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Cast | Notes | Summary - Official |
My Summary | My Review
| Character | Actor |
| Gatekeeper | Malcolm McDowell |
| Pam Segall |
Episode #8 "Loyalty" 30 min, Animated, from. PBS
Released on PBS home video 7/27/00 and is now out of print.
From William Bennet's "The Book of Virtues": Yudisthira at Heaven's Gate. This story is from the Mahabharata, which with the Ramayana is one of the two great epic poems of India. Here loyalty is literally the test to gain entrance to heaven.
Good King Yudisthira had ruled over the Pandava people for
many years and had led them in a successful, but very long war against giant
forces of evil. At the end of his labors, Yudisthira felt that he had had enough
years on earth and it was time to go on to the kingdom of the Immortals. When
all his plans were made, he set out for the high Mount Meru to go from there to
the Celestial City. His beautiful wife, Drapaudi, went with him and also his
four brothers. Very soon, they were joined by a dog which followed quietly
behind him.
But the journey to the mountain was a long and sorrowful one.
Yudisthira's four brothers died one by one along the way, and after that his
wife, the beautiful Drapaudi. The King was all alone then, except for the dog,
which continued to follow him faithfully up and up the steep, long road to the
Celestial City.
At last the two, weak and exhausted, stopped before the gates
of Heaven. Yudisthira bowed humbly there as he asked to be admitted.
Sky and earth were filled with a loud noise as the God Indra,
God of a Thousand Eyes, arrived to meet and welcome the King to Paradise. But
Yudisthira was not quite ready.
"Without my brothers and my beloved wife, my innocent
Drapaudi, I do not wish to enter Heaven, O Lord of all the deities," he
said.
"Have no fear," Indra answered. "You shall
meet them all in Heaven. They came before you and are already there!"
But Yudisthira had yet another request to make.
"This dog has come all the way with me. He is devoted to
me. Surely for his faithfulness I cannot leave him outside! And besides, my
heart is full of love for him!"
Indra shook his great head and the earth quaked.
"You yourself may have immortality," he said,
"and riches and success and all the joys of Heaven. You have won these by
making this hard journey. But you cannot bring a dog into Heaven. Cast off the
dog. Yudisthira! It is no sin!"
"But where would he go?" demanded the king.
"And who would go with him? He has given up all the pleasures of earth to
be my companion. I cannot desert him now."
The God was irritated at this.
"You must be pure to enter Paradise," he said
firmly. "Just to touch a dog will take away all the merits of prayer.
Consider what you are doing, Yudisthira. Let the dog go!"
But Yudisthira insisted. "O God of a Thousand Eyes, it
is difficult for a person who has always tried to be righteous to do something
that he knows is unrighteous - even in order to get into Heaven. I do not wish
immortality if it means casting off one that is devoted to me."
Indra urged him once more.
"You left on the road behind you your four brothers and
your wife. Why can't you also leave the dog?"
But Yudisthira said, "I abandoned those only because
they had died already and I could no longer help them nor bring them back to
life. As long as they lived I did not leave them."
"You are willing to abandon Heaven, then, for this dog's
sake?" the God asked him.
"Great God of all Gods," Yudisthira replied,
"I have steadily kept this vow - that I will never desert one that is
frightened and seeks my protection, one that is afflicted and destitute, or one
that is too weak to protect himself and desires to live. Now I add a fourth. I
have promised never to forsake one that is devoted to me. I will not abandon my
friend."
Yudisthira reached down to touch the dog and was about to
turn sadly away from Heaven when suddenly before his very eyes a wonder
happened. The faithful dog was changed into Dharma, the God of Righteousness and
Justice.
Indra said, "You are a good man, King Yudisthira. You
have shown faithfulness to the faithful and compassion to all creatures. You
have done this by renouncing the very Gods themselves instead of renouncing this
humble dog that was your companion. You shall be honored in heaven, O King
Yudisthira, for there is no act which is valued more highly and rewarded more
richly than compassion for the humble."
So Yudisthira entered the Celestial City with the God of
Righteousness beside him. He was reunited there with his brothers and his
beloved wife to enjoy eternal happiness.
Zach is bird watching with and old man. To
get a closer look he climbs on a tree, but accidentally breaks a plaque that was
hidden by growth on the tree while doing so. The old man gets mad at him for
doing it and Zach leaves all confused. The plaque was for World War II veterans
honoring their loyalty. Zach goes back to his friends Annie, Aristotle and
Socrates and explains what happened. No one can understand why the guy would get
so upset about the plaque. Plato the buffalo asks him to explain what the plaque
said. After Zach tells him Plato reads him a story to explain what loyalty
means.
The story is "Yudisthira at Heaven's Gate". Good
King Yudisthira had ruled over the Pandava people for many years and decided was
time for him to go to the next world. He has to complete a long journey up a
mountain road to a temple to get to heaven. Along the way he sees a poor dog and
takes compassion on it. He shelters it, gives it warmth and sleeps nearby. As
the days go by he becomes very fond of the dog and plays catch with it. They
become fast companions. When arrives at the gate to heaven the gatekeeper tells
him he is welcome inside, but not his dog. Yudisthira tells the gatekeeper that
he won't come in without the dog and turns to leave. Then the dog turns out to
be god and he changes into human form. It was a test to see if he was truly a
good man. Because he took care of the dog and was loyal to it he was allowed
into heaven.
