16
Predicting the Future with Dogs
The fourteenth-century Śārṅgadhara Paddhati (“Śārṅgadhara’s Guidebook”) is one of a number of encyclopedic anthologies of medieval India written by brahman ministers for the edification of their royal patrons. Drawing material from a wide array of treatises on every imaginable subject, compendia of this sort were intended to provide the king with all he needed to know to insure the well-being not only of his kingdom but also of his own royal person. So it is that the Śārṅgadhara Paddhati (1363 C.E.) follows the lead of countless earlier encyclopedias by providing a great wealth of practical information on the nature and worship of the major Hindu gods, human virtues and vices, metaphysics, ornithology, botany, theories of kingship and royal polity, the raising and training of war horses and elephants, military strategy, human physiology, medicine, yoga, and so on, and so forth.
About halfway through this rambling work, wedged between discussions of tree medicine and veterinary medicine, chapter 83, 494 verses in length, is devoted to the “science of omens.” The Sanskrit term for this science is śakuna, a term which also means “vulture” or “kite.” On the basis of terminology alone, one might deduce from this that the Indian science of omens, not unlike that of the augurers of ancient Rome, was one that predicted future events by observing the flight patterns of birds. Yet one finds in this chapter, as well as in a number of other Indian sources, that birds shared the field of potential omen creatures with jackals, owls, deer, serpents, small lizards, scorpions, mongeese—and, most importantly, dogs.
The Indian science of omens was, moreover, not limited to the interpretation of animal behavior. Already in the first (if not the second) millennium C.E., sortition or oracular gambling was a means for divining future events through random dice throws. The distribution of arrows shot by a bow could also serve an oracular purpose. Palmistry and the reading of marks on the soles of a newborn infant’s feet were also current in ancient and classical India, as were astrology, numerology, and the interpretation of dreams. Birthmarks and throbbing sensations in various parts of the body (the arm, eye, and so on) could also be interpreted to predict the future. So, for example, Sītā, the kidnapped heroine of the great epic Rāmāyaṇa, sensed that help was on the way when her eye, right arm, and thighs begin to throb. Unusual phenomena and calamities—atmospheric (great storms, meteors, etc.) and terrestrial (earthquakes, floods, and plagues)—were also viewed as precursors of future events.
Śystematized discussions of divination on the basis of animal behavior first began to appear in the early centuries of the common era, in such works as the sixth-century Bṛhat Saṁhitā (“Great Compendium”) of Varāhamihira. Although it was mainly devoted to astrology, this work devoted a number of chapters (especially chapter 89) to the oracular interpretation of animal behavior, and particularly to the prediction of future events in the light of the random behavior of urinating dogs. Varāhamihira’s observations would be duly reproduced, nearly verbatim, in at least two later sources. These were the twelfth-century Mānasollāsa (“Splendor of the Mental Faculties”), an encyclopedic work attributed to king Bhūlokamalla Someśvara—which devotes portions of the thirteenth chapter of its second volume to urinating dogs—and a portion of chapter 83 (verses 275-312) of the śārṅgadhara Paddhati entitled “Traveller’s Omens Deriving from the Auspicious Movements of Dogs.” (These verses, not reproduced here, are an expansion on a passage from the Bṛhat Saṁhitā. A partial translation of this original source may be found in chapter five of my book, Myths of the Dog-Man).
Because the medieval encyclopedists generally satisfied themselves (and their royal patrons) with merely re-editing—or even simply plagiarizing—earlier works, it is only rarely that one chances upon examples of truly original or creative writing in their compendia. A striking exception, in the work of Śārṅgadhara, are the opening 120 verses of chapter 83, which begin with the statement that this chapter is based not only on previously existing treatises on the subject of omens, but also on the author’s own great practical experience. With these words, he launches nearly directly into what may well be the most meticulously detailed study of canine oracular behavior in all of Indian literature.
Śarṅgadhara almost immediately singles out the dog as the most eminent of all omen creatures. He clearly states his reasons for his choice: the dog’s wide variety of behavior patterns, as well as its bark, are easy to understand. Dogs are, moreover, easy to come by and easier to approach and observe than are wild animals or birds (verses 7-9). There are also, however, a number of implicit grounds for Sārṅgadhara’s choice that merit discussion here. These concern the particular socio-religious role the dog has played in India—if not in all of human culture—since the dawn of human society. One of the first creatures to be domesticated by humans, the dog, “man’s best friend,” has also often been his “best enemy.” Perhaps as a result of the familiarity that has obtained between the human and canine species, the dog is, in its behavior, more like man than are any other creatures. Dogs do what people do, only differently and, it must be allowed, with much less refinement. Dogs talk (bark), cry, show joy, yawn, scratch themselves, hiccup, cough, urinate, defecate, have sex, eat, drink, sleep, and so on, in ways that are quite human. Yet, at the same time, they are indiscriminate about when they sleep (often remaining awake and vigilant at night), what they eat (a common Indian term for them being “vomit-eater”), with whom they have sex (members of their immediate family, females in menses: verse 24), and so on. As such, they can be “little loved” (verse 25) by humans.
