243 doi: http://doi.org/10.11588/xarep.00004243 Text Willem Bollée 2020 Cover illustration: Jodhpur, Dog. Image available at https://pxfuel.com under Creative Commons Zero – CC0 1 Gone to the Dogs in ancient India . Chienne de vie ?* For Johanna and Natascha Wothke In memoriam Kitty and Volpo Homage to you, dogs (TS IV 5,4,r [= 17]) Ο , , ! " #$ s &, ' ( )Plato , * + , 3.50.1 CONTENTS 1. DOGS IN THE INDUS CIVILISATION 2. DOGS IN INDIA IN HISTORICAL TIMES 2.1 Designation 2.2 Kinds of dogs 2.3 Colour of fur 2.4 The parts of the body and their use 2.5 BODILY FUNCTIONS 2.5.1 Nutrition 2.5.2 Excreted substances 2.5.3 Diseases 2.6 Nature and behaviour ( śauvana ; P āli kukkur âkappa, kukkur āna ṃ gaman âkāra ) 2.7 Dogs and other animals 3. CYNANTHROPIC RELATIONS 3.1 General relation 3.1.1 Treatment of dogs by humans 3.1.2 Use of dogs 3.1.2.1 Utensils 3.1.3 Names of dogs 2 3.1.4 Dogs in human names 3.1.5 Dogs in names of other animals 3.1.6 Dogs in place names 3.1.7 Treatment of humans by dogs 3.2 Similes 3.2.1 Dogs in abuse 3.3 Dogs in art 3.4 Dogs in literature and philosophy 3.5 Dogs in religion and superstition 3.5.1 Dogs of the gods 3.5.2 Cynomantics 3.5.3 Magic 3.5.4 Reincarnation as a dog ( su ahatta a) 3.5.5 Canine cult 3.6 Cynotherapy INDEX LOCORUM SUBJECT INDEX BIBLIOGRAPHY Dogs are no cynosure in Indian life, as are cows, 2 but according to the Jàtaka belong to the world of men 3 and play a more differentiated role than other animals, as is shown below by * The first edition of this essay entitled ÚGone to the dogs in ancient IndiaÛ appeared in the Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in 2006. I thank the AcademyÙs secretary for the permission to make a second edition with some new material and taking into account the reviews by Stephanie Jamison (translation of quotes; index locorum), Mario Russo and Kornelius Krümpelmann. Philip Baker, of the Englisch publisher Battlebridge, urged me to prepare a new edition with figures of dogs, but regrettably he suddenly died in August 2017 following an accident. Meanwhile also in India Úa one-of-a-kind book on the dog in Indian myth and historyÛ (back-flap) appeared: the Bengali economist and dog lover Bibek DebroyÙs Sarama . The author of vast reading of this well-founded and well-written pocketbook has apparently not known my study (Preface xi and 232) and provides much material from modern sources and belles-lettres; it may complement in a way my work. – The abbreviations of Indian texts follow the system of Monier Williams, The Critical Pali Dictionary and, for Prakrit, Schubring Ùs Doctrine of the Jainas. 1 “For you know that it is the natural character of the dogs of noble pedigree to be very friendly to those well-known to them and the opposite to those unfamiliar.” 2 This is well-known, of course, yet the extent, in the form of the violent reaction on a scholarly book such as D. N. JhaÙs The Myth of the Holy Cow, and even of death threats to its author, which necessitated the publication in London, 2002 (see preface, p. xii), is surprising. – In the kukkurÙ-ovàda (not in any dictionary) Ølecture on dogsÙ of the Kukkura-jàtaka (Ja I 178,4), dogs represent all living beings regarding ahi ṃsà . – Of similar importance were dogs in the Hittite empire (Collins 2002: 242) and in ancient Iran (Spiegel 1878: 657). 3 (Yakkhiniyo ) tesa ṃ (bhinna-nàvàna ṃ) Úmanussa-vàsa ṃ àgatÙ amhàÛ ti sa ṃjànanÙ-attha ṃ .... manusse go-gaõe sunakhe ..... dassenti Øin order to make the (shipwrecked) think Úwe have reached a human residenceÛ (the Yakùãs) showed them people, herds of cattle, dogs …, Ja II 128,2; cf. Mahàva ṃsa VII 10 gàmamhi vijjamànamhi 3 the many words for ØdogÙ in literature (see under 2.1 and 3), the quantity of references and stories collected here, and last but not least: the great epic begins and ends with a dog story. To quote Satya Prakash Sarasvati, Údog is neither regarded <as> a domestic animal nor <as> a wild creatureÛ (1988: 304); he gives no source for this, but dogs are not one of the seven kinds of domestic animals mentioned by Baudhàyana in CalandÙs note on Pa¤cavBr 2,7,5,8 4 and wild dogs or dholes are a species of their own, whereas a dhobiÙs dog belongs neither to the house nor to the riverside. 