To understand the Hindu thought of linkage between human being and ecology, one should realize that man is not just a body, but consciousness, a living energy that is self-aware and that possesses mind and memory. This process of involves development of consciousness, both qualitatively and quantitatively giving meaning and purpose to oneâs life, as well as of lives of virtually all living beings. Merging with god is merging of environment and consciousness, and be aware of it.
Hindus believe that evolution of any individual soul starts with the first rudiments which are initially diffusive. This tiny spark then gets incarnated into bodies of plants, where it continues to grow, then it moves into animal bodies and finally into human ones. The human stage evolution of the soul implies, and not limited to, an understanding and experience of these fundamental principles of consciousnessâ development as well as taking an active part in this process. Thus Hinduism's philosophical and religious principles treat âEcologyâ as part and parcel of humanity.
Ashwatha is sacred to Hindus. Sankaracharya interprets ashwatha as representing the entire cosmos. Ashwatha is a unique and remarkable tree as the branches themselves morph into roots, and even when the original tree decays and perishes the young branches underneath continue to grow and enclose the parent. This eternal life of the Ashwatha has inspired many a Hindu philosophers over millennia.
There was a time in India when a Ashwatha was planted in the premises of every temple, and was regarded as the Tree of Life.
This thread is to collect articles that bring out the very aspect in Hindu Thought and culture (Concerns, Practices in preserving nature), promote pro-active environmental activism and awareness, based on Dharma the universal law, to prevent ecological imbalances and environmental disasters.
Let us re-learn it.
An ecological view of ancient India.
International Journal of Humanities and Peace; 1/1/2003; Frawley,
David
History and Ecology
Ecology is beginning to define how we look at the world and how we
look at ourselves. Each geographical region in the world constitutes
a special ecosystem--an interrelated habitat for plants and animals
shaped by climate and terrain. These ecological factors have a
strong effect on culture as well.
As part of nature ourselves, society arises out of an ecological
basis that we cannot ignore. Most of civilization, both in its
advance and decline, reflects how people are able to manage the
ecosystems in which they live and their natural resources. Human
culture derives largely from its first culture, which is
agriculture, our ability to work the land. This depends largely on
water, particularly fresh water that is found in rivers, and flat
land that can be easily irrigated.
However, so far we have looked at history mainly in a non-ecological
way, toting to define it according to political, economic or racial
concerns. Our account of ancient history, particularly that of
India, has not afforded an adequate regard to ecological factors. It
has put too much weight on migration, as if culture came from the
outside, rather than on the characteristics and necessities of the
ecosystems in which people live and must rely upon for developing
their way of life.
The Aryan invasion theory is such a product of the pre-ecological
age of historical theory that emphasized the movements of peoples
over the natural development of culture within well-defined
geographical regions. Nineteenth century thought, the product of a
colonial age, found it easy to see culture as something brought in
by intruders, rather than as developed by the inhabitants of a
region who had to develop unique methods to harness their natural
resources as shaped by the ecology around them.
Ancient River Civilizations and India, the Land of the Rivers
It is a well known fact that the main civilizations of the ancient
world of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India (Indus Valley), and China were
only possible because of the great river systems around which they
developed. The rivers made these civilizations possible, not simply
human invention or any special ethnic type who migrated there.
If we examine these four great riverine centers of early
civilization it is clear that the largest and most ideal river
region in the world for developing civilization is India. Egypt grew
up around one great river, the Nile that flowed through what was
otherwise a dry, rainless desert. Mesopotamia had two rivers but
only of moderate size, the Tigris and Euphrates, flowing through a
large desert as well. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia were in subtropical
regions that provided abundant warmth and sunshine for crops, but
otherwise suffered from the limited size of their One or two river
banks that were their sole steady. China had one large but
unpredictable river, the Yellow River, which frequently overflowed
its banks in various floods. It also received abundant rain. But it
was centered in a cold northern region, with a limited growing
season.
India, on the other hand, had a massive nexus of numerous great
rivers from the Indus in the West to the swamplands of the Gangetic
delta in the East. It had both a warm subtropical climate and
seasonal abundant rains. This river region included relatively diy
regions of the northwest to the very wet regions of eastern India
affording an abundance of crops both in type and quantity. The
Indian river system was much larger in size and arable land, and
better in climate than perhaps all the other three river regions put
together. No other region of the world could so easily serve to
create an agricultural diversity or the cultural richness that would
go with it.
Ecologically speaking, north India was the ideal place in the world
for the development of a riverine civilization via agriculture.
Bounded by the Himalayas in the north, and mountains on the West,
East and South, this north Indian river plain is a specific
geographical region and ecosystem, whose natural boundaries could
easily serve to create and hold together a great civilization. It
was also ideal for producing large populations that depend upon
agriculture for their sustenance.
This same network of rivers was ideal for communication. Not
surprisingly, the Rig Veda, the oldest book of the region, is full
of praise for the numerous great rivers of the region, the foremost
of which in early ancient times was the Sarasvati, which flowed east
of the Yamuna into the Rann of Kachchh, creating an unbroken set of
fertile rivers from the Punjab to Bengal. This Vedic Goddess of
speech was a river goddess. The Vedic idea of One Troth but many
paths (Rigveda 1.164) probably reflects this experience of life of
many rivers linked to the one sea.
The Need for An Ecological View of India's History
The main point of this article is that if we really want to
understand the development of civilization in ancient India we
cannot ignore such ecological and geographical factors. Ancient
India was the ideal ecological region for the development of
civilization in the ancient world. Therefore, we should look to an
indigenous development of civilization in the region. We need not
import its people, animals, plants, culture or civilization from the
outside, particularly from barren and inhospitable Central Asia, for
example, which would not have been suitable to India and which is
separated from it geographically by very hard to cross mountain and
desert barriers.
We need to take a new ecological look at the Vedas, which so far has
not been examined adequately ecologically but has been approached
mainly according to linguistic, Marxist or Freudian concerns that
easily miss the obvious geography or ecology of the text. If we do
this, we will discover that even the oldest Vedic text, the Rig
Veda, clearly describes a region of many vast rivers flowing to the
sea, the most important of which was the Sarasvati. The climate that
it describes of great rains and monsoons, the symbolism of the great
God Indra, is also clearly that of India. The flora and fauna
mentioned including the Brahma bull, water buffalo and elephant and
its sacred trees of the Pipal, Ashvattha and Shamali is also that of
India.
The fall of the Indus or Harappan culture, just as was the case for
many in the ancient world, was owing to ecological factors,
something that nineteenth and early twentieth century migrationist
views of history completely missed. It occurred not because of the
destruction wrought by the proposed Aryan invaders but by ecological
changes brought about by the drying up of the Sarasvati River around
1900 BCE. This didn't end civilization in the region but caused its
relocation mainly to the more certain waters of the Ganga to the
east. Such a movement is reflected in the shift from Vedic
literature that is centered on the Sarasvati to the Puranic
literature that is centered on the Ganges.
The great Indian river system from the Panjab to Bihar is perhaps
the greatest breadbasket or agricultural center in the world. Any
humans in the region would have been aided by the land, the waters
and the climate, affording them a great advantage in the development
of language and culture as well. The natural resources provided by
the riverine ecosystem of north India could uphold great
civilizations over the centuries. From it the peoples and literature
of the region had adequate support from nature to sustain their
traditions.
Southern River Regions
The type of civilization developed in the rivers of north India
could easily connect with the cultures developing on the rivers in
the south of the country that shared a common climate and
geographical ties. The other main great river region for India is
the basins of the Krishna and Godavari rivers in the southeast of
India, particularly Andhra Pradesh. This provides another important
agricultural center in the ancient world, which has also not been
examined properly.
Another important river area is the Narmada and Tapti rivers in
Gujarat and Maharashtra. As these were nearby the delta of the
Sarasvati, they could have been an extension of it (which is perhaps
why the Bhrigu Rishis of this region are so important in Vedic
literature).
That the civilization of north India could have bad connections with
these southern cultures is also ecologically based. For this we must
consider the ecological factors that existed when agriculture began
to arise in the world around 10,000 BCE. Before the end of the Ice
Age north India was much drier and cooler in climate. This means
that if there was any pre-Ice Age basis for agriculture in north
India it would have more likely come from these more suitable
southern river regions which had better rainfall at that time.
Conclusion
We need to look at the civilization of India according to
geographical and ecological imperatives that are far more certain
than historical speculation conditioned by simplistic ideas of
ethnicity, linguistics or migrations. In this regard the study of
the Sarasvati river system by the geologists of India and linking it
to the Sarasvati in Vedic literature is probably the key.
Civilization is like a plant that owes its existence to the land on
which it grows. We cannot ignore this important fact either for our
past or for our future. The current government of India plan to link
all the great rivers of the country represents such a responsible
ecological approach which, inchiding reconstituting the old Sarasvan
river channel, links the great future of the country with its great
past.
Dr. David Frawley is Director of American Institute of Vedic
Studies, P.O. Box 8357, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-8357.
email: vedicinst@aol.com
COPYRIGHT 2003 International Journal of Humanities and Peace
Holy Cow! The Apotheosis of Zebu, or Why the Cow is Sacred in Hinduism [*].
by FRANK J. KOROM
Abstract
This essay revisits a debate that took place in the social sciences over the "sacred-cow controversy" for the purpose of ecological musing. The debate was stimulated largely by Marvin Harris, whose cultural materialist position reduced the symbolism of the cow in Hinduism to a set of irrational beliefs. His alternative was to see the cow's sacredness in terms of a calculus of calories. Needless to say, his work led to criticism from both anthropologists and humanists. In thc first part of the paper, I trace the history of the controversy, then move on to consider the cow herself from a Hindu point of view. Finally, I conclude with some theoretical remarks about the need for scholars of religion to be sensitive to both texts and contexts by blurring the theoretical boundaries between the fields of religion and anthropology.
Keywords: Hinduism -- ecology --cow lore--cultural materialism
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The cow from whom all plenty flows,
Obedient to her saintly lord,
Viands to Suit each taste outpoured.
Honey she gave, and roasted grain,
Mead sweet with flowers, and sugar cane.
Each beverage of flavour rare,
And food of every sort, were there:
Hills of hot rice, and sweetened cakes,
And curdled milk, and soup in lakes.
Vast beakers flowing from the brim
With sugared drink prepared for him;
And dainty sweet meats, deftly made,
Before the hermit's guests were laid.
W M. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
THAT INDIA IS CURRENTLY experiencing an ecological crisis is well known in both academic and popular circles (cf. HALARNKAR and MENON 1996; HALARNKAR 1997; NELSON 1998). The problem is, of course, one that needs attention from many different points of view. In addition, strategies to curb environmental degradation have to be formulated in a manner that would suit the needs and aspirations of all of India's citizens, without giving priority to any particular ethnic group or religious community. Yet this is not an easy task, given the communal tension that envelops Indian society today. In his plenary address for a conference on "Hinduism and Ecology" held at Harvard University in 1997, Anil AGARWAL (2000) suggested that Hindu beliefs, values, and practices, built on a "utilitarian conservationism," rather than a "protectionist conservationism," could play an important role in restoring a balance between environmental conservation and economic growth. I wish to add that such a utilitarian approach needs to inc orporate not just the Hindu majority but also the other religious populations of the country. A utilitarian model of action would, in addition, need to draw on available symbolic resources to ground ecological awareness in a system of thought that makes indigenous sense to the people of India. To this end, an "applied theology" would be extremely useful. By applied theology, I mean a theology that is aimed at solving problems. Just as anthropologists have developed the sub-field of applied anthropology to move the discipline beyond the halls of academe, so too must scholars of religion utilize their expertise to lend to the formulation of a theology that could be used to solve problems on the ground. [1]
In this essay I want to explore the possibility of drawing on the cow as a symbolic resource for creating ecological awareness in India by tracing her gradual apotheosis. The problem in so doing, however, is that the cow's rich symbolism in Hindu mythology is obviously limited to the nation's majority. Nonetheless, all Indians share the need to deal with the environmental crisis, and I would like to propose that the cow's utilitarian function is one that transcends the particular interests and political agendas of any one religious community in India. APFFEL-MARGLIN and PARAJULI (2000) develop the notion of "ecological ethnicity" to draw attention to the fact that people inhabiting the same biome share concerns that transcend the ideologies of any given group. Similarly, all Indians rely on products of the cow for sustenance and succor, even though some may not accept the belief system that has elevated her status from a mere animal to a divine entity. [2] Hindus, on the other hand, have taken charge of nurt uring a rich mythology about the cow's quintessential importance for Hindu society. Therefore, I wish to present an overview of the literature on the cow from the dual perspectives of the study of religion and anthropology in order to raise the possibility of understanding how the complex symbolism of the cow might be used to create an indigenous ecological consciousness. Such "ecological consciousness," it is hoped, would benefit everyone concerned with India's environmental problems. To make this point, I need first to review the role that the cow has played in academic debates concerning her function in India before suggesting an alternative approach to understanding her utility.