Zach and the others learn about loyalty to their friends, but
it still doesn't explain to them why the man go upset about the sign. Plato then
reads him another story called "The Cap
That Mother Made". A mother worked very hard to knit a cap for her son and
it was very beautiful. The son was proud of it and went out wearing it. He came
upon a boy who was carving wood and the boy admired his cap. He wanted it for
himself, but the boy said it wasn't for sale. The boy then offered to trade his
knife for it, but again he declined. He said he couldn't trade something his
mother gave him. The other boy said the knife was one of a kind, his father made
it and there are no others like it in the world. The boy told him then he
shouldn't be so quick to trade it and leaves. Everyone he sees is impressed with
the cap and one girl says it is like something from the palace. He agrees and
bets he can get in the palace because of it. He goes to the gate and the guard
won't let him in without the proper dress. He goes to send him away, but the
princess sees him and says he must be part of the royal court with a cap like
that and lets him in. She takes him to the banquet hall and wants his cap, but
he resists. She offers him a kiss for it, but he again refuses since his mother
made it for him. She then takes off her necklace and puts it on him for the cap.
She grabs it, but he grabs it back. The king arrives and is outraged at her
behavior. He shoos her away and when he sees the cap he wants it for himself. He
offers to buy it, but the boy refuses. He then trades him his crown for it and
leaves. But the boy chases after him and grabs his cap back. He leaves the crown
and runs out also leaving the necklace. When he gets home and tells his story
his sister thinks he is a fool. With the crown he could buy a whole house full
of caps. He tells her they could never replace the cap his mother made for him
no matter how much money he had. She made it because she loved him.
Zach understands about loyalty to family now, but it still
doesn't explain the loyalty to the plaque. Plato then reads another story which
he feels will explain it all. It is called "Queen Esther." The king of
Persia calls his court together, but his wife refuses to join them. It is
regarded as a sign of weakness by his advisors. If the king cannot even control
his own wife then how can he control the kingdom? He has no choice, but to
banish her. His advisors then tell him it is also bad for him not to have a
queen by his side. Again he agrees and sends his men out to find the most
beautiful young girl they can. They come back with a young woman names Esther
and her uncle Mordecai who was given a job in the court. Esther is Jewish, but
Mordecai says to keep it a secret so that she would remain safe. One day
Mordecai is wandering outside and overhears two Jewish men plotting an
assassination of the king. He decides the best plan of action is to tell Esther.
She in turn tells the king who has the men arrested and killed. The king's right
hand man was Haman and he told the king they only way for him to be truly safe
was to have all the Jews killed. The king had no choice, but to agree and sign a
decree. Haman especially hated Mordecai because he was the only person in the
court who didn't bow to him. This made him feel like he wasn't being respected.
Therefore he built a special hangman's gallows in the town square for Mordecai.
Mordecai went to Esther with the news and she didn't believe it at first. So
under penalty of death she went to the king and Haman and said she was to give a
banquet in Haman's honor tomorrow for just the three of them and that there was
something she wanted to tell him then. They agreed and Haman was happy at
winning her favor. That night the king couldn't sleep and had one of his
servants read him the history of his reign. He then realized that he never
thanked Mordecai for helping save his life. He asked the servant what he should
do and he had no idea. So the king turned to Haman. The king asked him what was
the best way to reward a servant for being so loyal to him. Haman figured the
king must be talking about him so he said to have him wear one of the king's
best robes and have him ride his horse through town with the royal seal, have a
nobleman lead him and proclaim this is how the king honors those loyal to him.
The king thought it was a splendid idea and then told him to go bestow this on
Mordecai. Haman was shocked, but did as he was told and thought at least he'll
have the royal banquet which was even more special. That night at the banquet
Esther told the king he must cancel his decree to kill the Jews and that Haman
built a special gallows for Mordecai. He said it was never his idea and Haman
said it must be done. She said then he would have to start with her since she
was a Jew. Haman was incredulous and grabbed her. The king was outraged as no
one but the king was allowed to touch her. He repealed the decree and said Haman
would be hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai.
Now Zach understood about loyalty to your people. Since the
old man had chosen that tree to honor he fallen comrades it was special to him.
He remember seeing a picture of the old man as a young soldier. The old man was
now cleaning up the area around the tree and fixing it all up. Zach went to help
him and the old man apologized for yelling at him. Zach also apologized for not
understanding his loyalty to his friends. The old man then told him about how he
and a friend were running next to a tank in France and how a shell hit nearby
and killed his friend and how he picked this tree for him so he would never be
forgotten.
These are three watered down versions of old
parables. The first is from the Hindu culture, the second is an old fairytale
and and the third is from the Bible. In the original Yudisthira story he has
four brothers and a wife with him who all die on the journey. I think all the
more gruesome aspects of the first and the last story were removed to make it
appeal more to kids. Malcolm had a small role as the gatekeeper of heaven.
Nothing fancy or special. It is a bit odd to hear his British voice coming out
of a large Hindu man though. I wish he had more of a role in this as he was only
there for maybe a minute or two out of the whole episode. Because of this there
is no reason to watch this just to catch MM.
If you have kids though it is a great show on morality
without being too heavy handed or preachy.
Rating: 7/10
This format © 2002-08 Alex D. Thrawn for www.MalcolmMcDowell.net