The contempt in which humans often hold dogs in India runs much deeper, however, than mere disgust they may feel at the incongruousness or crudeness of canine behavior. Dogs have always been, by their very place in the domesticated human world, marginal or liminal creatures. The watchdog who stands guard on its master’s porch at night is neither in the house nor outside of the house. It protects its human family, yet can, when rabid, turn on them and even kill them. When it is a shepherd’s dog, it protects the herd from rustlers as well as from its wild “cousin,” the wolf; yet, dogs can also run in packs, killing livestock and threatening human life. In both herding and hunting, the dog constitutes a moving boundary between the human world (of the herd or the hunter) and the savage world (of predators or of wild game) from which it originally came.
It is this marginality that renders the dog indispensible, yet at the same time dangerous to its human master. This marginality, combined with the dog’s indiscriminate sexual and eating habits, also forms the basis for an important classificatory model in traditional Indian society. In the Indian system of castes (varṇas, literally “colors”), the “good society” of the upper castes (brahmans, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas) is counterbalanced by the dregs of society, the low-born śūdras and untouchables or “outcastes.” These latter groups, defined by their indiscriminate eating habits (the dietary prohibitions that apply to the higher castes do not apply to them) and sexual practices (they are said to be the product of miscegenation, the unnatural mixing of castes), have been identified, throughout India’s history, with dogs. It is this ideology that underlies verses 13 and 14 of our text, in which it is said that black, the color of śūdras, is the dog’s true color.
Scavenging their food like dogs, living like dogs, even eating dogs (“dog-cooker” being a common term for “outcaste” in ancient and medieval India), low-caste and “outcaste” Indians are marginal, dangerous, and polluting to the persons belonging to the upper levels of society. Yet, at the same time, they are indispensible to good society, for none but a low-caste or “outcaste” can dispose of the refuse that even a brahman cannot help but produce: garbage, excrement, and, most importantly, dead bodies.
Since the time of the Vedas, the Indian cremation ground, tended by “outcastes” and haunted by carrion-feeding dogs, has constituted the dangerous yet unescapable pivot between two worlds, the world of the living and the world of the dead. It is only by passing through the cremation fire that the soul of the deceased can be released from the corpse in which it is trapped and enter a new life on another plane. And what creatures do we find at this, the most liminal and marginal locus in the Indian world? Hellhounds. No sooner has the soul of the deceased passed through the cremation fire than does it find itself moving along the path of the dead, a path that leads to the world of the dead, lorded over by Yama, the god of the dead. Standing guard along this path between this world and the next are two dogs, the dogs of Yama, who can just as easily guide the soul of the deceased along the path as wolf it down when it strays from that path. These two dogs are called the “sons of Saramā” (sārameyau)—Saramā being the name of the divine bitch who, in a myth from book ten of the ancient Ṛg Veda, blazed a trail across unknown regions to find the cows of the gods that had been rustled by thieves working in the service of the antigods. As a synonym for “dog,” “son of Saramā” (verse 12) refers directly to the marginal place of the dog as guardian, herder, and hunter along the paths of the dead.
It is undoubtedly its close association with death that also contributes to rendering the dog an omen creature of choice. The dog, vigilant by night, haunting the paths that lead from the domesticated world of the village to the uncharted wilderness of the surrounding forest, knows both the day side and the night side of existence. It can predict the future because it has, in a sense, already been there, crossing over the threshold between the world of the living and the world of the dead while his human master sleeps, seeing what humans cannot see, and carrying out the bidding of its other master, Death himself.
This threshold is further represented in the preparatory nocturnal ritual (verse 17) that Śārṅgadhara presents at the beginning of this chapter. Since the time of the Vedas, every ritual sacrifice in India has symbolically constituted a sacrifice of the very human who is offering the sacrifice. The animal victim of the Vedic sacrifice was, in fact, nothing other than a surrogate, a stand-in, for the sacrificer himself. As such, the sacrificer was able symbolically to sacrifice his own body—and thereby gain, as his reward, access to the elevated world of the gods—without ever having to leave this world, the world of humans. He could die and enjoy the rewards of self-sacrifice, without dying.
The same symbolism appears to be operative in the ritual described by Śārṅgadhara. The dog is placed in the middle of a ritual diagram, on a symbolic altar upon which it is itself worshiped like a god, with flowers, incense, and so on—but upon which it is also symbolically sacrificed in the form of the baked flour-cake shaped like a brace of dogs (two dogs, like the Sārameyau: verses 22-23). Like the human sacrificer in ancient India, the dog is both the victim and the enjoyer of the (fruits of the) sacrifice. The dog “dies” ritually, yet at the same time lives to enjoy the sacrifice and—more importantly for the omen-master who is performing this ritual—lives to communicate future events, that is, what it has “seen” while passing beyond this world, through the world of the dead, and thereby into the future—to people trapped in the present. Oracular rituals of this sort continue to be performed, albeit in simplified form, in modern-day India, using rams and mares.