OF SCHOLARS AND Cows
Ever since the publication of Marvin HARRIS's first article on the sacred cow in 1965 (1965, 217-28), there has been a wide array of articles and books written concerning the subject of why cows are perceived to be holy in India. HRRRIS'S insistence that the role of the cow is determined by ecological variables (1966, 51-66)-what Ariel GLUCKLICH (1997, 189) calls a "calculus of calories"--has led to severe criticism of his culturally materialistic point of view by scholars in assorted disciplines. As a result of this ongoing controversy, we have a political approach (DIENER, NoNINI, and ROBKIN 1978; ROBB 1992, 123-56; YANG 1980), an economic approach (HESTON 1971; AZZI 1974), a psychoanalytical approach (DUNDES 1997, 98-104), and even a phenomenological approach that attempts to establish a sui generis model for studying the "ecology of religion" (HULTKRANZ 1966).[3] Still others have dealt more directly with Harris's position through critiques of his theories (SIMOONS 1979, 467-76). [4]
At present, more than three decades after the initial arguments were made, the controversy continues "behind the scenes," so to speak, albeit in a more subdued manner, with no end in sight. Yet, in my opinion, there seems to be a distinct sense of drudgery involved in the whole polemical process. The "sacred-cow controversy," as it has come to be known, continues within the halls of academe, and seems to bear little on the average Hindu. As Stewart ODEND'HAL has suggested,
Given the environmental constraints, I firmly believe that the villager in India is managing his cattle and plots of land far more efficiently than by any means anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, or economists can suggest. It is a source of amusement to me to consider that the typical Indian villager will remain unaffected by whatever conclusions are derived from the great "sacred-cow controversy." (1979, 485)
It seems to me that much of the literature on this controversy has taken on the air of personal vendettas. No longer is there any intent to solve the bovine puzzle, but rather to move to a level of scholarly discourse at which the existential problem becomes obscured in favor of academic discourse itself. In other words, it is not the object of the controversy that seems relevant anymore; rather, it is the method of argumentation through which opinions are being expressed that serve as the common ground for debate. Given the fact that S. N. MISHRA (1979, 484) has stated "that the sacred-cow controversy can ever be resolved in a scientific spirit is unlikely," there is certainly a need to return to what Hindus themselves say and believe, a point Indologists have made repeatedly. With the current ecological crisis impacting upon India's environment, a reappraisal of the cow as a symbolic resource for an appreciation of nature is all the more necessary.
All of the approaches mentioned above tell us something about the nature of the cow (zebu, Bos indicus) in its cultural context. However, they all fall short of a complete interpretation, in one sense or another, by attempting to understand and explain the role of the cow from within the narrow confines of their own respective disciplines. This is not to say, however, that these approaches are invalid because of this oversight. Each does, after all, provide a particular way of looking at the problem of why the cow has such an exalted status in Hindu India. But what they all seem to overlook is the uniqueness of the cow as a deeply felt religious symbol in India. Nowhere else in the world has an animal maintained such status in the realm of the divine. In this essay, I do not intend to refute the numerous positions briefly alluded to above, nor do I intend to critique them. This is based upon two premises. First, they reflect specific points of view from within given scholarly traditions. I consider these rel ative truths as opposed to absolute ones, for in the sociology of knowledge no theory, irrespective of its level of empiricism, can be regarded as absolutely true. Because of this, theories must be seen as interdependent. The value of one theory can only be assessed as a part of the totality of all related theories. Second, a true hermeneutic approach in the social and human sciences must feed on the data provided by all disciplines to live up to Clifford GEERTZ's (1980) unrealized prediction of an academic climate within which humanities play an important role in "social" interpretation. [5]
In lieu of the above, my intent here is to present an integrated point of view concerning the cow that draws on both textual and ethnographic sources. I would like to look at the development of the cow's status as a sacred symbol within its religious and mythological context. Viewing her through this lens will enable me to avoid reductionism and expose the emic or indigenous understandings of the nature of the cow as a religious symbol in Hindu thought. It is this insider's view that has often been overlooked in the past by anthropologists who have focused too narrowly on the functional and economic aspects of the cow's role in Indian society. [6] As Frederick J. SIMOONS (1994, 142) concedes, "Whatever combination of factors may have contributed to the rise of the sacred-cow concept, textual evidence strongly supports the primacy of religious concerns." Thus, I am in agreement with Gabriella EICHINGER FERRO-LUZZI when she states that spiritual phenomena must be explained in religious terms (1987, 101). My ap proach, then, is intended to be one more oblation to add to the fire that fuels the sacred-cow controversy, which has been smoldering for some years now but could be revived for the purpose of environmentalist musing. As AGARWAL (2000) has suggested in a serious yet comical tone, cow dung should become the emblem of ecological activists in India. I would like to return to dung in the third section of my essay, but for now let me pursue some of the problems and prospects of textual sources dealing with the cow.
The cow's long development as a sacred symbol can be traced textually from the earliest corpus of Hindu literature: the Vedas. It can be argued viably that historical tracing uncovers the viewpoint of only a small body of a society's elite members who composed the texts in question. This point of view, however, is only an assumption, since texts always reflect popular opinion either by opposition to them, or by adapting the beliefs and rituals expressed therein. The issue has been addressed in detail by Indologists and historians of religions who employ the historical-critical method of textual analysis. Nonetheless, it is precisely the reliance on texts, however firmly embedded in specific contexts, that has led to criticism of this school of thinking. It has often been said that the historian of religions cannot see beyond the binding of her books. On the other hand, a reverse argument could be made for certain social scientists who may ignore texts altogether. Of course, neither of these positions can cla im predominance over the other, as I have already suggested. We must therefore see the text/context interface as a methodological form of what the literary critic Mikhail BAKHTIN (1981) calls "dialogism," for a true interpretation can only result if a dialectical relationship between numerous disciplines exists. Stated plainly, dialogue is a most crucial aspect of the interpretive sciences. Hopefully my effort will provide one more point of view to be considered in the sacred-cow controversy, providing common fodder for interdisciplinary consumption in the great cattle pen that has served as the arena of bovine debate over the past few decades.
My essay is divided into three parts. The first section deals with the status of the cow in Hindu religious texts. [7] The second section complements the first by elaborating on the mythical content of the texts that have led to the apotheosis of the cow. The third section briefly reviews some of the ritual uses of the cow and her products, as well as some of the popular attitudes associated with these. The three sections as a whole suggest a unique position for the cow in the Indian Weltanschauung. Taking these aspects into consideration, one would hope, could stimulate new modes of exegesis pertaining to the milky problem at hand, or, in this case, at hoof.
BOVINE APOTHEOSIS
One can only speculate as to when the cow became a popular image in Indian folklore. Although there is some evidence that the cow was already a symbolic motif before the Aryans crossed the Hindu Kush on their way to the Indian subcontinent (JACOBI 1914, 224--25; CROOKE 1911, 281), the scholarly consensus indicates that the extant documentation in the Avestan texts is too scant to conclude that cattle had any special status in ancient Persia. This notwithstanding, they were a valued economic commodity throughout the Persian-speaking cultural zone during the second millennium BCE. We can be certain, however, that the cow had a somewhat elevated position in the earliest phase of Vedic literature (ca. 1500 BCE). This is not to say that the cow was inviolable at that time, but only suggests her use as a symbolic motif during the early Vedic period. [8] The use of the cow symbolically is no less important than her inviolability, as I would like to suggest in greater detail below, for pious attitudes surely play a c rucial role in the apotheosis of zebu. Moreover, the "symbolic capital" (BOURDIEU 1977 and 1989) of the cow can, in some sense, have far-reaching consequences beyond the domain of economics.
Sir Mortimer WHEELER (1953) and other archaeologists attempted to account for the sanctity of the cow by accrediting it to the influence of the indigenous people inhabiting the Indus Valley during the influx of Aryan invaders. [9] The status of the cow, however, seems to be influenced only tangentially by these non-Aryan cultures, for cattle in general and cows specifically are not represented as frequently as the unicorn on the Harappan seals dating from the third and second millennia BCE (PFEIFFER 1977, 209-13; BROWN 1964, 245; see also ALLCHIN and ALLCHIN 1982, 210). During the Vedic period, as already mentioned, the cow plays a more important role as symbol. In fact, cattle, collectively represented, are depicted in the Vedic literature more often than any other members of the animal kingdom.
The early Vedic literary usage of the cow resonates with both sacred and profane allusions. The economic aspects of the cow are heavily stressed in the Vedas, as is the role she plays in the yajna (sacrifice). The sacrifice played a quintessential role in Vedic religion. Its continuance meant the very maintenance of cosmic order (rta) in the universe (HOPKINS 1971, 17-35). Indeed, the nature of creation was innate within the sacrifice. Thus creation as a recurring cosmogonic act was seen as only possible through the successful and continuous performance of the yajna. Without maintaining it properly, the universe could not function. If the sacrifice ended, then rta would fall out of balance and the universe would regress into a chaotic state. The cow, then, takes on cosmic proportions by being at the center of the sacrifice. Not only were cattle the major sacrificial victims, but their products were used for oblation (havis) as well. One thing that we can discern from the portrayal of the cow during this peri od is that she was identified with the totality of the universe. The Atharvaveda (10.10.1), for example, calls the cow the "all-producing and all-containing universe." This mystical relationship between the cow and the universe is alluded to several times in the Rgveda (JACOBI 1914, 225) as well.
These cosmic associations were an important element in the cow's eventual sanctification. But such use of metaphor did not foreshadow the cow's later intimate relationship to the Gandhian conception of nonviolence (ahimsa), as the Indologist Norman BROWN (1964, 246-47) has suggested. [10] On the contrary, Brahmans, the priestly caste and custodial performers of the sacrifice, ate readily of the consecrated beef. One interesting passage in the Satapatha Brahmana accredits beef eating to the sage Yajnavalkya when he says, "I, for one, eat it, provided it is tender (amsala)" (BROWN 1964, 246; JACOBI 1914, 225; KEITH 1925, 191-92).
The Vedic literature is relatively silent concerning nonviolence directed toward the cow. Not until the very end of this period do we find even the slightest allusions concerning the matter. There is only one reference to ahimsa in the mystical corpus of writings concurrent with this period. In the Chandogya Upanisad (3.17.4), we read, atha yat tapo danam arjavam ahimsa satyavacanam iti ta asya daksinah ("Austerity, almsgiving, uprightness, harmlessness, truthfulness; these are one's gifts for the priests" [HUME 1977, 213]). Here "harmlessness or nonviolence is used as a virtue, along with a number of other traits that suitably qualify as "gifts" to give to priests in payment for sacrificial duties rendered (BROWN 1964, 247). In short, at the close of the Vedic period, we can surmise that the cow was still being eaten, but nevertheless served as a powerful symbol.
But with the advent of Buddhism and Jainism at the beginning of the fifth century BCE, the notion of ahimsa slowly rose in prominence within Brahmanical circles (BASHAM 1959, 48-54). The sacred texts and law books from this period make ample mention of it. The Bhagavadagita, for example, mentions the term four times (10.5, 13.7, 16.2, 17.4), but it is not used in a doctrinal sense, for it is defined as one quality among others. The Manusmrti explicitly prohibits eating meat for Brahmans, but does not prohibit its consumption by other castes. The text does state, however, that a person who eats the meat of an animal in this lifetime will be devoured by the very same one in the next world (5.55). But in the verse (5.56) immediately following this passage it clearly states that "There is no sin in eating meat" (BUHLER 1886, 177). Elsewhere in the tome, harming a cow is discouraged (4.162) and slaughtering her (govadha) is considered a crime (11.60). [11] The law book is, however, ambiguous on this point. As BRO WN suggests, it supports ahimsa in some passages and denies it in others (1964, 247). Other law books are also ambivalent on the question of the murder of cows. The Arthasastra, for example, says that selling meat is legal, but cattle are not to be slaughtered (2.26). In the Sanskrit epic literature as well, we find passages that protect cows, but condone other sorts of meat for consumption. The Mahabharata states that he who kills a cow lives as many years in hell as there are hairs on the cow's body (13.74.4; also see BROWN 1964, 247-49). [12]
After his conversion to Buddhism (ca. 262 BCE), the great king Ashoka became a staunch advocate of ahimsa, as is attested by his famous "pillar edicts" (BASHAM 1959, 57, 219, 348). Pillar edict IV suggests that he had to institute laws in order to enforce this decree (NIKAM and MCKEON 1959, 31-33). After Ashoka's death, there was a resurgence of animal sacrifice, which went on as a popular observance until medieval times. By this time the Brahmanical literature began treating ahimsa as dogma, but the idea of practicing nonviolence on a mass scale was still met with popular resistance by the subaltern classes. It was not until Mahatma GANDHI utilized the cow as a "poem of piety" (1954, 3) for his nonviolent struggle during the freedom movement that her position and status as a sacred symbol was firmly implanted in Indian soil. As he wrote in 1921 to Young India, cow worship is a "worship of innocence" (GANDHI 1954, 3), which I take to mean a humbleness before all of nature.
At present, however, the epic texts-especially the Mahabharata--as well as puranas (mythological texts) and a great deal of ancillary literature, are used to justify the sanctity of the cow as an orthodox position (BROWN 1964, 249). As an aside, let me say that we need only look at the recent resurgence of militant Hindu nationalism in India to begin grasping the complexity of the cow as a political symbol (cf. VAN DER VEER 1994, 83-94). Indeed, the cow has often been the cause of communal violence in the modern era (e.g., YANG 1980), [13] yet the historical development of the cow as a symbol of welfare and compassion pervades the history of colonial India. Perhaps it was the rupture created by colonial rule that facilitated the need to "invent" (cf. HOBSBAWM and RANGER 1983) the cow as a Vedic object of veneration, one that endures even more vividly today. [14]
In summary, it is certainly appropriate to conclude the first section by suggesting that symbolic notions of the cow date as far back as the earliest written texts in India. Indeed, the idea may be pushed back to pre-Aryan times, as Ludwig ALSDORF (1961, 609) suggests. [15] But the sanctity of the cow itself has a distinct social genealogy that must be understood historically to make sense. In other words, contrary to some pious accounts (e.g., CREMO and GOSWAMI 1995) that suggest a Vedic origin for cow protection, it was not until the early centuries of the Common Era (i.e., mid-Epic period) that the cow began to take on the aura of inviolable sanctity in India. The position achieves a strong doctrinal grounding during the fourth century CE when the Mahabharata is completed, and ahimsa becomes firmly established as a doctrine during the post-Epic Pauranik period. From then on it diffused down to the popular level of piety. What this brief survey suggests is that the cow had a long period of prestige before its apotheosis because of her exalted status as a sacred symbol, which I define here in its conventional sense as anything standing for something other than itself. Not until the Christian era, however, was the cow revered in its own right (BASHAM 1959, 319). [16]
FIGURATIVE USES OF THE COW
Metaphor is a powerful device by which humans can create linkages between different levels of reality and meaning (cf. FERNANDEZ 1986, 28-72). For this essential reason, we must delve into the non-empirical ways in which the cow is thought about in Hindu India if we want to understand her important role in daily life and religious belief. Metaphorical uses of the cow are deeply ingrained in the Hindu psyche. Classical poetry evokes her eyes as an image of compassion and piety, while popular practice utilizes her products in an earthy utilitarian sense. [17] The cow is a symbol that reifies faith and belief in Hindu practice on both the individual and community levels, thereby providing a common ground for worship. At the turn of the century, William CROOKE had already noticed that reverence for the cow is "the most powerful link which binds together the chaotic complex of beliefs which we designate as Hinduism" (1911, 279). Seeing it in this way helps us to accept the notion of the cow as a "key symbol" (cf O RTNER 1973) in pan-Hindu culture, one that unites the diverse backgrounds of regional Hindus into one core set of beliefs and practices. To put it plainly, it is a central belief that the cow is good, whole, pure, and embodying all aspects of the cosmos within her. This idea is often portrayed visually in popular Hinduism, as is the case in the mid-twentieth-century Bengali print included here, which depicts the divine pantheon residing within her and all religious faiths offering her praise (see Plate 1). Such diverse uses of the cow are grounded in what I call "allegorical association."