5 At any rate, for the ancient Indians, as against, e.g., for the Spanish in the early 20 th century, 6 it was not necessary to describe what a dog was. The following lines intend to sketch their relation to humans and their fellow quadrupeds and birds from the ancient sources, as was done exhaustively for Greek and Latin literature long ago. The material for this article has been collected accidentally over many years and will be treated in the following approximate scheme, but despite cross references, overlapping cannot always be avoided: 1. dogs in the Indus civilisation; 2. dogs in historical times in India; 2.1 designation; 2.2 kinds (housedog-watchdog, hound, war dog, pariah, dhole); 2.3 colour and properties of fur; 2.4 parts of the body and their use; 2.5 bodily functions; 2.5.1 nutrition; 2.5.2 excreted substances; 2.5.3 diseases; 2.6 nature and behaviour; 2.7 dogs and other animals; 3. cynanthropic relations; 3.1 general relation; 3.1.1 treatment of dogs; 3.1.2 use of dogs (guard; chase; play; war; draught animal; bestiality); 3.1.2.1 utensils; 3.1.3 names of dogs; 3.1.4 dogs in human names; 3.1.5 dogs in names of other animals; 3.1.6 dogs in place names; 3.1.7 treatment by dogs; 3.2 similes; 3.2.1 dogs in abuse; 3.3 dogs in art; 3.4 dogs in literature; 3.5 dogs in religion and superstition; 3.5.1 dogs of gods; 3.5.2 cynomantics; 3.5.3 magic; 3.5.4 reincarnation; 3.5.5 canine cult; 3.6 cynotherapy; 4. bibliography. 1. Dogs in the Indus civilisation As bones discovered in the Indus valley 7 show the people kept various kinds of domestic dogs, representations of which have been found in copper/bronze, soapstone and especially in bhavanti sunakhà Ødogs are only there where there is a villageÙ. See also Weber 1885: 227. The narrow relation between humans and dogs is shown by the latter being put on a par with càõóàlas , the lowest of the former (see below under 2.5.1 dogÙs flesh), and in sacrifices to ràkùasa s (see 3.5) may even replace them, as with deities in Upper Guinea (Africa) (Frank 1964: 137). − For dogs of the gods see 2.3 and 3.5. 4 Cow, horse, goat, sheep, man (!), donkey and camel . – Upadhyaya Ùs statement ÚThere were domesticated big dogs (÷vàgaõi ) kept by the fowlers for purposes of sportÛ makes no sense as a summary of Raghuva ṃ÷a 9,53 ÷và - gaõi-vàgurikaiþ … vive÷a sa … vanam Øhe entered the forest accompanied by hunters with packs of dogs, and with snaresÙ (I am obliged to Dr Krümpelmann 2009: 509 for the correction). 5 Dhobã kà kuttà kà sà na ghar kà na ghañ kà (Yule / Burnell 1903: 312). Premchand, Godàn 1987: 155. 6 Mam¡fero … con la cola de menor longitud que las patas posteriores, una de las cuales levanta el macho para orinar Ømammal … with a tail shorter than the hind legs one of which the male raises to piddleÙ (Diccionario de la Lengua Espa¤ola. Madrid, 1925). 7 Marshall 1931: 650-1. 4 terracotta. Though it is difficult to ascribe breeds, as can be proved by the copper dog found in Lothal, 8 a pariah dog and a kind of greyhound or Afghan seem identifiable on the basis of these bones and some soapstone figures, as Ardeleanu-Jansen 9 states with reference to Zeuner. 10 A third species was recognized by Marshall (l. c.) as a hunting dog. Mackay 11 also assumed three kinds of dogs domesticated in Mohenjo-Daro: (1) A mastiff-like type with a tightly twisted tail, lop ears, and a short powerful muzzle, which seems to be the same species of dog found in Mesopotamia. Hermanns (1952: 156) identified it as resembling the Tibetan dog 12 and further saw in the terracottas a small terrier and a dachshund. (2) A species with a longer face, upright tail and prick ears seen also on archaic Elamite sealings and resembling the present day pariah dog. (3) A dog with a compact body, curled tail, short legs, large hanging ears and a short head, a type unlike the pye-dog or the hound used in Sind today. This kind of dog closely resembles the bull-dog.

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