00:00Refuse paradise for a stray hound running at your heels, could you?
00:03At the end of life, even the grandest crowns fall away.
00:06The Mahabharata records this final trek in its parting chapter.
00:10Yudhishthira, the righteous king, marched up the cold Himalayas toward heaven.
00:14One by one his brothers collapsed on the freezing snow.
00:17Only a nameless stray dog kept pace beside his bleeding feet.
00:20Then the sky parted and a radiant golden chariot descended.
00:24Indra, king of the gods, stepped down to greet the weary king.
00:27A king who lost an empire, clinging to a stray hound.
00:31Step inside, said Indra, but the dog cannot enter heaven.
00:34Yudhishthira stopped, stepping back from the golden door.
00:37This dog gave me its loyalty, he said.
00:40I will not betray it.
00:41Instantly, the hound dissolved into a glowing figure of divine light.
00:45Dharma, god of righteousness, revealed himself, praising the king's unyielding heart.
00:50Together, the king and his faithful companion entered the celestial gates.
00:54He refused heaven for a stray.
00:56Your righteousness is weighed by how you treat the defenseless.
00:59On Kukur Tihar in Nepal, dogs are garlanded with marigolds as guardians of death.
01:03Follow for a new legend every day.