Allegorical association does not mean that the cow merely represents something, but rather that she connects with it in a mystical sense through metalinguistic parallelism. A list of Vedic synonyms called the Naighauka of Yaska equates the cow with a wide range of things in the manifest universe. The Sanskrit word for cow (go) is listed as a synonym of earth, heaven, rays of light, speech, and singer, while classical lexicographer Hemachandra adds sun, water, eye, heavenly quarter, kine, thunderbolt, and arrow in his Anekarthasamgraha (1.6; cf. JACOBI 1914, 225). This seemingly diverse cluster of meanings falls within a semantic range united by a common myth of creation in which all of these things are first produced.
In a Vedic creation myth the cosmic waters from whence all originates are seen as cows. The divine hero, Indra, is sent to create order (rta) from the primordial, chaotic waters. They are being held captive in a cave guarded by Vritra. Indra slays Vritra and the waters gush forth like lowing cows. In the Rgveda (1.32.2) we read: "Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided downward to the ocean" (GRIFFITH 1976, 20). It just so happens that these cows are pregnant and give birth to the sun (=calf/vatsa). In this way, water, heat, and light are created. Law and order is established, and the rest of creation is completed. The earth is set in place and the vault of the sky is spread as a canopy above it, the heavenly bodies are put into motion, and the deities as well as the demigods and human beings are given their own functions (vratas). All things, according to this myth, came into existence like lowing cows (BROWN 1964, 251). Water in India is considered to be sacred and purifying. All life, of course, depends on water since it purifies and heals. It provides both physical succor and spiritual purity. Water is thus holy, and because the cow is associated with its release, it too takes on this holiness. [18]
The cow, as suggested above, is a microcosm of the universe. As a spatial symbol her legs stand implanted at the four corners of the universe. In this posture she encompasses the four directions, which by definition includes engulfing all space. Firmly established on her four legs catuhphada), the cow is seen as "complete and self-contained" (ZIMMER 1962, 13). As such, the cow represents perfection. This is a time when dharma duty, law) is seen as functioning smoothly and efficiently. But such a condition is understood as only a temporary state of affairs, since the Hindu notion is that time is always moving through repetitive cycles-each of which consists of four yugas (ages)--one corresponding to each leg of the cow. As each yuga passes and dharma degenerates, one leg of the cosmic cow is lifted until she collapses. This collapse ends one major cycle. The universe is then renewed, dharma is restored, the cow regains her balance, and the process begins anew (ZIMMER 1962, 13).
Now, surely no human being could exist without having some sort of temporal and spatial framework upon which to base one's conception of reality. But different societies construct and perceive space differently. Psychologists tell us that since people create space, it is culturally bound. Therefore, "space as a phenomenal category can only remain nonexistent outside of given cultural contexts (HALLOWELL 1977, 131-32). For the Hindu the cow serves this function. Relating time, space, and law to the cow is a manner by which to add concrete meaning to an otherwise abstract cognitive category. On a theoretical level, then, the cow is a constant reminder of the age and place in which Hindus exist, as well as the moral order by which they must live.
Many agrarian cultures throughout the world have created narratives relating to the origin of agriculture and plants. Such stories confer fecundity upon the earth through their ritual telling. The earth's fertility is often identified as feminine, and in many cases the earth is described as mother (cf. GILL 1987). This is also true in India. But added to these ideas is the cow's association with the earth. The Atharvaveda contains the earliest version of this myth, but a more complete version is contained in the Visnupurana:
Prthu, son of Vena, having been constituted universal monarch, desired to recover for his subjects edible plants, which, during the preceding period of anarchy, had all perished. He therefore assailed the earth, which, assuming the form of a cow, fled from him, and promised to fecundate the soil with her milk. Thereupon Prthu flattened the surface of the earth with his bow, uprooting and thrusting away hundreds and thousands of mountains. Having made Svayambhuva Manu, the calf he milked the earth, and received the milk into his own hands, for the benefit of all mankind. Thence proceeded all kinds of corn and vegetables upon which people subsist now and always. By granting life to the earth, Prthu was her father; and she thence derived the patronymic appellation Prthivi (daughter of Prthu). Then the gods, the sages, the demons, the Raksasas, the Gandharvas, Yaksas, Pitrs, serpents, mountains, and trees took a milking vessel suited to their kind, and milked the earth of appropriate milk. And the milker and the calf were both peculiar to their own species. (JACOBI 1914, 225)
This passage suggests that in primordial times the milk of the cow provided sustenance for all classes of beings and fertilized the soil. [19] Only through this cosmogonic act could food grow on the earth. All beings and things must thus honor the earth cow by milking her. This primal event serves as a paradigm or model for ritual action performed today. In one sense, every time a cow is milked the creation of plants is being reactualized. Each milker plays the role of Prthu in the original act of milking the earth. Through reenactment the creation is continually renewed in the repetition of the mythic paradigm (ELIADE 1959, 1--92).
Many more examples could be drawn from the vast corpus of Hindu mythology, but these few examples should suffice to illustrate the important mythological role of the cow as an embodiment of life itself. So far, I have suggested some of the deep associations that intimately merged the symbolism of the cow with some fundamental aspects of Hindu cosmology. We have seen that the cow represents two basic categories: space and time. Because of its association with these, and with primal events such as creation, the cow not only reflects Hindu reality but also embodies and defines it. Understanding the mythical aspects of the cow will aid us, then, in comprehending her ritual usage today.
RITUAL USES OF THE Cow AND HER PRODUCTS
Sri, the goddess of Fortune, who had left the demons for the gods, came to the cows, desiring to reside in them. They would, however, have nothing to do with the fickle deity, but in the end they were moved by her entreaties and consented to honour her: "Do thou live in our urine and dung; both these are sacred, O auspicious goddess!"
(JAcOBI 1914, 225)
The modern concern for ritual purity in India has deep roots. [20] I suggested earlier that the products of the cow were offered as oblations (havis) for the Vedic sacrifice. The elements of the cow were chosen for this purpose because of their purity. Pancagavya, the five products of the cow (i.e., milk, curd, clarified butter, urine, and dung), is viewed by Hindus as the purest substance available for ritual use. This is because, as the anthropologist Edward HARPER, writing about the Havik Brahmans, has reported, cows are seen as deities or inhabited by deities (1964, 151-52). Because the cow is a theophany, her feces (gobar) is purer than any other kind, as is witnessed by the virtually daily cleansing of floors throughout village India with its dung. In his research on gosalas (cow shelters) in the sacred city of Banaras, cultural geographer Deryck LODRICK confirms Harper's statement by noting that his informants felt that 330 million gods reside in every atom of the cow (1979, 242). [21] When I inquired about the ritual use of cow dung, I was quite often answered with a question: "How can anything from God bhagwan be impure (asuddha)?" [22]
Maintaining ritual purity is an ever-present concern for high-caste Hindus, and losing it is a fearful danger. Substance pollution is always a threat, so one must constantly be cautious about contact, consumption, commensality, etc. (cf. ORENSTEIN 1965). If one's physical and spiritual essence becomes polluted, then a purification ritual using cow dung can take place in order to put the individual back at the level of purity that he or she was prior to being polluted. Thus, ritual status is relative to the degree of the actor's purity.
Cow dung is always used in some purificatory context. In Bengal, for example, a diluted cow dung mixture is used to replace water from the most sacred river in India, the ganaga (SIMOONs 1974, 26). The ethnographic literature suggests that such mixtures are used throughout India to clean polluted areas [23] Any human bodily discharge or waste is considered polluting. Thus, contact with cut fingernails, as well as blood, urine, feces, and spittle, place one's ritual status in danger. Any area in which these elements might be found must be purified by the use of gobar. It is also used daily throughout India's villages to clean individual houses and places of worship, as mentioned above.
Cow dung ash is also considered highly purifying. This is due to the double effect of fire and dung. Since fire is regarded as purifying by Hindus, dung that is burnt becomes intensified in quality. Dung offered to a fire is a sacrifice yajna), and, as such, its sacred quality is enhanced. This is one reason why Hindu ascetics (sadhus) smear their body with ash. It not only purifies them but aids in their identification with the great ascetic (mahdyogi) Shiva. There is a sense of female power (sakti) gained from ash as well. The spiritual strength of Shiva's consort is transferred to the individual who is wearing the ash, since he is portrayed in iconography as smeared with ash.
Cow urine is also seen as a purifying and healing agent. The Visnudharmasastra states that in the urine of cows dwells the gangajal (Ganges water) (SIMOONs 1974, 21). Water from this sacred river is used for puja (worship) everywhere within the sacred city of Banaras. Pilgrims (yatri) take sealed containers of gangajal along with them when they return home. This is so that they may use it during daily rituals performed in their homes. But it is not rare to see a person, even in Banaras where the water is always available, reach out and wet their hand while a cow is urinating. This hand is then brought to the lips and then rubbed through one's hair. If this were done with the urine of any other animal the situation would obviously be highly polluting, but with the cow, pollution is not even a possibility. [24] The popular attitude is in accordance with the aforementioned statement from the Dharmasastra. Wherever gangajal is used, such as for purification of a well (SIMOONS 1974, 27), urine from a cow may be s ubstituted.
Cow urine is also used as medicine. One ritual formula in the Atharvaveda (6.57.1--3) provides a cure for removing tumors with galasa (urine). Maurice BLOOMFIELD'S translation of the commentary on the verse explains: "The practice consists of moistening the tumour with the foam of [cow's] urine, throwing the urine itself upon it; next, washing it off..." (1897, 489). Cow urine is also used in the making of gorochana, a tonic used primarily to cure "spirit diseases" (SIMOONS 1974, 27, 33). Using gorochand is said to drive out the bhut (spirit) that is causing the disease. HARPER reports that among the Havik Brahmans, ritual objects such as a yantra (a medal with mantras inscribed on it to ward off spirits) worn around the neck, are kept pure by sprinkling it with cow urine (1964, 168).
Cow dung and urine may be used as a mixture, and in this form it is often taken internally as a cure-all for purificatory reasons. But by far the most powerful purificatory agent is the pancagavya mentioned earlier. Since each derivative of the cow is pure in and of itself, the combined effect of the "five products" is greater than that of any other. The use of pancagavya in India today is widespread. It is held that this concoction "has the capabilities of cleansing comparable to those of fire and water from the Ganges and other holy rivers" SIMOONS 1974, 28).
Examples of this type are numerous, and could fill a complete volume. [25] The ones already given, however, will suffice for the intended purpose of this essay. The paradox here is a curious one. In all other contexts, feces and urine are seen as highly polluting, but yet that of a cow is seen as sacred and pure. This belief and the behaviors evoked by it, can only be seen as a continuing part of the process that led to the gradual sanctity of the cow. It is not possible to understand the symbolic power of the cow and her elements without placing the whole complex of ideas associated with her in a specific ritual and mythical galaxy of meaning. Devoid of these dimensions, the cow would have no special religious connotations. She would be, like the water buffalo, just another beast of burden.
If we want to understand the sacred meaning of the Indian cow, and why it was chosen for apotheosis, we cannot overlook her role in the religious context. Moreover, seeing her in a symbolic light would enable us to understand her potential role as a symbol of ecology, which has, by the way, been the agenda of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness (cf. CREMO and GOSWAMI 1995). The cow is first and foremost a religious symbol. Attempting to explain her sanctity through any other means falls short of the overall goal, for as some historians of religions tell us, the category of the sacred is sui generis, and as such is irreducible to other categories of social behavior. While I do not completely agree with this position, [26] the stories, myths, and ritualistic behavior discussed in this essay cannot be pushed aside as what Harris refers to as mere "irrational, non-economic, and exotic aspects of the Indian cattle complex" (1966, 51). Instead, mythological associations and ritualistic functions must be seen as critical in a study of the cow in India. Rejecting the rich body of lore associated with the cow as superstitious or magico-religious might just be missing the essence of the sacred-cow controversy when viewed from the perspective of the average Hindu practicing his or her daily dharma. [27]
CONCLUSION
Anthropology has for too long ignored doctrine in its study of the religions of literate societies such as India. However, in the 1990s, after the publication of Writing Culture (CLIFFORD and MARCUS 1986), a more open climate for the cultural analysis of texts emerged, signaling the discipline's willingness to return to textual scrutiny. Given the fact that the cow is such a powerful and pervasive image in India, it would be unwise to separate ecology from theology in this instance. Textual legitimacy is, of course, only one aspect of any given phenomenon. However it is a crucial one, for it allows for the canonization of a given concept or practice. If we are to construct a holistic understanding of the cow in India, we need to broaden the scope of study by applying a hermeneutic method to the problem of the cow's apotheosis, which I have outlined above, for no theory can claim precedence over others in the interpretive marketplace. [28] Only by seeking out multiple interpretations of bovine divinity can we hope to derive an overall, multidisciplinary picture of the cow in India, without excluding data that may be able to shed some light on the nature of the cattle complex in India.
