4. Namadeva

I saw deep in the eyes of the animals The human soul look out upon me.                   -- Edward Carpenter Pandaripur (Pandharpur) is a famous place of pilgrimage in Western India where a pious man called Namadeva (Namdev) once lived. He was a true worshipper of Panduranga, the deity of the famous temple there. Namadeva had spent all his wealth on this temple. He was everywhere known as a pious and pure man.     In this town there was a dog which was roaming about for food. He ran to the places where pious men worshipped God and stored the things required for worship. He would snatch away and eat whatever he found. When the pious people found that their sacred things were touched by this dog, they grew very angry because the touch of a dog was considered impure and therefore displeasing to God.     Whenever they saw the dog, they chased him, throwing stones at him or beating him with sticks. The poor dog was not allowed to be seen anywhere at all. So it became difficult for him to find anything to eat. He looked forlorn and hungry, yet no one had any pity on him.     Namadeva saw people pursuing the poor dog without mercy. He saw that the dog would die if he was not fed. People thought that the place where the dog stood became impure, but Namadeva said that it became pure and holy because the dog was also a child of God as much as men were.     One day Namadeva saw the dog running away with a cake in his mouth. Holding a vessel of ghee in his hand, Namadeva called out to the dog and said,' Dear dog, the cake which you have in your mouth is stale and hard to chew. Here is ghee in which you can soak and soften it. Come, I shall soften it for you and you can eat it with comfort.'     The dog was much pleased at the kind look and gentle voice of Namadeva. His kindness was so unusual that the dog came near him without any fear. Namadeva then placed the dog on his lap, cut the cake in bits and put each bit after soaking it in ghee into the mouth of the dog.     That dog became so much attached to Namadeva that he never left his company. Nothing gave Namadeva greater joy than to see the poor dog happy.     The people of the town thought that Namadeva was a mad man to be so fond of a dog and feed it as he had done, but he was indifferent to the gibes of ignorent men.     To him all living creatures were equally lovable, for the good God had made them all and loved them all alike. ****  **** Additional Information of Interest Click here to find out more about the poet-saint Namadeva or Namdev. Click here to find out more about the modern-day city of Pandharpur.