Can Hindus Have Pets? Does Hinduism Allow Hindus to Keep Pets at Home?: Part 1
What are Pets?
Experts on "pets" say that people keep animals primarily for their company or even entertainment. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis (such as a stray animal) and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.
Different Types of Pets
Two of the most popular pets are dogs and cats. Cat-lovers are called ailurophiles and dog-lovers are known as cynophiles. People keep other types of animals as pets, too: rabbits; ferrets, pigs, rodents, such as gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, rats, mice, and guinea pigs; avian pets such as parrots, passerines and fowls. There are also people who own reptiles as pets, viz., turtles, alligators, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. These days, it is not uncommon to see people keeping aquatic pets like fish, freshwater and saltwater snails, and amphibians like frogs and salamanders, and arthropods like tarantulas and hermit crabs as pets.
Humans' Attitude Towards Animals
Srimad Bhagavatam 7:14:19 says that we should treat some animals like our own children: "One should treat animals such as deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies exactly like one’s own son. How little difference there actually is between children and these innocent animals".
Deva Rishi, Sri Narada, says in Skanda Purana (verse 18) that, "One who harasses animals on false pretexts falls into visasana...." [Note: Visasana refers to one of the thirty hells (naraka) mentioned in the Srimad Devi Bhagavata Puraṇa].
Can We, Therefore, Keep Pets at Home?
However, when it comes to keeping animals as pets, Hinduism, its Shaastras (=scriptures), and a number of Mahatmas have forbidden us to keep pets for our company or entertainment. One of the puranas, for instance, has said that pets like dogs, cocks and hens are not supposed to be kept in the house: it says whatever offerings that are made in the form of sacrifices to the gods in that house would not be accepted by devatas (=gods) if the person who does the prayers has dogs, cocks and hens in his house, the scripture warns.
"Krodhavashas" (= a class of rakshasas) take away or consume such offerings, instead. One of the Ithihaas, viz., Mahabarath says unequivocally that there is no place in heavenly planets for one who keeps a dog at home as a pet. In fact, such a person has been destined to spend his time in hell:
“Dhaumya said, 'Broken utensils, broken bedsteads, cocks and, dogs, as also such trees as have grown within the dwelling houses, are all inauspicious objects. In a broken utensil is 'Kali' himself, while in a broken bedstead is loss of wealth. When a cock or a dog is in sight, the deities do not eat the offerings made to them”. (Mahabarath: Anushasana Parva Section 127)
In the same scripture, Lord Indra, the king of the heavens tells Yudhishthira that,
"...‘There is no place in Heaven for persons with dogs. Besides, the (deities called) Krodhavasas take away all the merits of such persons. Reflecting on this, act, O king Yudhishthira the just. Do thou abandon this dog. There is no cruelty in this.’”. (Mahabarath: Mahaprasthanika Parva Section 3).
Furthermore, in the Skanda Purana, it has been said that people who keep pets like cats, cocks, hens, dogs and birds invariably fall into a river called Vaitarani, which is situated near one of the narakas (=hell). [Note: For those who fall into Vaitarnai, there is no rescue. The whirlpools take the fallen into a lower region. For a moment the sinner stays, until he rises to be washed again. For the sinful, it is impossible to cross the river. They are obstructed by hairy moss, crocodiles, flesh-eating birds, and a great many insects. When a sinner comes near the river, in an attempt to cross, it seethes and becomes overspread with smoke and flame. It is said in the scriptures that the sinful are hungry and thirsty, and so they drink the filth in the river, to assuage their thirst and hunger.]
Sage Naradha in Skanda Purana says, "One who keeps cats, cocks and hens, dogs and birds, one who sets fire to the houses of the deaf and blind as well as grasses and grains and other things in the fields and one who sustains himself by means of stagecraft and stellar calculations (astrology) --- all these men go to Vaitarani." [Verses 19-20, Kaumarika Khanda, Chapter 39]: this is part of a conversation between Arjuna and Narada.
Similarly, Manusmriti says that any form of prayers performed in a house where pets are kept, those prayers or offerings are immediately rendered ineffectual: "What is seen by (a dog) during a fire offerings, the giving of gift, a ritual feeding, or a divine or ancestral oblation becomes inefficacious". (3:240); a dog's mere gaze of the spiritual activity renders it impure. (3:241).
The scriptures have made it patently clear that one should not keep pets at home, and if one does, then, one finds one's way to hell.
Should I Take Instructions from the Scriptures?
Should one obey what the scriptures have said. Cannot one be like the Swan, a hackneyed analogy we oftentimes hear people cite, "Take care of essentials. Do not pay too much attention to non-essentials.” Should we obey everything that the scriptures have asked us to do?
The answer to this is in a couplet in Bhagavad Gita 16:24, where Lord Krishna unambiguously pronounces: "...let the scripture be the authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act here in this world."
But what if we choose to disobey the spiritual strictures? In Bhagavad Gita 16:23, the Lord warns of such wanton disobedience: "He who, casting aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme goal."
Similarly, in Srimad Bhagavadam 6:5:20, it has been declared "sastrasya putir adesam", to wit, "one must accept the original instructions of the scriptures." In Canto 2, Chapter 10, verse 4, the same scripture has said that "The right situation for the living entities is to obey the laws of the Lord...The Manus and their laws are meant to give direction in life..."
