Dog and Sannyāsī

In Chapter 10 of the Rājya Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, a dog comes to the court of Bhagavān Rāma with a complaint. A sannyāsī (a renunciant) had struck the dog on the head for no reason. Rāma hears the case fairly and gives judgment. The episode shows Rāma-rājya: even the weakest creature can come to the king for justice, and a renunciant in holy robes is still answerable for violence.

The complaint

The dog came to Rāma’s court and asked to be heard. Rāma hears every petitioner, whatever his place, and he listened to the dog.

The dog told him that a sannyāsī, a wandering renunciant who wore the marks of the holy life, had struck it on the head with no cause. The dog had done no wrong. The blow was senseless violence from a man who, by his order, is expected to be free of all violence and passion.

The dog is a lowly creature, and it came to the king for justice against a renunciant of very high standing. In Rāma-rājya this was possible. Dharma applied to all alike, and the weak could seek justice against the strong.

Rāma’s judgment

Rāma called the sannyāsī to his court and heard his side. The sannyāsī could give no reason for the blow.

Rāma held that violence without cause is adharma whoever does it, whatever his holy standing. A sannyāsī who does such violence falls from his vrata (vow). Rāma then gave his judgment.

A sannyāsī cannot be punished with blows or with prison, for these do not fit his order. But he must receive a consequence that fits his wrong and his standing. Rāma gave a punishment that corrected the sannyāsī and taught everyone who saw it.

The dog’s own request

The dog itself is also said to have made a particular request about what should be done with the guilty sannyāsī.

Other cases in Chapter 10

The dog and the sannyāsī is one of several cases of justice in Chapter 10:

• A śūdra doing tapas at the Vindhya mountains. Rāma hears this case and deals with it according to dharma.
• The vulture and the owl. The two birds bring a dispute over property to Rāma, and he judges it fairly.
• Seven dead persons brought back to life. Rāma shows his rule over life and death by raising seven people who had died. In Rāma-rājya under Bhagavān Rāma, even death could be set aside by the king’s grace.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Rājya Khaṇḍa, Chapter 10