Understanding the role of the cow from a symbolic perspective, as well as from an ethnographic one based on participant observation, might allow us to draw on her historically traceable apotheosis to serve as a powerful symbol for Indian ecological awareness in the sense GANDHI described when he wrote that "Man through the cow is enjoined to realize his identity with all that lives" (1954, 3). Without getting enmeshed in what Stephen ELKINS (1989-1990) has termed the "politics of mystical ecology," perhaps this would allow for the development of a nonsectarian approach to confront the ecological crisis that faces India at present. Of course, this predominantly Hindu symbol would still need to be translated in a way that would empower all Indians who share the same "ecological ethnicity," be they Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Jews, Dalits, or indigenous peoples. The cow alone can not save India's threatened environment, but she may provide a focus for further musing on mankind's spiritual relationship to nature. [29]
NOTES
(*.) An earlier version of this paper was read at the School of American Research in December of 1997. My thanks go out to Arvind Sharma, Christopher Chapple, and Peter Knecht for making comments on an earlier draft. All of the usual caveats apply.
(1.) In this sense applied theology parallels the concerns and interests of the deep ecology movement, which seeks "a new metaphysics, epistemology, cosmology, and environmental ethics of person/planet" (DEVALL 1980, 299). In other parts of the world, such as in Thailand (cf. DARLINGTON 1998), the use of religion for ecological goals is already well under way.
(2.) The idea of a "national cow" is not new, as is evinced in pre-Independence popular posters of jagat mata go laksmi, the "world mother cow of good fortune," in which we witness people of all faiths partaking in the products of the cow. See Plate 1.
(3.) The political approach is a most intriguing one that I can not delve into here. But it is precisely in the political arena that the cow's religious symbolism and ritual use become most forceful for rhetorical purposes. In addition to the references cited, SIMOONS (1973) is useful for understanding the role of the cow in politics, as is PEREL (1965).
(4.) HARRIS'S position (1965; 1966; 1978, 6-27) is primarily a Marxist one, but as many critics have pointed out, it is a misused application of Marxism for the purpose of what FRIEDMAN (1974) has termed "vulgar materialism." Moreover, the controversy emerged at a time when ecology and culture were being explored within a systems analysis paradigm. But as FREILICH (1967, 40) points out, the ecological approach to culture can devolve into "barren demography" and "geographic determinism." On systems analysis in general, see RODIN, MICHAELSON, and BRITAN (1978).
(5.) A balanced treatment of the issue based on over twenty years of interdisciplinary research is geographer Frederick J. SIMOONS's 1994 study (see pp. 103-43).
(6.) This is not to say that the cow did not have any significant economic importance, for the earliest written evidence suggests the contrary (SRINIVASAN 1979, 17-25). However, SRINIVASAN (1979, 1) points out that the term cow "is mentioned twice as often in ritual and mythological contexts as in economic contexts."
(7.) In this section I draw primarily on the works of ALSDORF (1961), BROWN (1957, 1964), CROOKE (1911), JACOBI (1914), and SRINIVASAN (1979). But see also EICHINGER FERRO-LUZZI (1985). In the next two sections I rely on the voluminous mythographic and anthropological literature, as well as on my own observations.
(8.) For the most extensive study of Vedic sources in relation to the cow, see SRINIVASAN (1979).
(9.) The theory of Aryan invasion has, of course, been challenged recently by a school unconvincingly claiming the indigenous origin of Aryans. The debate, however, is beyond the scope of this paper. For the alternative point of view, see RAJARAM and FRAWLEY (1995).
(10.) The relationship between ahimsa and cows in India during the life of Gandhi is explored further in SCHNEIDER (1948).
(ll.) The Atharvaveda (10.13.56) adds that even kicking a cow is a sin!
(12.) More on the cow in Manu, Vyasa, and the Mahabharata, can be found in MACKENZIE BROWN 1968, 33, 42-43, 39, 71 and 74, and 166 respectively.
(13.) For an extended case study of the cow and social conflict in South Asia, see ROY (1994).
(14.) HOBSBAWM and RANGER (1983, 4) contend that the invention of tradition is most apparent under adverse conditions. As they write, invention occurs most frequently "when a rapid transformation of society weakens or destroys the social patterns for which 'old' traditions had been designed."
(15.) "Es bleibt wohl kaum eine andere Antwort ubrig als die, dass sic zu jenen vorarischen, wenn man will 'ur-indischen' Elementen gehort die, durch die arische Eroberung zunachst verdrangt und fur lange Zeit uberdeckt, allmahlich wieder an die Oberflache kommen und in ihrcr immer starkeren Durchsetzung eben den Wandel des Ariers zum 'Hindu' bewirken."
(16.) However, an earlier generation of scholars understood the status of the cow in a more ancient light. A. B. KEITH, for example, citing the Atharvaveda (12.4.5), asserts that the cow's sacred character in the text "points to that animal having become in itself an object of worship" (1925, 192). This conflicting opinion, now revised by the more recent scholarship drawn upon in this essay, should suggest the earlier complicity of Orientalists in forging a nationalist rhetoric around the cow. This is an intriguing topic that can not be taken up here. But see TRAUTMANN (1997) for a detailed study of the dialogic construction of Orientalist knowledge in colonial India.
(17.) In addition, popular belief associates cow with mother. As SAX (1996, 64) notes, "Cows are associated with mothers because they give milk; people refer to them as mothers in colloquial speech; thus to abuse a cow is like abusing one's own mother." In her analysis of Vedic similes (upamanas), SRINIVASAN (1979, 37-55) provides a number of ancient precedents for this contemporary understanding (see especially p. 45).
(18.) For more on this creation myth, see SRINIVASAN 1979, 82-88.
(19.) The notion of fertilizing soil with milk is also related to the "self-milking cow" motif in the Hindu tradition. For an extensive study of this theme, see EICHINGER FERRO-LUZZI (1987).
(20.) I do not wish to make too much of this point here, other than to note that the emphasis placed on purity and social hierarchy by DUMONT (1980) has influenced much thinking about caste structure and ritual performance in India. Although his major contention is overstated, there are still those who defend his position on the basis of contemporary ethnographic data (e.g., FITZGERALD 1996), while others argue cogently against it in terms of the multivocalic nature of the concept of purity in antiquity (e.g., OLIVELLE 1998). Whatever the case may be, there can be no denying that a concern for ritual purity is an important factor in everyday life among Hindus.
(21.) See also LODRICK's lengthier study published in 1981. On this point, BEALS (1974, 39) writes, "Animals are also ranked in the spiritual hierarchy. Cattle, who serve as the home of the gods and also give milk and pull plows, stand highest."
(22.) The Sanskrit textual vocabulary for the purity/impurity dichotomy is quite vast, as is suggested by OLIVELLE (1998, 192-209). For an anthropological study of the "grammar" of this vocabulary, see ORENSTEIN 1968.
(23.) BABB (1975, 48--49), for example, writes that in Chhattisgarh "Certain substances or things seem to have the ability to ameliorate pollution directly. Cow dung appears to have this property, and is widely used as an agent of purification."
(24.) This is not, of course, the case with Muslims. I remember very clearly an incident in Banaras during 1981 when I was accompanying a Muslim friend to his local mosque to perform namaz. Along the way, we passed through a narrow gali (alley) in which a cow was urinating. Unfortunately for him, some of the urine splattered on his pant leg, and he insisted that we return home so that he could bathe and change clothes before performing prayers in his place of worship.
(25.) DAs (1953) and MARGUL (1968) contain an assortment of other rituals associated with cows on the popular level.
(26.) See, for example, the powerful argument against phenomenology by PENNER (1970). For a recent and cogent critique of the notion of sui generis, see McCUTCHEON (1997).
(27.) I am aware that the term dharma has a long and nuanced history in Indian thought (HALBFASS 1988, 310--48), but here I use it in its general, everyday sense to refer to an individual's daily religious duty.
(28.) Holism, however, may be an ideal not attainable in the lived world. SHRADER-FRECHETTE (1996, 64) recently has proposed the viable notion of an integrated position she terms "hierarchical holism," based on three principles: "(1) that it is based on a metaphysical rather than merely a scientific notion of the biotic community; (2) that it relies on an ethics that is both anthropocentric and biocentric; and (3) that it includes some second-order ethical principles capable of adjudicating conflicts among human versus nonhuman interests."
(29.) Indeed, much of the literature on the cattle complex in India suggests that "cow protection" may actually be a detriment to the physical environment. Explaining the cow symbolically, then, is a major challenge for humanists, as SCHWABE (1978) has pointed out.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Water, Wood, and Wisdom: Ecological Perspectives from the Hindu </b>Traditions.
9/22/2001; Narayanan, Vasudha
[No URL - Sorry]
FROM THE CRADLE that is a baby's first bed to the cremation pyre that is the last resting place for the body in many Hindu traditions, wood is an integral part of Hindu lives. From home hearths to religious sacraments, wood and fire are conspicuously present. Hindu weddings take place in front of a sacred fire that is considered to be an eternal witness; at death, the bodies are consigned to the fire.
The ashes of the cremated body are immersed in holy waters-the same rivers that feed and irrigate paddy fields; the same water that cooks the rice and bathes the dead before cremation. From cradle to cremation, Hindus have long had a palpable, organic connection with nature. But today they must also face the reality of environmental disaster. With the population hovering around a billion in India (with eight hundred million Hindus), the use, abuse, and misuse of resources is placing India on the fast track to disaster. What, if anything, can Hindu tradition say about this looming environmental crisis? Are there any resources in the Hindu religious and cultural traditions that can inspire and motivate Hindus to take action? [1]
While in the Western world one has to argue for the significance and relevance of religion in everyday life, in India the interest and involvement in religion is tangible; religious symbols are ubiquitous. The traditional mantra heard among Hindus, "Hinduism is more than a religion; it is a way of life," is more than a trite saying. There is a deep relationship between religion and ingrained social structures and behavioral patterns. The characters featured in the various Puranas, or ancient texts about the Hindu deities, are known and loved by the masses. People never seem to tire of these stories. Only vernacular cinema seems to rival the epic and Puranic narratives in popular influence.
But do the many Hindu philosophies and communities value nature and privilege the existence of plants, trees, and water? Although the short answer is "yes," Hindus have answered this question in many different ways that have been documented in excellent texts. [2] Plants and trees are valued so highly in Hindu sacred texts that their destruction is connected with doomsday scenarios. The Puranas and epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata give detailed narratives of the periodic and cyclic destruction of the world. There are four aeons in each cycle, and by the beginning of the third aeon, things are perceptibly going awry. As the Kurma Purana puts it, "then greed and passion arose again everywhere, inevitably, due to the predestined purpose of the Treta [Third] Age. And people seized the rivers, fields, mountains, clumps of trees and herbs, overcoming them by strength. [3] The epic Mahabharata (c. 500-200 B.C.E.) graphically depicts the events at the end of the fourth--and worst--aeon, and what happen s after a thousand such aeons:
At the end of the Eon the population increases... and odor becomes stench, and flavors putrid.... When the close of the thousand Aeons has come and life has been spent, there befalls a drought of many years that drives most of the creatures, of dwindling reserves and starving to their death.... The Fire of Annihilation then invades... [and] burns down all that is found on earth.... Wondrous looking huge clouds rise up in the sky.... At the end of time all men--there is no doubt--will be omnivorous barbarians.... All people will be naturally cruel.... Without concern they will destroy parks and trees and the lives of living will be ruined in the world. Slaves of greed they will roam this earth.... All countries will equally suffer from drought.... [It] will not rain in season, and the crops will not grow, when the end of the Eon is at hand. [4]
What we note almost immediately is that these destructions are portrayed as cyclical and periodic. The first quotation about the third aeon evokes the inevitable, predestined nature of such events. One wonders if human beings are powerless against such cosmic configurations. But even if we were to take these epics seriously, we have quite a while to wait. According to very conservative Hindu almanacs and reckoning, the end of this aeon--the fourth--is not expected before 428,898 C.E.
We also notice in the Hindu texts a close correlation between dharma (righteousness, duty, justice; from dhr, or that which sustains) and the ravaging of Earth. When dharma declines, human beings despoil nature. There is, however, no Hindu text focusing on dharma that advises us to be passive and accept the end of the world with a life-negating philosophy. Many Hindu texts are firm in their view that human beings must enhance the quality of life. A popular blessing uttered in many Hindu temples and homes focuses on human happiness in this life, on this earth: "May everyone be happy, may everyone be free of diseases! / May everyone see what is noble / May no one suffer from misery!"
Despite this unequivocal ratification of the pursuit of happiness, Hindus of every stripe have participated in polluting the environment. In this essay, we will look at the resources and limitations within the many Hindu traditions to see how the problem of ecology has been addressed. Before we look at these resources, a few caveats and qualifications are in order.
The first important issue to be aware of is that there are many Hindu traditions, and there is no single book that all Hindus would agree on as authoritative. In this essay, I will cite many texts from a spectrum of sources. The second point to note is that the many texts within Hindu traditions have played a limited role in the history of the religion. Although works like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the many Puranas have been generally influential, philosophical works like the Upanishads are not well known by the masses. The texts on right behavior (dharma shastras) have been only selectively followed, and popular practice or custom has had as much weight as religious law. All these texts, along with Puranic and epic narratives, have been the carriers and transmitters of dharma and devotion (bhakti).
Dharma is all-important in Hindu communities, but the texts that define and discuss dharma were known only by a handful of Brahman men. Instead, notions of dharma were communicated through stories from the epics and Puranas, and such moral tales were routinely retold by family or village elders. Like Aesop's fables--or MTV today--these narratives shaped notions of morality and acceptable behavior. The exaggerated reliance on texts of law is a later development and can be traced to the period of colonization by the British. [5] With the intellectual colonization by the West and the advent of mass media, Hindus today, especially in the diaspora, think of texts alone--rather than oral tradition or community customs--as authoritative. Many Hindu temples in India now hold classes and study circles on the Bhagavadgita ("the Song of the Lord;" a text composed circa second century B.C.E. that is part of the epic Mahabharata). The Ramakrishna and Chinmaya missions publish theological books and tapes with translations and commentaries to explain their canonic texts to an educated middleclass public.
