Sacred Nature: Back to Basics: Nature Talk  

By INDU JAIN  

Sacred Nature: Back to Basics: Nature Talk  

My maternal aunt is 90. To this day she continues to offer water to the Tulsi plant in her courtyard, every morning. It's touching. It shows how the concept of 'living with nature' is woven into our lives.

Concern for the environment may appear a new concept today, but we in India have been worshipping/ revering Nature since time immemorial. The hymns of the Vedas extol the great power and life-giving attributes of Nature.

Whether it is a tulsi chaura in a courtyard or the worship of Vat Vriksha by married women praying for a happy conjugal life or the planting of a Peepal tree before one's home - they are all part of the fabric of our life. We have a hoary tradition of venerating trees, plants and vegetation.

Our seers and saints gave us key mantras for our happy survival on this planet. They customised the worship of vegetation in religions rituals. We have been traditionally offering prayers to and worshipping plants of great medicinal value, like the tulsi, amla and neem. Our ancestors must have come to know of their importance through experience and collective wisdom. But they were also scholars who understood human psychology. They knew that if dictated to, no one would take care to consciously safeguard the environment. Preaching hardly brings the desired results - as we can see, speeches delivered by political and other leaders haven't really made much impact in stirring people into protecting the environment.

The guiding force of life for us is dharma. Dharma shows us the right path. It keeps us on the right track. So regard for the environment was made part of our dharma. The ancients made it a religious duty to adore plants and vegetation. When it is your religious duty, you do not question its relevance, you do not argue about why you should do it. You simply follow instructions. Thus, we protected our jungles not because some leaders had launched a campaign to do so - we did so simply because this is the way we were taught to live life.

Our ancestors taught us to love all living creatures and animals around us. Our love and concern for Nature is not confined to plants and vegetation only; it shows deep feeling for all the creatures around us. We even worship them. In Hindu mythology, gods have incarnated into different animals. The cow, the monkey, even the small rat, ugly owl and dancing peacock - all of them are either avatars of our gods or are related to them in some way. The snake, the crow - the list is endless and covers almost all members of the animal kingdom.

Today, there is a tendency among some 'activists' to trivialise the important issue of animal protection by using publicity gained for self- aggrandisement. However, genuine concern for animals needs to be encouraged and greater public awareness should be created to enable wider participation in eco-friendly activity.

Our love and concern for animals emerge out of two basic postulates of Indian philosophy. One, that like us, every plant and living being is the ansha or part of the one Param Brahma, the Omnipotent One, and two, that born of the one earth mother all of them have equal right on all resources. So they are like our own siblings. All life forms have a symbiotic relationship - we are all linked together and our actions are bound to have an effect on our environment and other living beings.

We will have to re-inject this philosophy into our lifestyle - of venerating Nature, of protecting and respecting other life forms and our environs. Political grandstanding and symbolic gestures simply won't do. We will have to eternalise the basic mantra that we will survive only when all others survive on this earth.

( Today is Environment Day )

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More from same author see: INDU JAIN  

See also: Sacred Nature, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)