When King Yudhisthira renounced heaven for the sake of his loyal dog...

[ajay00]

For us Hindus, the character of King Yudhisthira in the Mahabharatha is well-known.

He was the embodiment of virtuous conduct and behavior and exercised patience and goodwill even in the most adverse situations and circumstances. Even his arch-rivals Duryodhana and Shakuni praised Yudhisthira's character and conduct, and Krishna was his lifelong friend and counselor who aided him in difficult situations in his life out of great regard for his virtuous nature.

Numerous tests emerged in life for Yudhisthira testing his conduct and character in great adversity but Yudhisthira passed them bravely.


After his retirement in old age from kingly duties, Yudhisthira set out in pilgrimage to the Himalayas accompanied by a dog.

Upon reaching the top of a mountain he met Indra, the king of the gods, who had come personally to take him to heaven. When Yudhisthira sought Indra's permission for his loyal dog to accompany him to heaven, Indra refused citing that the dog was an unclean animal and not fit for heaven.

Though Yudhisthira pleaded incessantly for his dog to accompany him, Indra refused. At this, Yudhisthira decided to refuse to go to heaven with Indra as he felt that abandoning a loyal creature to be a great sin and turned back with his dog. At this point, it was revealed that the dog was actually Dharma, the god of righteousness in disguise, and this whole drama was actually a test of Yudhisthira's character.

Having passed the final test, Indra took Yudhishtira in his physical form to heaven, and it is said that Yudhisthira is the first man to go to heaven in his physical form without abandoning it.

So this begs the question. Is compassion and empathy to living creatures other than human beings, actually a silent test for all human beings in this world , and would this also determine to some extent whether we embrace heaven or hell after death ?