Finally, I do not speak about these resources for anyone except those who in some manner belong to one of the Hindu traditions. Gerald Larson has alerted us to the dangers of indiscriminate use of philosophical texts as a generic resource for environmental philosophy, and one has to be mindful of these warnings. [6] Still, given the increasing popularity of sacred texts among many sectors of Hindu society in the late twentieth century, I feel comfortable in using many Hindu texts as resources in this essay. We will see shortly that some Hindu institutions are citing esoteric passages on dharma from sacred texts in order to raise the consciousness of people about contemporary social issues. The regulation of dharma with a dual emphasis on text and practice has given it a flexibility that we can use to our advantage today.
The resources from which the Hindu traditions can draw in approaching environmental problems are several and diverse: there are texts, of course, but also temples and teachers. Hindu sacred texts starting with the Vedas (c. 1750-600 B.C.E.) speak extensively about the sanctity of the earth, the rivers, and the mountains. The texts on dharma earnestly exhort people to practice nonviolence toward all beings; other texts speak of the joys of a harmonious relationship with nature. Temples are large economic centers with endowments of millions. Many have had clout for over a millennium; devotees, pilgrims, and politicians (especially after an election) donate liberally to these centers. Finally, there are gurus. Teachers like Sathya Sai Baba can influence millions of devotees around the world and divert enormous resources to various projects.
These vast and varied religious resources can undoubtedly be used to raise people's consciousness about environmental problems. In this essay, I will explore some of the resources in the Hindu traditions that may be relevant to the environmental crisis, discuss a few cases of environmental mobilization that have sprung from religious sensibilities, and finally assess some of the other strands in the Hindu traditions that often impede the translation of philosophies into action.
<b>THE NARRATIVE, RITUAL, AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS</b>
In most Hindu traditions, Earth is to be revered, for she is our mother. Mother Earth, known by one of her several names (Bhu, Bhumi, Prithvi, Vasudha, Vasundhara, Avni) is considered to be a devi, or a goddess. She is seen in many temples together with Lord Vishnu ("all-pervasive") in South India and is worshiped as his consort. She is to be honored and respected; classical dancers, after pounding on the ground during a concert, touch the earth reverentially to express their esteem for the earth. The earliest sacred texts, the Vedas, have inspiring hymns addressed to Earth. [7]
The ethical texts have many injunctions that are directly relevant to environmental problems. Many of them stress the importance of nonviolence toward all creatures. Nonviolence in thought, word, and deed is considered to be the highest of all forms of righteousness, or dharma. [8] Normative nonviolence, if followed, would inevitably promote biodiversity.
Nor are other, more specific, ethical injunctions lacking in Hindu traditions. Manu, the law giver, said around the beginning of the Common Era, "Impure objects like urine, feces, spit; or anything which has these elements, blood, or poison should not be cast into water." [9]
Ritual and devotional resources that privilege the natural environment abound in the Hindu tradition. The protection of groves and gardens, as well as pilgrimage to sacred and pure places, is recommended by some Hindu communities and mandated by others. The Puranas and the epics mention specific places in India as holy and charged with power. Many Hindu texts say that if one lives or dies in the holy precincts of a sacred place, one is automatically granted supreme liberation. There are lists of such cities and villages. Many lists are regional, but some are pan-Indian and span the subcontinent, creating networks of sacred spaces and consolidating the various Hindu communities.
In the time of the dharma shastras around the beginning of the Common Era, the description of the sacrality of the land was confined to the northern part of India. Manu says:
That land, created by the gods, which lies between the two divine rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati [is] . Brahmavarta....
... the tract between those two mountains which extends between the eastern and western oceans, the wise call Aryavarta (the country of the noble ones).
The land where the black antelope naturally roams, one must know to be fit for the performance of sacrifices; [this land] is different from the country of the barbarians. [10]
Later, the sacred lands were extended beyond the land between the Himalaya and Vindhya mountains to cover the whole subcontinent.
More recently, India personified as the mother (Bharata Mata) has been important in political thinking. Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri (1893-1958), a musician who participated in the struggle to free India from colonial rule, composed a song popular among all South Indian classical singers, called "Victory, Victory to Mother India" (jayati jayati bharata mata). In this and many such songs, India is personified and extolled as a compassionate mother-goddess filled with forests, filled with sanctity that should not be violated.
While India is personified as a mother and considered holy, most Hindus localize the sanctity and go regularly to the regional temple or a sacred place that has been important to their families for generations. The whole town surrounding any temple is said to be sacred. Every tree, every stream near the precincts of the temple exudes this sense of sacredness. Bathing in the sea, river, stream, or pond of water near the temple is said to grant salvation. Hindus are beginning to use these notions of sacrality and rituals of pilgrimage as one inspiration for ecological cleanups. [11]
The philosophical visions of the various Hindu traditions portray the earth, the universe, and nature in many exalted ways. Nature is sacred; for some schools, this Prakriti ("nature," sometimes translated as "cosmic matter") is divine immanence and has potential power. These links have been explored in a quest for indigenous paths to solving the environmental crisis. [12] In a related way, the five elements of nature--earth, water, fire, ether/space, and air--are sacred. Rivers are particularly revered. [13] The philosophical images of Prakriti are often awe-inspiring. Consider just one of these images: central to the Bhagavadgita is the vision of the universe as the body of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. While the first consequence of this vision in its narrative context is to convince the warrior Arjuna of the supremacy of God, many theologians, including Ramanuja (traditional dates 1017-1137), have understood these passages, as well as several in the Upanishads, as depicting the correct relationship b etween the Supreme Being and creation. Ramanuja and his followers equally emphasize the immanence and the transcendence of the Supreme Being. The elaboration of this philosophy is found in the many texts of Ramanuja's disciples, the members of the Sri-Vaishnava community. [14]
According to Ramanuja, the universe, composed of sentient matter (chit) and nonsentient matter (achit), forms the body (sarira) of the Vishnu. Just as a human soul (chit) pervades a nonsentient body (achit), so, too, does Vishnu pervade all souls, the material universe, and time. The name Vishnu, in fact, means "all pervasive." Vishnu-Narayana is inseparable from Sri-Lakshmi, the Goddess. According to the Sri Vaishnava theologian Vedanta Desika (1268-1368), both Vishnu and Sri pervade the universe together; the universe is their body. It is important to note that in this philosophy, it is not the case that the material universe is female and the transcendent god is male; together, the male and female deities create and pervade the universe, and yet transcend it. We--as part of the universe--are the body of Vishnu and Sri; we are owned by them and are supported by them. Vishnu is the personal name given to the Supreme Being, or Brahman; the two are identical. In his famous work Summary of the Teachings of the Veda (Vedartha Sangraha), Ramanuja says that Brahman is purity, bliss, and knowledge. The sentient and nonsentient beings form the body of Brahman. Before creation, they are undifferentiated in name and form from Brahman. By the will of the Supreme Being it becomes manifest as the limitless and diversified world of moving and nonmoving beings. At any given time, therefore, the universe is one with this Brahman, both before and after creation. [15]
All of creation has the Supreme Being as its soul, its inner controller and support. All physical forms have Brahman or the Supreme Being as their ultimate Self or soul. Ramanuja makes this identification clear through a process of "signification," or pointing:
Therefore all terms like gods, men, yaksa [a celestial being], demon, beast, bird, tree, creeper, wood, stone, grass, jar and cloth, which have denotative power, formed of roots and suffixes, signify the objects which they name in ordinary parlance and through them they signify the individual selves embodied in them and through this second signification, their significance develops further till it culminates in Brahman, the highest Self dwelling as the inner controller of all individual selves. Thus all terms are denotative of this totality. [16]
While Ramanuja's argument is based on language and grammar in this passage, he argues for the reality of all of creation and its divinity based on scriptural passages. The reality of all of creation is pulsating with divinity. This vision of organic connection between the Supreme Being and all other created beings invites us to look at the world with wonder and respect. If the entire universe is divine, how can we bring ourselves to Pollute it? Ramanuja's is only one of the many philosophical visions of the universe that has bearing on the ecological enterprise.
<b>ONE TREE IS EQUAL TO TEN SONS: DHARMA AND ARTHA TEXTS AND PRACTICES AS RESOURCES FOR ECOLOGY</b>
The many texts that focus explicitly on dharma, or righteous behavior, were composed in the first few centuries of the Common Era. In addition to these, many sections of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Puranas are also focused on dharma. Other scriptures have encouraged the planting of trees, condemned the destruction of plants and forests, and said that trees are like children.
In this context, a passage from the Matsya Puranam is instructive. The goddess Parvati planted a sapling of the Asoka tree and took good care of it. She watered it, and it grew well. The divine beings and sages came and told her: "O [Goddess]... almost everyone wants children. When people see their children and grandchildren, they feel they have been successful. What do you achieve by creating and rearing trees like sons ... ? Parvati replied: "One who digs a well where there is little water lives in heaven for as many years as there are drops of water in it. One large reservoir of water is worth ten wells. One son is like ten reservoirs and one tree is equal to ten sons (dasa putra samo druma). This is my standard and I will protect the universe to safeguard it ..." [17]
The words of Parvati are relevant today. Trees offer more than aesthetic pleasure, shade, and fruit. They are vital to maintain our ecosystem, our planet, our well-being, and Parvati extols them by saying they are comparable to ten sons. The main Puranas, texts of myth and lore, composed approximately between the fifth and tenth century C.E., have wonderful passages on trees. The Varaha Purana says that one who plants five mango trees does not go to hell, and the Vishnu Dharmottara (3.297.13) claims that one who plants a tree will never fall into hell. [18] The Puranas differ in the number and description of hells in the universe, and one may perhaps take the liberty of interpreting "hell" as symbolic of various levels of suffering, including a steamy planet where we keep poking holes in the ozone layer. The Matsya Purana also describes a celebration for planting trees and calls it the "festival of trees." [19]
Just as the planting of trees was recommended and celebrated, cutting them was condemned by almost all the dharma shastras. Kautilya's Arthashastra (c. fourth century B.C.E.) prescribes varying levels of fines for those who destroy trees, groves, and forests. Kautilya says:
For cutting off the tender sprouts of fruit trees, flower trees or shady trees in the parks near a city, a fine of 6 panas shall be imposed; for cutting off the minor branches of the same trees, 12 panas, and for cutting off the big branches, 24 panas shall be levied. Gutting off the trunks of the same shall be punished [with a fine between 48-96 panas]; and felling of the same shall be punished with [a fine between 200-500 panas].... For similar offenses committed in connection with the trees which mark boundaries, or which are worshipped.., double the above fines shall be levied. [20]
Despite these exhortations, the twentieth century has seen a massive destruction of trees. In the deforestation that has occurred in the Himalayas and in the Narmada basin, there has been a tragic transgression of dharma. Temples are now in the forefront of reforestation movements, urging devotees to plant saplings.
We have looked at some of the narrative, ritual, philosophical, and ethical resources in the Hindu traditions that could help us fashion a respectful and reciprocal relationship with the natural world. We know that the environmental problems facing India are tremendous, but there is also no doubt that religion is a potential resource for raising people's consciousness about these problems. Of course, Hindus, like people of other faiths, have been delightfully selective in the ways in which they have used scripture, practices, and modern technology. Pointing out the scriptural resources does not mean they will be incorporated into an effective worldview. In what follows, I will therefore examine more closely how specific Hindu groups have successfully used particular Hindu beliefs and texts to encourage eco-friendly actions.
<b>"Trees, When Protected, Protect Us" </b>
Many of the stories and narratives in Hindu texts focus on the value of trees and plants. One of the most successful attempts at reforestation in recent years has been through the initiative of the large temple at Tirumala-Tirupati. Billboards with statements like "A tree protects: Let us protect it" or "Trees, when protected, protect us" greet visitors to the sacred pilgrimage town of Tirumala-Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh, South India. The statement is obviously adapted from the Laws of Manu, which say that dharma, or righteousness, when protected, protects us.
In response to the ecological crisis in India, the Venkateswara ("Lord of Venkata Hills," a manifestation of Lord Vishnu) temple at Tirumala-Tirupati began what is called the Vriksha ("tree") Prasada ("favor") scheme. Whenever a pilgrim visits a temple in India, he or she is given a piece of blessed fruit or food to take home. This is called a prasada or "favor" of the deity. Some temples in India are known for their preparation of sweets; the Tirupati temple, for instance, is well known for making and selling laddus, a confection the shape and size of a tennis ball. Although small quantities of prasada in most temples are free, laddus are also sold for a small fee. Approximately 80,000 to 125,000 are sold daily by the temple kitchens. [21] Ingesting prasada is a devotional and mandatory ritual; by eating what is favored and blessed by the deity, divine grace is said to course through one's body. The Tirumala-Tirupati temple, which is located at an elevation of 3,000 feet, was once surrounded by heavy forests . In an effort to honor the beauty of its original setting, the temple has established a large nursery and encourages pilgrims to take home tree saplings as prasada. This temple is the richest shrine in India and carries with it a great deal of dharmic and financial clout, both in India and with the "NRI" ("non-Resident-Indian") temples of Hindus in the diaspora. The wealth of the temple is legendary; in 1996, the reported annual income was upward of U.S. $35.6 million a year. This does not include the gold and silver contributions (around 300 kgs of gold and 1,880 kgs of silver in 1996) or the income from investments. This temple has about 12 major temples under its care, and its initiatives are emulated elsewhere.
