Unpacking the ‘canine conundrum’

At the end of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, the victorious Pandava king Yudhisthir and his brothers renounce worldly pleasures and make their final pilgrimage to the Himalayas. Throughout this arduous journey, they are accompanied by a stray dog. Eventually, only the king and the dog survive. At this point, Indra, the god of heaven appears and invites the king to board his chariot, but without the faithful dog, as it is considered unworthy of entering heaven. In some sense, this dual identity of the dog mirrors that of Cerberus, the hound of Hades. In Hesiod’s description, Cerberus is friendly and welcoming to the dying, but if they attempt to return to the world of the living, the murderous nature of Cerberus is unleashed (Wasik & Murphy, 2012).