The ritual that Śārṅgadhara describes has the same basic form and dynamic as do many Hindu rituals of the medieval and modern period. The diagram (maṇḍala) upon which it is performed is a symbolic representation of the entire universe, ordered into the eight cardinal directions, with a divine guardian at each of its cardinal points. The directions are, in fact, designated in Śārṅgadhara’s description by the names of these gods: the eastern direction is called Indra (king of the gods), the southeast Agni (the god of fire), the south Yama (god of death), the southwest Kravyāda (the devourer of flesh), the west Varuṇa (god of the waters), the northwest Vāyu (the god of wind), the north Kubera (the god of wealth), and the northeast Śambhu (the supreme god Śiva in his benevolent form).
Each of these gods is worshiped with both offerings of food, flowers, and so on, and ritual formulas (mantras), after which the dog itself is worshiped with offerings of food and, once again, mantras (verses 24-26). The person performing the ritual is, moreover, instructed to superimpose (nyās) the ritual upon his own mind and body (verse 25), and thereby identify himself with the dog that is at once the sacrificial victim and the divine object of the ritual. This too, is a common feature of Hindu—and especially tantric—worship, in which the devotee identifies himself with the divinity to whom he offers his devotion. (An allusion is made to tantrism in verse 90, with the mention of the siddhas, the “accomplished ones” of a number of medieval esoteric traditions.) It is through just this sort of ritual reordering of the entire universe that one can secure one’s own place in the universe and in the world beyond (verse 26).
Following his description of this ritual, Śārṅgadhara enters into the heart of the matter, that is, the interpretation of canine behavior as a means of predicting future events. Here, he lays out the basic principles of the science of omens, albeit in a loosely connected way. The augurer is able to predict the future by observing five canine phenomena (verse 42). These are: the dog’s orientation (the direction in which it is facing); movement (the movements and gestures it makes with its legs, mouth, etc.); location (the place in which it is found); motion (the direction in which it displaces itself), and utterances (barking, howling, crying, etc.).
The first four of these phenomena are categorized along a certain number of axes or vectors. Generally speaking, all that concerns the right side of an omen dog’s body portends favorable events, while all that has to do with the left side is inauspicious (verses 38-40, 46, 92). This division, into dexter and sinister, is so common to Indo-European culture, if not humanity, as to require no comment. The fact that left-sided canine behavior is often auspicious for women (verse 48)-the opposite of the male case—derives from the place of women vis-à-vis their husbands in Indian society. A man’s wife, his “distaff side,” is always symbolically located to his left in religious representations. Furthermore, woman is, in more than one sense, the opposite of man, and it follows that a reversal of directions should be operative as concerns omens. Thus a dog’s right-sided movements will portend the birth of a son, and its left-sided movements that of a daughter (verse 77).
East and west are also of major importance in the interpretation of canine omens. The former direction is called śānta, “extinguished,” “peaceful,” “auspicious,” while the latter, dīpta, is “ignited,” “blazing,” and “inauspicious” (verses 41-42). The point of reference here is the sun, in the context of the extreme climate of India. The morning sun, pleasant and relatively unoppressive, is associated with the birth of the day and new life. The afternoon sun, however, blazes down, draining the strength and life out of creatures. The sun at the close of the day is associated with death, the funeral pyre, and the great conflagration that will burn up the entire universe at the end of a cosmic cycle. In this context, the distinction between east and west, “away from the sun” and “into the sun,” becomes comprehensible in the context of omens. Whereas a dog’s easterly orientation, location, movements, and motion, tending toward life, are auspicious, these same attitudes and behaviors, when they are westerly, tend toward death, and are inauspicious (verses 66, 71, 72). The time of day or night in which the omen dog moves, barks, or displaces itself also play a determining role in the future events it portends (verses 98-99, 102).
Combinations of right with east and left with west produce the expected results (verse 51), whereas more complex or contradictory movements require more complex interpretations (verses 43, 70). Certain special cases nonetheless run counter to these general rules (verses 67, 73, 83). Another variable is introduced by whether the inquiry is being made about something auspicious or inauspicious (verses 41, 79). An important distinction is further made between the oracular behavior of dogs from one’s own household (kṣaitrika-śakunam: verses 4, 10-83), dogs from other people’s households (āgantu-śakunam: verses 5, 84-120), and stray dogs from no apparent household (jāṅghika-śakunam: verses 6, 275-312 [not translated here]).
The systematic elements laid out by Śārṅgadhara in his discussion of the science of canine oracles are, however, far outweighed by the unsystematic. Beyond the apparently contradictory interpretations with which the text is riddled, there is either no visible correlation whatsoever between what the dog does—yawning, urinating, eating, etc.—and what its actions mean (verses 81, 98, 115, etc.); or, conversely, the correlation is so obvious as not to require a “science” to explain it (verses 53-54, 58-64, 93, etc.).
