This Dog

Every morning this dog, very attached to me,

Quietly keeps sitting near my seat

Till touching its head

I recognize its company.

This recognition gives it so much joy

Pure delight ripples through its entire body.

Among all dumb creatures

It is the only living being

That has seen the whole man

Beyond what is good or bad in him

It has seen

For his love it can sacrifice its life

It can love him too for the sake of love alone

For it is he who shows the way

To the vast world pulsating with life.

When I see its deep devotion

The offer of its whole being

I fail to understand

By its sheer instinct

What truth it has discovered in man.

By its silent anxious piteous looks

It cannot communicate what it understands

But it has succeeded in conveying to me

Among the whole creation

What is the true status of man.