The story of Arjuna and Krishna; their mutual admiration, respect, and love is touching.
I often think of the tale in the Bhagavad Gita of the man who endeavored to get to the gates of heaven, but when he got there was told he had to leave his beloved dog behind. He could not be persuaded to abandon the dog. In Hindu cultures, the dog is considered an unclean animal. The tale is thus contrasted further. A man pure enough to enter heaven would give it all up for a lowly dog.
Our lives are a metaphor for the great lessons we need to learn in order to escape this lowly level of reality, the Circle of Infinity. We choose, constantly, to satisfy ourselves or to sacrifice for the greater good.
Never wanting to return here, I made a decision long ago to learn the final lesson.
Faced with such a temptation, would I abandon an innocent who loved me, who needed me and move on?
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks much of war and the duty of the soldier.
In the Bible, Christ speaks of love and forgiveness.
Yet, these are two facets of life, this level of reality. Maybe even two facets of the same deity.
The choice between love and duty, is removed in the tale of the man at heaven's gate. The dog represents sacrifice and our lowly physical existence. He is also love and duty. For the pure man, there is no choice. He will always stay and honor his duty, because he loves the dog.
A lesser soul would make the wrong choice, because he thinks there is another choice.
There is only one choice, one way. Eventually, we all must make that choice because it is the only truth.
The dog in the story turns out to be an incarnation of the god Dharma. Dharma can have many meanings. One meaning of dharma is the principle or law governing the universe. Dharma is pleased with our man, and he enters into heaven. They enter heaven together. Thus is the dog also exalted.
The story is clearly a metaphor. The man must exalt his lower nature to ascend, through the path of love, honor and duty.
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