The plants sold as prasada are inexpensive; they cost about the equivalent of five cents each. The saplings cultivated are suitable for the soil in various parts of India, and by planting them at home one can have a piece of the sacred place of Tirumala wherever one lives. At the same time, officials at the temple have since 1981 run a "bioaesthetic" program under the name of Sri Venkateswara Vanabhivriddhi. In this program, a devotee donates money for the purchase and planting of trees and plants. The donor is honored by being granted special darshan (viewing of the deity in the inner shrine), accommodations on Tirumala (normally very hard to get), and public acknowledgment of the gift (strategically placed boards list the names of donors and the amount of their donations). This initiative has apparently been successful: over 2,500,000 indigenous trees are said to have been planted on India's hills and plains. [22]
<b>Sacred Trees in Temples </b>
Almost every temple in South India dedicated to the gods Shiva or Vishnu, or to a manifestation of the goddess, has a sthala vriksha, a special tree regarded as sacred to that area. This "official" tree is usually a grand old specimen, surrounded by a path used for circumambulation by pilgrims and devotees. The sthala vriksha symbolizes all trees and reminds pilgrims that all trees are worthy of respect.
The Trees of Badrinath. Badrinath, a major pilgrimage center in the Himalayas, was a victim of overuse. A handful of pilgrims would go to the temple, high in the forested mountains. Located at 3,130 meters, it used to be surrounded by heavy forests. Now, with new roads, over 400,000 pilgrims visit the temple every year. Through the joint efforts of the director of the G. B. Pant Institute of India's Himalayan Environment and Development, the chief priest of the temple, and the residents of the town, thousands of trees were planted in 1993. The Institute supplied the plants; the priest blessed them and urged the pilgrims to plant the trees as a sign of religious devotion. The priest told the story of how the Goddess Ganga (the river) would not come to Earth until Lord Shiva promised to break her fall. Shiva's matted hair contained her and she did not flood the plains. The priest likened the forests to the matted hair of Shiva. The trees are now cut; in summer the Ganga floods the land and landslides destroy th e local villages. The priest urged the pilgrims: "Plant these seedlings for Lord Shiva; you will restore his hair and protect the land." The religious leader who supervised the planting efforts said that "We all have a duty to plant trees: they give shade and inspire meditation." And the village headman remarked, "These are sacred trees that we will do our best to protect."
Many of the plants died during the winter that followed. In response, the G. B. Pant Institute established a nursery at Hanumanchatti to acclimatize seedlings. It also designed special metal covers to prevent snow from breaking the soft tips of the plants. Scientists determined the most promising native trees for planting and preserving biodiversity-Himalayan birch, oak, maple, spruce, and juniper, as well as other species. As a consequence, survival rates improved dramatically, and some plants have reached a height of two meters. [23]
The Paradise of Vrindavana. Vrindavan, the pastoral home of Lord Krishna in the Puranas, is the site of major environmental initiatives. [24] The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is working with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Eco-corps, and Environ, a U.K.-based agency, to plant trees, clean the holy Yamuna River, and stop the dumping of toxic waste in the area. The World Vaisnava Association is actively involved in this project. The "patron saint," as it were, is Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna. Many of the unemployed young people now work with BAL (Balaram Eco Sena, or the Ecological Army of Balaram). Organizers have urged the local population to join the movement, telling them that Lord Balaram "is calling every one of us for Dham Seva (service to the holy land)." [25] As we see in the story of Vrindavana, it is not just trees and groves but also the mighty rivers of India that are considered to be sacred.
<b>Rivers: Physically Polluted Moral Purifiers</b>
By bathing in the great rivers of India, one is said to be morally cleansed of sins and to acquire merit or auspiciousness. A story popular in oral tradition makes the point: A king goes to sleep on the banks of the River Ganga. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he sees some women covered in filth taking a dip in the holy river. They emerge from the river cleansed and then disappear. The king returns on several nights and sees the same thing. Eventually he asks them who they are; they reply that they are the embodiments of the rivers of India. Every day, they tell him, human beings bathe in the rivers and their sins are absolved by that act. The rivers -- embodied as women -- absorb the moral dirt and then come to the Ganga, the grand purifier, to purify themselves. Variations on the story describe where the Ganga goes to get herself purified, although it is generally assumed that she needs no purification. [26]
The generic version of the story distinguishes between two kinds of dirt. Moral dirt or sin, known as papa in Sanskrit, is perceptible as physical dirt in the bodies of the river. The story, therefore, makes a direct connection between morality and physical pollution. In addition to moral purity and physical purity, one may also note that in other Hindu contexts there is a third kind of purity: ritual purity. [27] Bathing in rivers and other bodies of water ritually purifies the pilgrim and his or her clothes. Ritual purity encompasses physical purity, but all that is physically clean is not ritually pure. [28] Even if a person is physically and ritually clean, the mere association with people and garb deemed ritually unclean or impure may be contagious enough to "pollute" him or her.
Given the pollution of India's rivers, the traditional story about the River Ganga and the need of other rivers to purify themselves in its waters is particularly poignant. Rapid industrialization has produced dangerous levels of toxic waste in many of India's rivers. The sacred rivers are often being used as latrines, despite the injunctions in the dharma texts against such a practice. The rivers that are to supposed to purify stand stagnant, reflecting the rancid countenance of adharma, unrighteous behavior.
Veer Bhadra Mishra, a priest and engineer, works to keep his "Mother Ganga" free from more pollution. A mahant (spiritual and administrative head) of the second-largest temple in Varanasi, he educates people on why and how the holy River Ganges should be kept free of bacterial pollution. He notes that corpses, not quite burnt from the funeral pyre, are dropped into the Ganga. "These people," says Mishra bitterly, "are trying to kill my Mother." [29] Mishra avers that there is a saying that Ganges grants us salvation; he added: "this culture will end if the people stop going to the river, and if the culture dies, the tradition dies, and the faith dies." It has been observed that "Mishra's blend of culture tradition and faith with science and technology could be what ultimately saves the Ganges." [30]
Devotion and law have also come together in the saving of the Yamuna River. The Yamuna River is one of the most sacred in India, beloved for its close association with the life of Krishna. When Krishna was born, his father carried him across the river to a place of safety; growing up on the banks of this river, Krishna played with the cowherd girls and stole their clothes while they were bathing in the river. It was on the banks of the Yamuna that he played his magic flute and danced through the moonlit nights. And yet this is today one of the most polluted rivers in India, with tons of industrial dyes, sewage, and other pollutants being dumped into the sacred waters. Gopishwar Nath Chaturvedi, a traditional ritual leader for pilgrims and a resident of Mathura (the birthplace of Lord Krishna), has taken the lead in trying to save the river. Leading a group of pilgrims to the river for a ritual bath in 1985, he saw the water colored red and green from industrial dyes that had been dumped from the nearby mills. Dead fish covered the ground, and birds were picking at their flesh. This scene struck him as a desecration of his mother, the river Yamuna. Since then, Chaturvedi has been working to "save his mother" by filing several "Public Interest Litigation" (PIL) briefs in the Allahabad High Court. The legal counsel in these cases was M. C. Mehta, an attorney who has been at the forefront of cases dealing with the environment. After the court found in Sri Chaturvedi's favor, an Additional District Magistrate was appointed in Mathura to implement the court decision. [31]
One may also reflect briefly on the gender of the rivers. Though there are some exceptions, most of the rivers of India are considered to be female, while mountains are generally male. Rivers are perceived to be nurturing (and sometimes judgmental) mothers, feeding, nourishing, quenching, and when angered flooding the earth. Rivers are also personified as deities; Ganga is sometimes portrayed as a consort of Lord Shiva. In the plains of Tamilnadu, Kaveri Amman (Mother Kaveri) is seen as a devotee and sometimes the consort of Lord Vishnu, and several temples (like Terazhundur, near Kumbakonam) have a striking image of this personified river in the innermost shrine. In the pre-eighth-century Vishnu temple at Tirucherai, a small village near Kumbakonam, the River Kaveri is seen as in a maternal posture with a child on her lap. When the Kaveri is swollen after the early monsoon rains, I have heard the residents of Srirangam (a large temple town on an island in the middle of the river) say she was pregnant. This i s a wonderful celebration of her life-giving potential: the surging river, rich with the monsoon waters, sweeps into the plains, watering the newly planted crops in the Thanjavur delta, and giving birth to the food that will nourish the population. On the feast of patinettam perukku, the eighteenth day in the Tamil month of Adi (July 15-August 14), all those who live on the banks of Kaveri in the Tamilnadu celebrate the river's "pregnancy food cravings." They take a picnic to the banks of the river and eat there; Kaveri Amman is the guest at every picnic. Just as the food cravings of pregnant women are indulged by the family, Kaveri Amman's extended family celebrates her life-giving potential by picnicking with her. In some families, the oldest woman of the family "[leads] the festival and [throws] a handful of colored rices to satisfy the macakkai [food cravings during pregnancy] of the swiftly flowing Kaveri ... as she hastened to the Lord's house." [32] According to oral tradition and local sthala puranams (pamphlets that glorify a sacred place), bathing in the river Kaveri during a specific month of the year (generally held to be the Tamil month of Aippasi, October 15-November 14) washes away one's sins and gives a human being supreme liberation. Thus, according to some Hindu traditions, only Lord Vishnu or Mother Kaveri can give one both nourishment and salvation.
<b>Women and Ecology</b>
The despoliation of rivers in recent years is sometimes compared to the denigration of women at various times in many civilizations. In India, the situation is complicated; there have been powerful women whose names are known as poets, patrons, performers, and philosophers; on the other hand, there have also been some androcentric texts and practices in which the lot of women has not been good. Although one cannot make a general statement that women have been dominated by men in the history of the Hindu tradition and that this corresponds to man's domination of nature (as is seen in many ecofeminist studies), it is hard not to draw a comparison between the rivers and the plight of women who are the target of crimes of greed and power.
At the same time, a number of Indian women have become active around ecological issues. In many parts of India, women are involved in the Chipko movement, which promotes the protection of trees. [33] Women are also involved in communicating the tragedy of ecological disasters, sometimes using such art forms as Bharata Natyam, a traditional Indian dance. The theory and practice of classical dance in India (natya shastra) is seen as a religious activity. In other words, dance--indeed, most performing arts--is a path to salvation within some Hindu traditions. Mallika Sarabhai, a noted dancer and feminist communicator, presents the story of the Chipko (or "tree-hugging") movement in her dances entitled Shakti: The Power of Women.
Sujatha Vijayaraghavan's compositions on ecological themes are choreographed by Rhadha, a well-known dance teacher in Channai, and regularly performed by Suchitra Nitin and Sunanda Narayanan. One of Vijayaraghavan's pieces is particularly striking in this context. The song refers to a myth in which the God Shiva drank poison to save the universe. When the gods and the demons were churning the ocean of milk, using the serpent Vasuki as a rope, the snake spit out poisonous fumes, which overwhelmed the participants. Shiva saved them by consuming the poison and his neck turned blue. He is known as Nilakantha--the blue-throated one. The following song is set in the pattern of Karnatic music in the raga Begada:
O Nilakantha, lord, come here!
You have your work cut out for you;
I understand you consumed poison that day,
but will it do just to sip
a tiny bit of poison in your palm?
We have spread potent poison
all over this earth,
the waters of the sea, the air, everywhere.
O Shiva, be a sport, O Shiva, be a sport
--if you suck this poison out
you too will turn blue all over like Vishnu! [34]
Notice that the references here are not to philosophical texts, but to a story from the Puranas that many Hindus would know. The tone of the song is teasing--a mood adopted in many classical Bharata Natyam songs, in which the young girl flirts with a god, frequently in a romantic situation. Here, Shiva is told that the sipping of a little poison at the time that the cosmic ocean of milk was churned is not enough; he is to suck out the poison from the whole world. The traditional context is preserved, but the message has been modified to draw attention to the poison that we have spread through our earth, water, and air. The mythic context enables the writer to use the strong word "poison," rather than a more muted word like "pollution."
The audience for these ecologically aware dance recitals is diverse. It includes the very government workers, industrialists, and management executives who are responsible, either directly or indirectly, for regulating pollution. Mallika Sarabhai dances in urban and rural areas where she is able to get the attention of multiple audiences. A particular strength of dance as a medium is its subtlety: without being strident, the songs and expressions convey a message that lingers long after the performance is over. To a large extent, I would argue, the performance does the work that theological texts once did: that of reshaping and transforming attitudes and perspectives in the Hindu context.
<b>Sathya Sai Baba and Clean Water Supply</b>
Sathya Sai Baba is one of the most influential gurus in modern India. After he became aware that some parts of Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh, India, had suffered drought conditions for years, the guru announced in 1994 that a "Water Supply Project" would be undertaken by his Sathya Sai Central Trust. He drew the attention of the people and the prime minister to the forty-five-year-old water problem. Sai Baba clearly draws connections between the rivers, religion, and morality. He is quoted as saying: "Rivers are the gift of God. In rivers like the Krishna, the Godavari, a lot of water is allowed to flow into the sea....If there is constraint of finance, I am prepared to meet the cost even if it is 100 or 200 crores [one crore is ten million] for fulfilling this dire need of the Rayalaseema people. The devotees are prepared to make any sacrifice but I have not stretched my hands to anyone." [35]
In attributing the lack of water to the decline of morality, Sai Baba also stated: "Water is getting scarcer every day. What is the reason? Because of the decline of morality among men, water is getting scarce in the world. For human life morality is the life breath. Morality makes humanness blossom. Because morals have been lost, water is getting scarce." [36]
The Water Project covers 20,000 square kilometers and includes 750 villages without water. Mobilizing his devotees and financial resources, Sai Baba has allegedly been able to increase the region's supply of safe drinking water. His devotees regard the project as a gesture of Sai Baba's "love and compassion" --as well as an implicit indictment of the government. Although the ecological impact of Sai Baba's activities can be debated, the power of the teacher is undisputable. Gurus like Sai Baba may ultimately have in their hands the power to change the behavior of devotees.
<b>Limitations and Constraints</b>
Some environmental philosophers have argued that Western religious traditions encourage dominion and control over nature, and thus bear a special burden of responsibility for the tragic state of our natural environment today. Such environmental philosophers sometimes turn to Eastern traditions to seek spiritual resources to help Westerners abjure and embrace eco-friendly policies. But if Eastern traditions, including Hinduism, are so eco-friendly, why do the countries in which these religions have been practiced have such a lamentable record of ecological disasters and rampant industrialization?