What is the point of so much sound and fury? Is it possible to believe that there actually were people who planned their lives according to random canine behavior? Or—to paraphrase Cato’s description of the Etruscan augurers who predicted the future by looking at the livers of sacrificial animals—might we not imagine that one Indian omen-master could not look at another omen-master without laughing?
Here, it is appropriate that we frame our answer to these questions in terms of the socio-political context in which chapter 83 of the Śārṅgadhara Paddhati was written. In this society, members of the (generally brahman) intelligentsia served as advisors to (generally kṣatriya) kings, in return for which they received royal patronage and support. This advisory role pertained primarily to the king and his kingdom’s religious life, in which brahman priests, through their performance of the great and complex rituals of state, insured the harmonious continuation of the king’s realm. This role also extended into affairs of state, the waging of war, public works, and all manner of other vital matters, including divination. No royal court worth its salt was without a full complement of astrologers, palm-readers, soothsayers—and omen-readers.
There can be no doubt, in the case of Śārṅgadhara, that the science of omens was intended for the edification of his king—in his particular case, King Hamir (Śārṅgadhara Paddhati 1.2), founder of the kingdom of Mewar, in present-day Rajasthan. Over one-fourth of the omens he interprets directly concern royal welfare or warfare (verses 28-37, 56-73, etc.), and most of the remaining omens may be seen as concerning the king indirectly. In this light, we can read this portion of his text as the work of a royal employee who, not unlike the meddle-some lawmakers and bureaucrats of the modern state, claimed that there was a method to his madness, but that the method was so complex as to require his own indispensible expertise. This is an attitude that Jonathan Z. Smith has termed “scribalism,” according to which a given intelligentsia insures its monopoly on certain forms of power and authority, and defends its own vested interests, by generating data that it alone is capable of interpreting.
Śarṅgadhara Paddhati 83.1-120 is found in The Paddhati of Śarṅgadhara, A Sanskrit Anthology, edited by Peter Peterson (Bombay: Government Book Depot, 1888), pp. 340-360.
Further Reading
David Gordon White, Myths of the Dog-Man (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991).
Śārṅgadhara Paddhati 83.1-120
1. Having consulted a multitude of texts and having gained much practical experience in these matters, I now begin an exposition of the science of omens, for the benefit of men and women alike. 2. These are omens that reveal both the good and evil fortune that will befall a person, from his birth until his death, and predict the life expectancies of living beings. The entire universe, composed of earth, heaven, and midspace, indeed falls within their purview. Without them, nothing concerning the past, present, or future can be clearly known. Omens open one’s eyes to the entire universe. A constant shining light, they overcome all adversity.
3. An omen makes it possible to tell what will be one’s lot—loss or gain; joy, sorrow, or unalloyed misfortune; long life or death; and the realization of one’s wishes and endeavors. When two armies are locked in battle, it can tell which will win the undisputed victory, which will deal the crushing blow. In answer to the question “What is happening in the world?” a mortal may place his entire trust in the omen creatures.
EXPANDED DISCUSSION OF OMEN CREATURES
4. There are three kinds of omens in the present system: there are those which are “indwelling,” those which are “arriving,” and those which are “pertaining to the hindquarters.” That which originates within a given household is called “indwelling.” 5. But if the omen creature is from the outside world, from any direction whatsoever, its omen—like a bud whose two halves are “good fortune” and “bad fortune,” when it opens to reveal a fruit, is called “arriving.” 6. An omen that manifests itself through the utterances, motion, movements, or presence of an omen animal one may encounter along a path, from either the right or left side, from in front or behind, and whether the animal be domesticated or wild, is called “pertaining to the hindquarters.”
7. The fawn, the spotted owl, the crow, the she-jackal, and the dog—the greatest sages have declared these to be the five optimal omen creatures. 8. The first four of these creatures are, by their nature, barely intelligible. The dog is easier to understand than these creatures. Therefore, our discussion begins with it. 9. As concerns omen animals, I say that no other living creature is so observable and accessible as the dog. Nowhere is there any creature like it whatsoever.
“INDWELLING” OMENS
10. Now the meaning of the dog’s bark will be discussed. It is a meaning that applies, most assuredly, to every kind of omen—that is, those pertaining to outward behavior, good qualities, and the consequences of acts committed in previous births, both auspicious and inauspicious. 11. One who has a probing mind, who is well versed in the omen texts, of pure intellect, diligent, truthful, virtuous, and skilled in the interpretation of animal movements may qualify as a master in the present system.
12. The dog is called “dog,” the “auspicious one,” the “talker,” “of good pedigree,” the “tawny-colored one,” the “wakeful one,” the “curled up one,” “bow-wow,” the “swift one,” “puppy,” and “son of Saramā.” 13. White is the color associated with brahmans; red with kṣatriyas; yellow with vaiśyas; and black with śūdras. So it is, in this regard, that dogs (being of many colors) belong to a mixed race and have a wide variety of names. 14. But someone will say, “The question one should be asking here concerns what is natural to each respective species.” It is the stated opinion of the sages that “concerning the dog, black is the only natural color.”
