Classic Poem

Lo! suddenly, with a sound which rang through heaven and earth,
Indra came riding on his chariot, and he cried to the king, " Ascend!"
Then, indeed, did the lord of justice look back to his fallen brothers,
And thus unto Indra he spoke, with a sorrowful heart:
" Let my brothers, who yonder lie fallen, go with me;
Not even unto thy heaven would I enter, if they were not there.
And yon fair-faced daughter of a king, Draupadi, the all-deserving,
Let her, too, enter with us! O Indra, approve my prayer!"


INDRA

" In heaven thou shalt find thy brothers, — they are already there before thee;
There are they all, with Draupadi; weep not, then, O son of Bharata,
Thither are they entered, prince, having thrown away their mortal weed;
But thou alone shalt enter still wearing thy body of flesh."


YUDISHTHIRA

" O Indra, and what of this dog? It hath faithfully followed me through;
Let it go with me into heaven, for my soul is full of compassion."


INDRA

" Immortality and fellowship with me, and the height of joy and felicity,
All these hast thou reached to day: leave, then, the dog behind thee."


YUDISHTHIRA

" The good may oft act an evil part, but never a part like this;
Away, then, with that felicity whose price is to abandon the faithful!"


INDRA

" My heaven hath no place for dogs; they steal away our offerings on earth:
Leave, then, thy dog behind thee, nor think in thy heart that it is cruel."


YUDISHTHIRA

" To abandon the faithful and devoted is an endless crime, like the murder of a Brahmin;
Never, therefore, come weal or woe, will I abandon yon faithful dog.
Yon poor creature, in fear and distress, hath trusted in my power to save it:
Not, therefore, for e'en life itself will I break my plighted word."


INDRA

" If a dog but beholds a sacrifice, men esteem it unholy and void;
Forsake, then, the dog, O hero, and heaven is thine own as a reward.
Already thou hast borne to forsake thy fondly loved brothers and Draupadi;
Why, then, forsakest thou not the dog? Wherefore now fails thy heart?"


YUDISHTHIRA

Mortals, when they are dead, are dead to love or hate, — so runs the world's belief;
I could not bring them back to life, but while they lived I never left them.
To oppress the suppliant, to kill a wife, to rob a Brahmin, and to betray one's friend,
These are the four great crimes; and to forsake a dependant I count equal to them."