The answers are, obviously, complex. Rich as the devotional and dharmic resources have proven in India, Hinduism can be a source of complacency as well. Some Hindu values may impede ecological activism. Moreover, for Hindus, some texts are more effective than others in inspiring action. Articles on environmental philosophy furthermore often assume that there is a direct link between Hindu worldviews and practice. But in fact, there are competing forces that determine behavior within the Hindu tradition. Recent academic scholarship tends to blame Western thought and actions for the devastation of land in Third World countries. J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames have suggested that Western intellectual colonization is responsible for the failures we see in eastern and southern Asia. [37] This view is also held by some Indian authors, like Vandana Shiva, an important figure in India's environmental movement. In evaluating her position, however, Lance Nelson notes that she "focuses almost entirely on the West, and the Third World's experience of colonialism, modernization, modernist developmentalism, and so on, as the root of her country's environmental devastation. She thus tends to ignore the pre-colonial aspects of the problem. ... She also tends to give idealized readings of the environmental implications of certain aspects of Hindu thought." [38]
The responsibility and blame, I believe, has to be spread around. There are passages and texts within the Hindu religious traditions that encourage the acquisition of wealth in certain contexts. One must keep in mind that in the Hindu hierarchy, Bhu-Devi/Prithvi (the Earth Goddess) is of less importance than Sri/Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good fortune. Lakshmi has traditionally had a far greater hold on people's faith and aspirations than the Earth Goddess, and the quest for wealth seems to be more intense than reverence for the earth. In a world where good fortune seems to depend on consumer spending and industrial growth, the Earth Goddess faces some very stiff competition.
There are other strands in Hindu religious traditions that have helped contribute to the current ecological crisis. One is the Hindu conviction that rivers like Ganga are so inherently pure that nothing can pollute them. [39] Others have quite correctly pointed to the notion of sacred space as contributing to pollution. If certain spots like Vrindavana are inherently sacred and ought to be kept clean, one may pollute the "profane earth which is not sacred, which is not attached to Puranic or devotional narratives." [40]
And then there is the focus on "individuality" in some of the Hindu traditions. Anil Agarwal notes: "Hinduism's primary focus lies on the self, one's immediate family, and one's caste niche, to the neglect of the larger society and community....Whereas the private sphere is carefully scripted in Hindu tradition, public life in India borders on and often descends into chaos....A Hindu may go down to the Ganges River to purify himself or herself. The next moment, the same person will flush the toilet and discharge effluent into the very same sacred river...." [41] While this is more true in some Hindu communities than others, the emphasis on the "self" has to be noted, at least in some traditions.
<b>TEXTS ON DHARMA AND TEXTS ON THEOLOGY: BIMORPHIC WORLDVIEWS </b>
Classical Hindu texts in the beginning of the Common Era enumerate the goals--or matters of value--of a human being. These are dharma, artha (wealth, power), kama (sensual pleasure), and moksha (liberation from the circle of life and death). [42] While dharma, wealth, and sensual pleasure are usually seen as this-worldly, moksha is liberation from this world and the repeated rebirths of a soul. There are texts that deal with dharma, wealth, sensual pleasure, and liberation. The multiple Hindu traditions do differ from other world religions in having this variety of goals and the array of texts that accompany them. This means that Hinduism presents adherents with several competing conceptual systems, intersecting but distinct.
The texts that deal with moksha, or liberation, are generally concerned with three issues: the nature of reality, including the supreme being and the human soul; the way to the supreme goal; and the nature of the supreme goal. Generally the nature of reality is called tattva (truth) and corresponds with the term "theology." These texts do not focus much on ethics or righteous behavior in this world; that is the province of dharma texts.
The theological texts or sections that deal with tattva focus on weaning a human being from the earthly pursuit of happiness to what they consider to be the supreme goal of liberation (moksha) from this life. It is important to keep this taxonomy in mind, because theological doctrines that are oriented to liberation do not necessarily trickle down into dharmic or ethical injunctions; in many Hindu traditions, in fact, there is a disjunction between dharma and moksha.
Indeed, J. A. B. van Buitenen says that there is a fundamental opposition between them: "Moksa, 'release,' is release from the entire realm which is governed by dharma.... It stands, therefore, in opposition to dharma.... Moksa however, is the abandonment of the established order, not in favor of anarchy, but in favor of a self-realization which is precluded in the realm of dharma." [43] While Daniel Ingalls disagrees on the sharp nature of the cleavage described by van Buitenen, he does acknowledge that "[a]lways there were some men, and a few of them among India's greatest religious leaders, who insisted on the contradiction between dharma and moksha." [44] Dharma texts promote righteous behavior on Earth, and moksha texts encourage one to be detached from such concerns. A few texts like the Bhagavadgita have tried to bridge dharma and moksha paradigms.
Thus, a theology that emphasizes the world as a body of God, a pervasive pan-Indian belief that Goddess Earth (Prithvi, Vasundhara, Bhu Devi) is also a consort of Vishnu, or the notion that the Mother Goddess (Amba, Durga) is synonymous with Nature (prakriti) does not necessarily translate to eco-friendly behavior. Likewise, renunciation, celibacy, and detachment are laudable virtues for one who seeks liberation from the cycle of life and death, but the texts on dharma say that begetting children is necessary for salvation. These bimorphic worldviews have to be kept in mind if we are to see the relevance for the Hindu traditions of Western viewpoints such as deep ecology. On another front, the dissonance between dharma and tattva/moksha texts also accounts in part for the fact that while some Hindu traditions hold the Goddess to be supreme, women may not necessarily hold a high position in society.
It is quite correct to say that some theological/tattva texts speak of certain kinds of "oneness" of the universe and, in some cases, the oneness of all creation. Some, though not most, tattva texts speak of the absolute identity between the supreme being and the human soul (atman)--an identity that in fact transcends the concept of equality of many distinct souls. This philosophical system of nonduality is discussed by Western philosophers as an important resource in ecology. Eliot Deutsch writes, "... what does it mean to affirm continuity between man and the rest of life? Vedanta would maintain that this means the recognition that fundamentally all life is one, that in essence everything is reality, and that this oneness finds its natural _expression in a reverence for all things." [45] The main thrust of the arguments made by Deutsch, Callicott, and others is to show that Hindu philosophy emphasizes that all creation is ultimately Brahman, or the supreme being, and therefore, if we hurt someone we hurt our selves.
While the "oneness" doctrine and its ecological implications are underscored by Callicott, Lance Nelson has recently argued that the advaita ("non-dualism") conceptual system does not promote eco-friendly behavior. [46] Nelson shows how the doctrine developed by the Hindu philosopher Shankara (c. seventh century) actually devalues nature. He concludes that non-dualistic Vedanta philosophy "is not the kind of non-dualism that those searching for ecologically supportive modes of thought might wish it to be." [47]
The philosophies of Shankara and Ramanuja are relevant to those who seek liberation, but not to those seeking moral rules to govern everyday behavior. Hindu communities and customs are established not on the sense of oneness or equality found in moksha, but on many differences and hierarchies based on gender, caste, age, economic class, and so on. With all their limitations and richness, therefore, we have had to deal with the texts, narratives, and traditions of dharma rather than the rule of moksha for actions leading to prosperity of the earth.
What I am urging is a shift in our perspective from the tattval moksha texts to the resources that have a more direct relevance to worldly behavior. These are the popular practices embodied in the dharmic tradition and in the bhakti/devotional rituals. Dharma texts and narratives are in some ways like law codes in other countries: sometimes followed, sometimes flouted, sometimes ignored, sometimes evaded--and sometimes taken to heart as the right thing to do to maintain social stability. In addition to dharma texts, devotional (bhakti) exercises seem to be the greatest potential resource for ecological activists in India. As we have seen, devotion to Krishna or to Mother Ganga or Yamuna has impelled some people to take action to supply safe drinking water, plant and protect trees, and clean up rivers.
What can we learn from such success stories? Clearly, some Hindu texts, traditions, and rituals can inspire eco-friendly behavior. Narratives like the story of Shiva and Ganga, Parvati and the saplings seem to have more impact than talking about the universe as the body of God. The sanctity of rivers as Mother Goddesses has evoked great passion and inspired the cleaning up of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers; other rivers, one hopes, will be taken care of soon. Gurus and teachers can mobilize awareness and organize action, and these teachers may hold the key to avoiding ecological tragedy. It is when leaders, whether they are from the priestly families like Chaturvedi and Mishra, or gurus, or heads of environmental institutions like Dr. Purohit, team up with temples, scientists, and lawyers that Hindu ecological activists have the greatest potential for success.
Stories, gurus and goddesses, hagiographic literature, and dharmic models will all have to be pressed into service before we can make further progress. Prithvi Devi, or Mother Earth, can protect us if we protect her. If she is abused, she can transform herself from a nourishing mother into a wrathful deity.
One of the goals of the Hindu texts is to encourage human beings to seek enlightenment. Vairamuthu, a composer and poet popular in South India, recently wrote a song on the beauty of a tree. In the last line, he urges us to have the right attitude toward the tree. Every tree, he says, is a Bodhi tree. The Buddha was enlightened under the Bodhi tree: now every tree in the world can enlighten us about the burden on Mother Earth.
Vasudha Narayanan is a professor of religion at the University of Florida.
ENDNOTES
(1.) Some paragraphs in this essay appeared in an earlier paper of mine, "'One Tree is Equal to Ten Sons': Some Hindu Responses to the Problems of Ecology, Population and Consumption," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 65 (2) (June 1997): 291-332.
(2.) Two of the most important books that have highlighted the many answers to this question are Lance Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1998) and Christopher Key Chapple and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds., Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky and Water (Cambridge: Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 2000). For an overview of early Indian literature, see Purushottama Bilimoria, "Environmental Ethics of Indian Religious Traditions," at [less than]http://www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/RELIGION/faculty/bilimoria/paper.ht m[greater than].
(3.) Kurma Purana, 1.27.16-57. Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978), 39.
(4.) J. A. B. van Buitenen, trans., The Mahabharata: The Book of the Forest (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), 586-589, 595-596; emphasis added.
(5.) Richard Lariviere, "Justices and Panditas: Some Ironies in Contemporary Readings of the Hindu Legal Past," Journal of Asian Studies 48 (4) (1989): 757-769.
(6.) Gerald J. Larson, "Conceptual Resources in South Asia for 'Environmental Ethics,"' in Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, ed. J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989), 267-277.
(7.) For a typical hymn of this genre and its connection to environmental ethics, see O. P. Dwivedi, "Dharmic Ecology," in Chapple and Tucker, eds., Hinduism and Ecology. 10-11. Christopher Key Chapple summarizes the literature on ecology and the Vedas in his article "Towards an Indigenous Indian Environmentalism," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God.
(8.) "Ahimsa paramo dharma" ("Nonviolence is the highest form of dharma"), Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 115.1. "Lack of malice to all beings in thought, word, and deed; this is the essence of the eternal faith." Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, quoted in Pandurang Vaman Kane, History of Dharmasastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law) (Poona, India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1958).
(9.) Manu Smriti, 4:56.
(10.) Manu Smriti, 2:17-23; adapted from Georg Buhler, The Laws of Manu (New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964), 32-33.
(11.) See David Kinsley, "Learning the Story of the Land: Reflections on the Liberating Power of Geography and Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God, 225-246.
(12.) See, for instance, Vandana Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India (New Delhi: Kali for Women), 1988, and Kapila Vatsyayan, Prakriti: The Integral Vision, 5 vols. (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts), 1995. For a revisionistic Tantric view, see Rita DasGupta Sherma, "Sacred Immanence: Reflections of Ecofeminism in Hindu Tantra," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God, 89-132.
(13.) K. Seshagiri Rao, "The Five Great Elements (Pancamahabhuta): An Ecological Perspective," in Chapple and Tucker, eds., Hinduism and Ecology, 23-38.
(14.) John Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1974), 124-133.
(15.) S. S. Raghavachar, trans., Vedartha Sangraha of Sri Ramanujacarya (Mysore: Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, 1968), 11, 13.
(16.) Ibid., 14.
(17.) Matsya Puranam, chap. 154, 506-512. Adapted from "A Taluqdar of Oudh," Matsya Puranam, Pt. 2 (Allahabad: Surendra Natha Vasu of Bhuvaneswari Asrama, Bahadurganj, 1917).
(18.) Kane, History of Dharmasastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law), vol. V, Pt. 1, 415-416.
(19.) Ibid., 415.
(20.) Shamasastry, trans., Kautilya's Arthasastra (Mysore: Mysore Printing and Publishing House, 1967), 225.
(21.) Choodie Shivaram, "Court Decree Retires Tirupati Temple's Hereditary Priests," Hinduism Today 18 (6) (1996): 1.
(22.) Pamphlet of T.T. Devasthanam, n.d., available in the information office of T.T. Devasthanam. For general information see [less than]http://www.tirumala.org/vana_schemes_p7htm[greater than].
(23.) Edwin Bernbaum, "Badrinath's Trees: Local Forests Being Restored as Pilgrims Now Plant Trees as Offering to God," Hinduism Today, May 1999, and at [less than]http://www.hinduismtoday.com/1999/5/#gen382[greater than]. G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development is located at Kosi-Kat Armal, Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India.
(24.) For discussions on the involvement of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness with ecological schemes and the philosophical background, see Ranchor Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth (Delhi: Mortial Banarsidass, 1994), and Michael A. Cremo and Mukunda Goswami, Divine Nature: A Spiritual Perspective on the Environmental Crisis (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1995). The ecological efforts in Vrindavana and the textual sources that inspire such activities are also discussed in Bruce M. Sullivan's detailed article "Theology and Ecology at the Birthplace of Krsna," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God, 247-267.
(25.) Swami BV Parivrajak, "Where is 'That' Vrindavan?" (15 January 1999) in VINA (Vaishnava Internet News Agency) at [less than]http://www.vina.org/articles/where_is_that_vrindavan.html[greate r than].
(26.) Professor Diana Eck, Harvard University, personal communication.