15. The ritual of bringing the dog before the omen-master should be performed on an auspicious day. A brace of dogs made of pure flour, having been worshiped, should then be offered together with milk, for the dog’s pleasure, to its male and female pups and other kin. 16. The dog should be black all over, without bodily defects, even-tempered, healthy, young, and strong. His tail should not bend toward the left; he should be balanced in his movements; and have a total of twenty claws.
17. A man who has domesticated the dog, won its confidence, and taken care of it, should bathe it at sundown. The ritual should be performed that night under a clear sky. One should perform the ritual in its entirety, with the greatest of care, to the accompaniment of the following mantra. 18. Placing his own hand on the dog’s head, the man should consecrate it with these words. “Oṃ, O finest of dogs, you who have been raised in my house. Speak the truth, svāhā!” Then, at daybreak, he should, using fresh cow dung, trace a square diagram measuring three cubits on each side, on a cleared, pleasant, isolated, and purified piece of ground. 19. The eastern quarter of the ritual diagram should be painted yellowish white; the southeast red; the southwest blue; the south black; the west silvery white; the northwest ochre; the north variegated; and the northeast white. 20. These are the pigments, made of perfumed powder, that one should use in painting an eight-petaled lotus, upon which each of the gods should be placed at its corresponding cardinal direction.
21. Having consulted with the omen-master, one should perform the worship ceremony, with flowers, and so on, using a series of mantras, composed of the names of the gods, and beginning with the word “Oṃ” and ending with the word “namo.” 22. The dog to be worshiped with the rite is accordingly placed in the middle of the ritual diagram. A flour cake in the shape of a brace of dogs should be offered by the daughter, together with an oblation that has been cooked inside a sacrificial vessel and covered with clarified butter, to the honored gods. 23. Once the gods’ oblation has been taken out of the sacrificial vessel, one should make another ball-shaped oblation for the dog itself. Thereafter one should prepare for the worship of the dog [which is placed in the middle of the ritual diagram] with all of the following mantras: 24. With the words “Oṃ, the curled up one, svāhā!” one offers sandalwood. With the words “Oṃ, the auspicious one, svāhā!” one offers flowers. With the words “Oṃ, O tawny one, svāhā!” one offers unhusked barley corns. With the words “Oṃ, O wakeful one, svāhā!” one burns incense before it. With the words “Oṃ, O stooping one, svāhā!” one holds a burning lamp before it. With the words “Oṃ, you who have sexual intercourse with one in her menses, svāhā!” one offers fruit. With the words “Oṃ, O eater of sacrificial offerings, svāhā!” one offers food. With the words “Oṃ, you who are faithful to your master, svāhā!” one offers honey. This is how one should worship the dog at the center of the ritual diagram. Then, having led the dog away from the ritual diagram, and having purified it, one should place one’s hand on the dog’s forehead and pronounce the following mantras: 25. “Oṃ, O knower of acts, come, come; Oṃ, you who are awake by night, come, come; Oṃ, knower of the supernatural, come, come; Oṃ, you who speak clearly, come, come; Oṃ, O snake-tongued one, come, come; Oṃ, O little-loved one, come, come. Taking this offering, speak the truth, truly speak, svāhā.” This is how one should consecrate the dog. Then the man, having fully internalized the ritual in his own mind, should mold together a ball-shaped oblation and throw it into the ritual fire while pronouncing the following mantra: 26. “Oṃ, salutations to you, O blessed one, O finest of the canine race, O most excellent omen creature, O blessed one, O voice, lord of creatures, O you who have sexual intercourse during menses, come quickly, taking the offering and carry out my wish; speak, speak truly, Oṃ, Hūṃ, Phaṭ, Svāhā!” With these words one makes the offering. One should perform the proper rites at the end of the year, at the solstices, the end of each season, month, fortnight, and day. He who fails to observe all of these periodic rites, his every omen is proven false in this world.
27. Having recalled the ritual, and thinking “the future will or will not be such,” he should release the dog. Once the dog has eaten the ball-shaped offering, its behavior, even when it is not moving, is worthy of investigation.
BEHAVIOR CONCERNING THE FATE OF THE KING
28. A dog scratching its brow with its right forepaw indeed portends that a prince whose royal chariot wheel has humbled the mighty will be crowned with the royal tiara in the ceremony of royal consecration. 29. A dog that scratches its left paw with its right paw portends that a king, having assembled a great troop of war elephants, will rise to dominion over the entire earth. 30. A dog that rubs its right eye gently with its right paw portends that a king who has celebrated his royal consecration will beget, together with his wife, a son who will rule over hundreds of thousands of subjects and the entire earth. 31. A dog that scratches the region of its right ear with its right paw and makes sounds of pleasure during the playing of vocal and instrumental music portends dominion over the entire earth. 32. A dog that scratches its muzzle with its right forepaw portends that the king, together with his subjects, warriors, and nobles, will enjoy a constant supply of provisions and foodstuffs.
