Dharmaraja's Dog & Avarice now

At the end of Mahabharata, Dharmaraja, his brothers, Draupadi & a dog begin their ascent to heaven. One by one the brothers & Draupadi drop off, leaving only the dog with Dharmaraja at the gate of heaven. The dog being refused entry, Dharmaraja also refuses to enter, leaving the dog behind. Then the dog identifies itself as Dharma or righteousness, which was dearer to Dharmaraja than even his brothers & wife, & is allowed to enter heaven.

In a savage parody of this, Indians may have other cultural interests like literature, music & sports, which they may assidiouly cultivate during their younger days,  but all these gradually fall by the wayside in the frenetic rat race of life, leaving only avarice & status as the only goals persued  by them at the end of their life. A popular film actor reportedly said "All friendships have an expiry date." Likewise all other interests, except avarice & status, seem to be time-bound & liable to lose attraction.

Bengaluru "Karaga" & Ngaio Marsh's novel

Karaga festival is held on Chaitrashuddha Pournami. The origin of this is, after the Mahabharata war, Draupadi created a band of "Veerakumaras" to defeat the demon Timirasura. When Draupadi, with the Pandavas, after their earthly sojourn were ascending to heaven, the Veerakumaras requested Draupadi to stay back. She assured them that she will come back annually on Karaga day. The Dharmarayaswami temple priest, dons female attire & impersonates Draupadi & is accompanied by Veerakumaras with swords.

Ngaio Marsh wrote a novel called "Death of a Fool" (USA) or "Off with his head" (UK) where on winter solstice, in a fictional Mardian Castle, "Dance of the five sons" was ritually performed. Apart from the five sons, brandishing swords, there was also the father, Guiser, a Hobby Horse "Crack", & most significantly a "Betty", a man wearing a wide crinoline skirt & impersonating a woman!

What a similarity between esoteric customs in parts of India & U.K.!

Similar beliefs across religions

In Hinduism, in many Puranas, there are mentions of heaven & hell where the virtuous & vicious go respectively. But the stay in heaven is temporary. After the virtues are worked off, the souls are believed to be reborn on earth. This is true even in the case of those who performed Vedic rituals faithfully. The goal of human life in Hinduism is not heaven but "Moksha", release from rebirth, which is obtained by dispassion in the world & single minded devotion to God. This is explicitly stated in the "Mundaka Upanishad."

But still, most may want to go to heaven, though temporarily, with eventual rebirth, as evinced by the common saying "Usko Swargavas ho gaya!"

In the Qur'an, it is stated that the believers go to "Jannat" (heaven of sensual delights) & the others go to "Jahannum" (hell of eternal torment). It is made clear that Allah is NOT in Jannat. Still most Muslims may prefer to go to  "Jannat" as most Hindus prefer to go to Swarga! The Sufis believe that they attain Allah as revealed by Rabia of Basra, who rejected both Jannat & Jahannum, but wanted to be permeated with love of Allah.

In the Bible, Matthew, (19:24) it is said " It is much harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (NOT HEAVEN), than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Also in Matthew (6:24), "You cannot serve both God & Mammon." But still most Christians are obsessed with wealth.

Mary, Mother of Christ, is called "Queen of Heaven," It is evident that this heaven is not a sensual one. Even in Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", his goal, the Celestial City, is the abode of God. The female Christian Saints' description of their mystical experiences, also envisage spiritual union with Jesus Christ. Rather than the sensual, St.Julian of Norwich's eighth prayer for "shewing" is the opposite, an experience of Christ's Crucifixion!

Another common hankering, cutting across religious barriers, is the insatiable one for wealth. Winthrop Mackworth Praed, a nineteenth century clergyman & poet is famed for the quote "Dame Fortune is Fickle." Incidentally in Hinduism also, Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth is widely known to be fickle. But still, she is more worshipped than her learned sister, Saraswathi, whose blessings last a lifetime.

The commonality across religions is the human tendency to choose the short-term pleasant goal of Swarga or Jannat or the grace of Lakshmi over Moksha, proximity to Allah or the perennial blessings of Saraswathi.