Commenting on Srimad Bhagavatam 3:3:13, Srila Prabhupada says, "The surest path to happiness is to live by the principles laid down by the Lord, and not disobey His established laws, which are enacted in the Vedas and the Puranas for the forgetful entities."
Hindu law-givers have said, so have the mahatmas, and even the Lord, that one should never have pets at home.
One, then, left to wonder why the Lord who has said in Bhagavad Gita 5:18 that "Sages look with an equal eye on a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcaste", has in the same breath, proscribed the act of keeping a pet at home. As we have seen at the beginning of this article, there is no doubt about our having to love everyone, including animals and every living beings equally, but the restrictions as to bringing animals into one's habitation have other cogent reasons that do not contradict the assertion to treat some animals as our own children.
We shall look at some of the reasons for the prohibitions in Part 2 of this article.
Experts on "pets" say that people keep animals primarily for their company or even entertainment. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis (such as a stray animal) and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.
Two of the most popular pets are dogs and cats. Cat-lovers are called ailurophiles and dog-lovers are known as cynophiles. People keep other types of animals as pets, too: rabbits; ferrets, pigs, rodents, such as gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, rats, mice, and guinea pigs; avian pets such as parrots, passerines and fowls. There are also people who own reptiles as pets, viz., turtles, alligators, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. These days, it is not uncommon to see people keeping aquatic pets like fish, freshwater and saltwater snails, and amphibians like frogs and salamanders, and arthropods like tarantulas and hermit crabs as pets.
Srimad Bhagavatam 7:14:19 says that we should treat some animals like our own children: "One should treat animals such as deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies exactly like one’s own son. How little difference there actually is between children and these innocent animals".
Deva Rishi, Sri Narada, says in Skanda Purana (verse 18) that, "One who harasses animals on false pretexts falls into visasana...." [Note: Visasana refers to one of the thirty hells (naraka) mentioned in the Srimad Devi Bhagavata Puraṇa].
Can We, Therefore, Keep Pets at Home?
"Krodhavashas" (= a class of rakshasas) take away or consume such offerings, instead. One of the Ithihaas, viz., Mahabarath says unequivocally that there is no place in heavenly planets for one who keeps a dog at home as a pet. In fact, such a person has been destined to spend his time in hell:
“Dhaumya said, 'Broken utensils, broken bedsteads, cocks and, dogs, as also such trees as have grown within the dwelling houses, are all inauspicious objects. In a broken utensil is 'Kali' himself, while in a broken bedstead is loss of wealth. When a cock or a dog is in sight, the deities do not eat the offerings made to them”. (Mahabarath: Anushasana Parva Section 127)
"...‘There is no place in Heaven for persons with dogs. Besides, the (deities called) Krodhavasas take away all the merits of such persons. Reflecting on this, act, O king Yudhishthira the just. Do thou abandon this dog. There is no cruelty in this.’”. (Mahabarath: Mahaprasthanika Parva Section 3).
Furthermore, in the Skanda Purana, it has been said that people who keep pets like cats, cocks, hens, dogs and birds invariably fall into a river called Vaitarani, which is situated near one of the narakas (=hell). [Note: For those who fall into Vaitarnai, there is no rescue. The whirlpools take the fallen into a lower region. For a moment the sinner stays, until he rises to be washed again. For the sinful, it is impossible to cross the river. They are obstructed by hairy moss, crocodiles, flesh-eating birds, and a great many insects. When a sinner comes near the river, in an attempt to cross, it seethes and becomes overspread with smoke and flame. It is said in the scriptures that the sinful are hungry and thirsty, and so they drink the filth in the river, to assuage their thirst and hunger.]
Similarly, Manusmriti says that any form of prayers performed in a house where pets are kept, those prayers or offerings are immediately rendered ineffectual: "What is seen by (a dog) during a fire offerings, the giving of gift, a ritual feeding, or a divine or ancestral oblation becomes inefficacious". (3:240); a dog's mere gaze of the spiritual activity renders it impure. (3:241).
The scriptures have made it patently clear that one should not keep pets at home, and if one does, then, one finds one's way to hell.
Should I Take Instructions from the Scriptures?
The answer to this is in a couplet in Bhagavad Gita 16:24, where Lord Krishna unambiguously pronounces: "...let the scripture be the authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act here in this world."
But what if we choose to disobey the spiritual strictures? In Bhagavad Gita 16:23, the Lord warns of such wanton disobedience: "He who, casting aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme goal."
Similarly, in Srimad Bhagavadam 6:5:20, it has been declared "sastrasya putir adesam", to wit, "one must accept the original instructions of the scriptures." In Canto 2, Chapter 10, verse 4, the same scripture has said that "The right situation for the living entities is to obey the laws of the Lord...The Manus and their laws are meant to give direction in life..."
Commenting on Srimad Bhagavatam 3:3:13, Srila Prabhupada says, "The surest path to happiness is to live by the principles laid down by the Lord, and not disobey His established laws, which are enacted in the Vedas and the Puranas for the forgetful entities."
Hindu law-givers have said, so have the mahatmas, and even the Lord, that one should never have pets at home.
We shall look at some of the reasons for the prohibitions in Part 2 of this article.
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