33. A dog that scratches its chest with its right forepaw portends a reign endowed with herds of horses, elephants, she-buffalos, and so on, troops of musicians, and great wealth. 34. A she-dog that scratches her belly with the claws of her right paw portends a great conquest. 35. If a dog looks, sniffs, claws, scratches, furrows, washes, or licks its right side after having turned toward the right, this is an auspicious omen. 36. A dog that lies on its right flank, or that urinates with its right hind leg raised and then lies down on its right side is a favorable portent. 37. A dog urinating in an agreeable place is an auspicious portent for that place and the entire region; climbing up on a bed, seat, altar, or terrace is an auspicious portent for the royal household.
38–40. All movements of the dog’s nose toward the right are known to portend happiness, but movements and motion toward the left side all portend misfortune, as for example when a dog yawns, vomits, runs away, behaves anxiously, contracts its limbs or trembles while asleep, agitates its forehead and ears, chews on some body part, hiccups, coughs, covers itself with ashes, wags its head, digs, cries, hides its food, howls, shuts its eyes, lays hold of a rock, or looks into the sun. 41. The “ignited” (western) direction is closely connected with danger, cessation, lawsuit, and so on. When one’s inquiry concerns some favorable matter, the western direction portends disgrace; when one’s inquiry concerns some inauspicious matter, it portends fearsome events. 42. Orientation, movement, location, motion, and utterances—these five may be “ignited” [westerly] just as they may be “extinguished” [easterly]. It is my feeling that all grounds for prognostication, apart from these ten, are generally worthy of the contempt they receive from omen-masters.
43. Compound movements made with the left half of his body and which also tend in a left-to-right direction, neither multiply nor diminish the result. The portents to which the dog’s complex movements give rise will be discussed presently. 44. With its five auspicious types of behavior, the dog assuredly grants men sovereignty and great fortune; likewise, with its five inauspicious forms, it necessarily takes these away.
INQUIRIES BY A SUITOR CONCERNING A BRIDE
45. The successive movements of a dog are enumerated here for the mutual inquiries made by a suitor in the process of choosing bride, and by maidens in search of a husband.
46. When the dog’s movements tend toward the right, the maiden is marriagable; when they tend toward the left, she is not. If the dog couples felicitously with a bitch, then the man will marry and pass his days together with the maiden. 47. When the dog has intercourse while facing the suitor, then the maiden is surely not fit for marriage. A dog that sniffs the genitals of a bitch indicates that the girl has been deflowered.
INQUIRIES BY A MAIDEN CONCERNING A HUSBAND
48. When a maiden makes inquiries concerning the choice of a husband, a dog’s left-sided movements are auspicious, and not the opposite. When a dog urinates on a she-dog, this means that her marriage is imminent. 49. When a dog licks its own urine and then walks to the left, the man she loves will be hers. When it strokes its tongue with its right forepaw, this means she will enjoy the love and sexual pleasure of the young man.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING THE RAINS
50. Omens concerning the rains, which take the form of a particular group of movements on the part of an excellent dog, have been duly expounded by experts in the science of omens. All should hear the supreme knowledge of these omens in its entirety. 51. Omens concerning the rains are assuredly propitious when the movements of the excellent dog are right-sided and easterly. Indeed, those of the dog’s movements that are left-sided and westerly are highly inauspicious. 52. When a dog rubs its right eye and then either licks its own navel or climbs up on a bed located on the roof of a house, this means that the clouds will pour down a great volume of rain. 53. When a yawning dog, having looked at the sky, sheds copious tears, he portends a rainy season in which the swollen clouds, pouring down torrents of rain, will produce an abundant grain harvest. 54. When a dog, having come out of a body of water, shakes the water off its body at the water’s edge, this assuredly portends the satisfaction of cultivators in the rainy season. 55. When a dog that has climbed up to a high place barks repeatedly while looking at the sun, this means that rain will be fall from the clouds in great profusion.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING ROYAL VICTORY INVOLVING A PAIR OF DOGS
56. The experts say that inquiries concerning the victory or defeat of two kings preparing for war may be carried out by observing the movements of a pair of dogs.
57. The two kings who are seeking war are indeed represented by the pair of dogs. Having determined which dog represents which of the two king’s armies, one should then drop an offering of food on the ground. When one of the two dogs, gaining the upper hand, eats the food, victory will be on the side of his king. 58. If it happens that the two dogs lay hold of the offering and eat it together with great affection, this means that a pact of friendship will be effected between the two warring kings. 59. According to persons conversant in the interpretation of manifest canine behavior, if a renowned dog is quickly put to flight, such is surely worthy of investigation. If that dog should then overcome its fear and return, this means that the king has nothing to dread. 60. When the two dogs let out a growling sound, and in no way wish to eat the offering, and then return to their own respective dwellings, then there will be no war, in spite of any quarrel the kings may have.
61. But when a third dog, manifestly superior to these two dogs, forcefully takes and eats their food offering, then one may be sure that a third king, of unsurpassing might, will quickly advance to conquer the two kings. 62. When an offering of food lying between the two dogs has been taken by one of them, and then a third dog, by virtue of its superior strength, tears it away and eats it—this means that adversity will befall the previously unrivaled king. 63. As in the aforementioned case, one of the two dogs has taken the offering of food and is eating it. A third dog unexpectedly comes along, and behaves in a friendly manner. This means that friendship will develop out of a hostile relationship. 64. If the two dogs who are eating food together affectionately share that food together with a third dog who has come along, this assuredly portends reconciliation and friendship between the two kings.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING ROYAL BATTLE INVOLVING A SINGLE DOG
65. “Is victory certain?” Indeed, when this question is duly posed by a wise man, regarding two kings, and the dog’s movements are easterly, then war will certainly occur between the two kings. 66. Orientation, location, movements, and utterances made in regular succession in an easterly direction portend a fruitful reconciliation. If these four attitudes [orientation, etc.] are made in both a westerly and an easterly direction, this means that will be neither reconciliation nor war.
67. When the dog turns, such that its left side rather than its right side is facing the questioner, this means that war will lead directly into peaceful reconciliation. If the dog gradually becomes pleased (and turns back the other way), then alliance will be followed by war. 68. When the dog pricks up its ears while barking at the sky, leaps up while running, or moves off to its left, this portends the cessation of hostilities between two kings.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING IMPENDING WAR
69. If, in answer to the question “Will there be war or not between the two kings?” all of a dog’s movements are inauspicious, this means a terrible war will follow. 70. Should two canine omens indicate contradictory—that is, both auspicious and inauspicious—results, tradition holds that the former of the two will bear no fruit while the latter will be brought to fulfillment.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING ROYAL VICTORY INVOLVING A SINGLE DOG
71. A dog may encourage a king—whose kingdom, together with its war animals and chariots, ministers, and footsoldiers, is the pivot of the universe—to go into battle. Easterly movements stand for victory; while westerly movements signify defeat.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING RECONCILIATION
72. A dog’s easterly movements being considered auspicious, such indicate that reconciliation will occur, even if preparations for war are underway. If, however, it faces directly into the sun or runs away, this means a breach will occur and that there will be no reconciliation.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING BATTLE
73. Westerly orientation, location, movements, and utterances systematically stand for a warrior’s victory in battle. But if the dog behaves similarly in an easterly direction, this portends that the warrior will be taken captive, slain, or defeated in the war.
MISCELLANEOUS OMENS
74. A dog that makes auspicious utterances and movements, and that urinates in an auspicious location indicates the realization, in the form of great wealth and gain, of an endeavor on which one has set one’s heart.
75. A dog has drawn near or is already in the vicinity for the purpose of eating raw, holy, or cooked food. When it either touches its head with its right forepaw or makes right-sided movements, it insures prosperity in the region.
76. If during a game of dice, a dog looks through half-opened eyes and makes left-sided movements while breathing deeply, hiccupping, lying down, contracting its limbs, defecating, urinating, panting, or yawning, these activities are prophetic.
77. A dog who urinates abundantly while sporting in a delightful place with right-sided movements will have as its consequence the birth of a son to a pregnant woman. Left-sided movements portend the birth of a daughter to the woman. 78. If a dog defecates, urinates, pants, yawns, or coughs in its sleep in the presence of a pregnant woman, or breaks a leg while running toward her, she will surely miscarry.
79. A dog, by its easterly orientation, location, movements, and utterances, portends favorable events when the inquiries one makes concern some auspicious matter. When the inquiries one makes concern an inauspicious matter and the dog is westerly in these four attitudes (orientation, etc.), it portends favorable events.
INQUIRIES CONCERNING DISEASE
80. When, upon hearing the omen-question, the dog first shakes and contracts its entire body before lying down, this portends the imminent death of a member of the household. 81. A dog that, having curled itself to the right, refrains from scratching its hindquarters, portends that a person suffering from disease will surely enter, on that very day, into the house of death. 82. A dog repeatedly licking the right side of its body portends death within five days. A dog licking its belly assuredly casts one directly into the abode of death.
83. The two left limbs and left-sided movements produce favorable results when one is inquiring about a sick person. Bristling body hairs and urination while in a high place are considered to be auspicious omens.
“ARRIVING” OMENS, IN WHICH THE MOVEMENTS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED DOG ARE AUSPICIOUS
84. A dog that sniffs at its body while standing in a high place portends gain. When a dog urinates on one’s merchandise, this portends commercial profits.
85. A dog scratching its ear with its right rear paw indicates that one will live to an old age. A dog scratching its eye means union with one’s beloved. 86. If a dog steps on a pillow and then lies down, this portends the imminent coming of one’s beloved to one’s house.
87. A dog rubbing its hindquarters against a doorway portends the coming of a traveller whom one should treat with honor; when it lies down there, it portends a meeting between men who are dear to one another.
88. A dog whose four limbs are completely covered with distinctive markings and which is leading a pack of dogs bestows overwhelming success. That same dog, by digging up the ground, gives rise to misfortune.
89. A dog picks up a broom, a piece of cotton, an arrow, or a winnowing basket in its mouth. The house into which it enters will become filled with wealth in the form of grain. 90. “If, indeed, a dog, having touched a particular spot on the ground with its forehead, looks fixedly at that place, then a great treasure lies there.” This is a secret shared by the siddhas.
91. When a she-dog urinates, this is auspicious with regard to marriage. It means that the maiden, having made a favorable marriage, will enjoy happiness and wealth. 92. Many are those who consider that when a dog touches its right rear paw with its right forepaw, such means fortune in marriage. 93. When a woman who is about to be married beholds a dog whose face is full of joy as it plays with its beloved, this means that she will enjoy great happiness.
94. If, during the rainy season, a dog, beholding the sun and moon, howls with upturned face, this means that a stream of water will fall from the sky in seven nights’ time. 95. If a dog, standing on the shore of a sacred bathing place, causes its body to tremble, this portends an amassing of clouds and rainfall in that country.
“ARRIVING” OMENS, IN WHICH THE MOVEMENTS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED DOG ARE INAUSPICIOUS
96. If a dog should be to the right of plowmen who are going out of the fields and to the left of those who are entering the fields, it declares “Do not farm today.”
97. A dog that barks while facing into the sun at the end of the day portends danger for the plowman; but a dog facing northwest at nightfall portends danger from wind and thieves. 98. A dog that barks while facing north in the middle of the night portends injury to twice-born persons and the death of cows. At the end of the night, this means the defilement of a virgin and miscarriage. At dawn, it means good fortune. 99. A dog that barks while facing the east at daybreak portends danger from thieves and fire; at noon, fire and death; at the end of the day, bloody strife.
100. A dog barking in the center of a town while facing the sun at dawn portends the fall of the king. If a dog is seen defecating there, this portends a national calamity, even when the situation has apparently been brought under control. 101. A dog that howls with its face turned upward toward the sun portends great peril. If, indeed, it does so at dawn or dusk on a given day, the people of that city will be slaughtered.
102. When several mad dogs howl by night during the autumn season, then nothing evil will come of it. But if they do so at some other time, then nothing good will come of it. 103. A pack of scraggly dogs howling together at night portend that a village will become deserted. When dogs, after howling in the village, go and howl on a cremation ground, this portends the death of the village headman. 104. A dog portends death when it runs away or howls for no reason, or else descends into a body of water and then, afflicted with pain, enters into a house with a bloody bone from a dead body in its mouth.
105. When a dog digs up the wall of a house, there will be a break-in. When it digs around a cowpen, there will be cow-thieving. If it digs in a grain field, this means there will be a wealth of grain.
106. If a dog licks its own penis during a marriage ceremony, this means that the bride, even if she be the equal of the goddess Gaurī, will bring disgrace upon her family.
107. A dog lies with its head in a doorway and its body outside, and howls at great length while looking at the mistress of the house. This portends disease. Lying with its body inside and its head outside means that the mistress of the house is unchaste. 108. If a dog defecates after digging on the upper side of a house, this means that the mistress of the house’s paramour is on his way. If it does so after digging on the lateral side of the house, it means her husband is coming. 109. A dog that enters a house and scatters food all around indicates to the mistress of the house that her paramour is having doubts about her at that very moment. 110. If a dog remains constantly curled up on a cotton pillow, this always means that the paramour will enter that house at nightfall. 111. When a dog places a mortar and pestle, a winnowing basket, an arrow, or a sword on a pillow, the dog’s master is given to understand that a paramour is in his house.
112. A dog, after having yawned and looked up at the sky, either sheds tears or howls. One should thus know that lightning will strike in that place.
113. If a dog, taking a piece of meat in its mouth, plunges into a body of water, this means that a war will erupt in which all will be consumed by fire. 114. A dog, laying hold of a piece of cow manure and entering into a house, portends the rustling of cows. By biting itself with its teeth, it means that place will become deserted.
115. A dog howling on the roof of a house at sunrise is a fearsome portent. When it defecates on a chair, etc., this portends a legal dispute. 116. When a dog sniffs at both of its forelegs, this means a man will encounter enemies and thieves. A dog hiding meat, bones, and food in ashes portends the danger of a raging fire. 117. If a dog should at some time bark while looking toward an enclosure surrounding a number of houses, then one should know that a fearsome situation will surely arise in that group of buildings.
118. A man whose well-fed and well-housed dogs, two or several in number, fight at dawn to the northeast of his house will himself fight with enemies.
119. A she-dog who attempts to have sexual intercourse with a calf at a crossroad with the King’s Road portends danger from the king’s enemies in the course of that very month.
120. A dog entering a house with a bone in its mouth portends the deaths of the master, son, and other members of the household. Playing on a bed together with its mate portends happiness.