(27.) Vasudha Narayanan, "The Two Levels of Auspiciousness in Srivaisnava Ritual and Literature," Journal of Developing Societies 1 (1) (1985): 57.
(28.) Kelly D. Alley, "Idioms of Degeneracy: Assessing Ganga's Purity and Pollution," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God.
(29.) Meenakshi Ganguly, "Veer Bhadra Mishra: Holy War for 'My Mother,'" Time Magazine, 2 August 1999, 81.
(30.) Robert Sanders, "Saving the 'Mother of India': Berkeley Technology May Clean Up Ganges River," [less than]http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1998/1118/india.html[gre ater than].
(31.) I am indebted to David Haberman for this information. Professor Haberman's work on the Yamuna River will be published in his forthcoming book, Yamuna: River of Love in an Age of Pollution.
(32.) V. Sadagopan, personal communication.
(33.) Vandana Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development (London: Zed Books, 1988); J. Baird Callicott, Earth's Insights: A Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1994), 220-221; Bart Gruzalski, "The Chipko Movement: A Gandhian Approach to Ecological Sustainability and Liberation from Economic Colonisation," in Ethical and Political Dilemmas of Modern India, ed. Ninian Smart and Shivesh Thakur (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993), 100-125. See also Mark Shepard, "'Hug the Trees!': Chandi Prasad Bhatt and the Chipko Movement," at [less than]http://www.markshep.com/nonviolence/GT_Chipko.html[greater than]
(34.) Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, "Neelakanthare Varum Ayya," song in Begada raga, unpublished, personal communication.
(35.) Sanathana Sarathi, December 1994, 323; quoted in "The Sathya Sai Water Project: The Acute Need for Water," at [less than]http://members.aol.com/introsai/works/water.htm[greater than].
(36.) "The Sathya Sai Water Project," as above.
(37.) J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames, Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989), 281.
(38.) Nelson, "The Dualism of Non-Dualism," in Purifying the Earthly Body, 82-83, n. 16.
(39.) See the excellent article by Kelly Alley, "Idioms of Degeneracy: Assesing Ganga's Purity and Pollution," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God, 297-330.
(40.) David Kinsley, "Learning the Story of the Land: Reflections on the Liberating Power of Geography and Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition," in Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God, 242.
(41.) Anil Agarwal, "Can Hindu Beliefs and Values Help India Meet its Ecological Crisis?" in Chapple and Tucker, eds., Hinduism and Ecology, 174.
(42.) Kane, History of Dharmasastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law), vol. II, Pt. 1, 2d ed. (Poona, India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1974), 8-9.
(43.) J. A. B. van Buitenen, "Dharma and Moksa," Philosophy East and West: A Journal of Oriental and Comparative Thought 7 (1) (1957): 33-40; 7 (2) (1957): 37.
(44.) Ingalls, "Dharma and Moksa," in ibid., 48.
(45.) Eliot Deutsch, quoted in J. Baird Callicott, Earth's Insights: A Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 49.
(46.) Callicott, Earth's Insights, 50; Nelson, "The Dualism of Non-Dualism."
(47.) Nelson, "The Dualism of Non-Dualism," 65. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Science, Religion, and Ecology Turn Eastward.
USA Today (Magazine); 9/1/2001; STRADA, MICHAEL J.
The tenets of Eastern religion are more compatible with nature than their Western counterparts.
WHAT PASSES for eclecticism in the science-religion dialogue is personified by Carleton University religion professor Ian Barber, 1999 winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Since 1965, he has been decrying that scientists know as little about religion as theologians do about science and prescribing more communication between the two groups as the antidote. He takes pride in observing that, 30 years ago, condescension typified relations between professional science and professional religion, whereas today, both sides are better listeners. Although significant, a richer dialogue between science and religion fails to expand the contemporary paradigm sufficiently. The vision of eclecticism associated with Barber falls short because it suffers from a blind spot--an ethnocentric, culture-bound, decidedly Western one. A plea is made here for a broader, environmentally friendly vision.
Among Western scientists, three common approaches to religion are discernible. The conflict thesis is epitomized by Cambridge University cosmologist Stephen Hawking, whose quest for a "Theory of Everything" considers the assumptions of each worldview as inimical to the other. Harvard University zoologist Stephen Jay Gould speaks for the peaceful coexistence thesis by arguing that, while the two domains cannot be synthesized, they need not come to blows, since neither represents a mortal threat to the other. The third nemesis--transcendence--finds fewer voices singing its praises. It seeks ways to rise above egocentrism to learn something from the other perspective, as advocated by the late Cornell University astronomer Carl Sagan.
Two scientific revolutions traditionally have been credited with transforming humanity's perception of itself: the Copernican revolution (Earth is not at the center of the universe) and the Darwinian revolution (humans obey the same evolutionary rules as other species). Paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey, however, maintains that a new insight needs to be added--the immense size of the universe--because of the redundancy of scale that favors life existing elsewhere.
Today, astronomers measure the size of the universe as 20,000,000,000 light-years across. Current estimates suggest there are about 100,000,000,000 galaxies, each with about 100,000,000,000 stars. Under these circumstances, Sagan estimated that about 10,000,000,000 trillion planets may exist. There are more stars in the visible universe than grains of sand on Earth. Astronomer Frank Drake is similarly optimistic. Using what is known as the Drake Equation, he calculates that 50,000 intelligent civilizations may exist. While nothing like a consensus can be found, few scientists have assertively suggested that life elsewhere is unlikely. If intelligence is sprinkled around the Cosmos, it probably varies greatly. Therefore, why does monotheism's prime mover resemble the human race so snugly? As contextual background, Stephen Jay Gould suggests that "nothing is more unfamiliar or uncongenial to the human mind than thinking correctly about probabilities."
Tangible realities work better than probability as catalysts for human analysis of the chances of life elsewhere. For decades, the common presence of organic molecules--the building blocks of life--in space has been demonstrated by radio telescopes. Science reveals that Mars was once a wet world and now has polar ice caps--significant because, on Earth, water operates as the enabler of life. In 1996, scientists discovered a Mars meteorite containing organic matter. That same year, San Francisco State University astronomer Geoff Marcy won the race to verify the existence of an actual planet (Virginus 70) outside our solar system. Since Marcy's discovery, scores of new planets have been mapped. Some of them possess oxygen, methane, water, and temperatures favoring life as we know it. NASA head Dan Goldin is lobbying for funds to photograph such distant planets.
Only rigorous science can reveal what exists beyond Earth. Yet, if objectivity represents the heart of scientific method, then its soul consists of a certain attitude--skepticism. Science asserts that things are not always what they seem to be, making commonsensical understandings of the physical world inadequate. Sensory perception alone suggests that the sun revolves around the Earth; heavy bodies always fall faster than light ones; and ships made of iron must sink to the bottom of the sea. All of these perceptions, though, have been proven false, because science works via self-correction.
The 19th century witnessed profound self-corrections in both science and religion, stemming from Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. However, Darwin erred badly on some questions. As the product of a thoroughly Western (Christian, Victorian, British) culture, he believed implicitly in an upward, progressive slope to humanity's trajectory in the physical and social realms, including the Inevitability Myth regarding homo sapiens--since we are in fact here, predestination requires that we be here for a higher-order purpose. Thus, Darwin tell prey to exaggerating the potency of his central thesis (winners succeed and losers become extinct in the course of biological improvement). Extinction resulting from species failing competitively fit so easily with Western assumptions of competitive ascendancy that rarely did any scientist question this hypothesis.
Darwin's competitive motif tells only art of the evolutionary tale. Unavailable to him was vital knowledge about the role of mass extinctions. The Alvarez hypothesis from the father and son team of Luis (physicist) and Walter (geologist) Alvarez suggests that the great Crustacean extinction 65,000,000 years ago, ending the reign of dinosaurs, resulted from a large asteroid striking Earth. Mass extinctions are more frequent (every 30,000,000 years), and more decisive in evolutionary consequences, than previously believed. The Alvarez hypothesis made randomness part of the evolutionary dialogue, distinguishing between evolution during normal times (when competition matters) and mass extinctions (when survival depends on good luck, not good genes).
British ex-nun Karen Armstrong's history of monotheism (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) reveals considerable similarity among the three religions. Their historical and doctrinal overlap expresses itself concretely in the frequent head-bumping among them over turf in the city of Jerusalem. Armstrong advances a dynamic theory: Our views of God remain intact only if they continue to meet human needs; otherwise, adaptation inevitably follows. She traces the protracted competition between two distinct ideas of divinity--a transcendental God and a personal God. These two visions of deity are not created equal, though, since monotheism generally has invested its spiritual capital more heavily in the personal God than in its transcendental alter ego--especially when contrasted with Eastern religions. What results is a resilient anthropomorphism endemic to monotheism.
Monotheism's convenient anthropomorphism is multifaceted. The Biblical God exhibits all of the schizoid characteristics of human nature. In addition to compassion, we find no shortage of brutality, as when God commands Abraham to kill his only remaining son, Isaac. In the Hebrew tradition of Yahweh, His portrayal epitomizes the ultimate king, and Isaiah (a member of the royal family) found it natural to depict Yahweh as a king enthroned in His temple, much like the kings of Baal and Mardok. "By attributing their own human feelings and experiences to Yahweh, the prophets were creating a God in their own image," Armstrong maintains. The Hebrew Yahweh is a prophet-meeting God-king who speaks, often practically and harshly, demanding obedient action that is never easy or calming. In Eastern religions, like Hinduism or Buddhism, encounters with a deity typically produce human enlightenment and spiritual peace, but this rarely occurs with the Biblical God.
No paucity of negative consequences have been traced to monotheism's penchant for anthropomorphism. One difficulty with a personal God is the Holocaust Dilemma: If God could not stop the Holocaust, He is impotent and useless. If He could have stopped the Holocaust and didn't, that makes Him even worse. In a classic double bind, the hands-on, personal God gets sullied by the unfathomable Holocaust. Another troubling argument stems from monotheism's historical track record of virulent religious intolerance, which is far less common in Eastern religions. Lastly, a sense of anthropomorphic sexism, inherently part of the Hebrew Yahweh, tends to denigrate ecology, since most of the values associated with modern environmentalism were considered feminine traits in Biblical times.
More than two millennia ago, Plato unequivocally stated that "All mankind, Greeks and non-Greeks alike, believe in the existence of gods." Even the quintessential pragmatist, Italian Renaissance philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli, accepted that, without religion, an orderly society would vanish into smoke. Russian novelist Feodor Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor mused that, "If there's no God, everything is permitted." Indeed, throughout human history, the institution of religion has accompanied all social development. From animism to polytheism to monotheism, a resilient spiritual dimension has pervaded human ritual. Humans apparently need spirituality.
Anthropologists suggest that religion persists because it has value to us, and such value can be either intrinsic, instrumental, or a combination thereof. Religion's staying power is illustrated poignantly in an Auschwitz Holocaust story related in journalist Bill Moyers' study on Genesis. Jews in this Nazi death camp held a mock heating, placing God on trial for the Holocaust, asking the question, "Where was God?" Discovering no exonerating evidence, these Jews found God guilty and sentenced Him to death. Yet, later that same day, what did the same people do? They gathered for evening prayer. The struggle to understand continues because humans need religious ritual, even when mired in the despair of the Holocaust. An equally moving Holocaust story is told by survivor/author Elie Weisel. When he and the other remaining Jews were liberated from Buchenwald in the spring of 1945, what they did first was not to request water, food, or clothing, but to join together in circles, praying as one.
Part of religion's resilience is also attributable to the potency of myth. The Bible works as great literature because of dense, gripping stories that skim across millennia to engross culturally distinct Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and because Biblical stories feature universal themes. No scholar has depicted the Deity through the eyes of as many different cultures as author Joseph Campbell. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he tells readers that myth, "as a sacred narrative of the world and how we came to be in it," presents a limited range of responses to the mysteries of life. For example, every society has an "origin myth" as its core story. "From behind a thousand faces, the single hero emerges, archetype of all myth," Campbell writes. Mythology serves as an embodiment of subjective troth, and his The Power of Myth demonstrates how myth links us to our past, and how religion and myth constitute different patches of the same spiritual quilt. Above all, Campbell hones in on this insight: Myth should not be considered anachronistic, because repetitive themes continue to affect how we visualize, and live out, life on Earth.
As comparative religionist Huston Smith argues, religion's challenge lies in discovering how to pluck its spiritual bounty without swallowing its considerable excesses, such as the materialistic preoccupations common to church bureaucracies. Few scholars can match Smith's insights, based not only on intellectual erudition, but on wide experience involving diverse religious practices. He sagely observes that, viewed panoramically, monotheism has functioned as both cause and effect of the scientific paradigm responsible for profound changes in the existence of humans and other species in our world. Humans' increased ability to comprehend the world scientifically has produced myriad benefits equated with the notion of competitive progress, but also significant liabilities, among them a proclivity for tunnel vision.
The volatile 1960s unleashed strong criticism of monotheism's contribution to environmental denigration. The classic piece setting the parameters of the dialogue was written by University of California medieval studies professor Lynn White, who took dead aim at Christianity as the culprit most responsible for the environmental crisis. He brands Christianity as the most anthropocentric religion. According to White, Christianity's linear sense of time (distinct beginnings and ends), its creation story (with humans made in God's image), and its placing of humans in a special position over the rest of nature render it inimical to ecological integrity. He does, nevertheless, identify St. Francis of Assisi as an unsung Church hero for advocating the equality of all creatures, including a doctrine tantamount to spiritual leprosy for Church fathers--the concept of an animal soul.
Other factors from Biblical times help to explain monotheism's blank stare regarding ecological consciousness. The first concerns how time is conceived. In ancient Hindu culture, time was considered cyclical, "a wheel of righteousness," as in nature's cycle of sunrise and sunset. This image of nature's cyclical clock provided no reason to consider humanity as anything but an integral part of the natural ecology. In the ninth century B.C., however, a shift took place among the Hebrews that continues to resonate today. Jews changed from the traditional cyclical metaphor to a linear metaphor of time, the etiology of which was inspired by human experience, not nature. Christians soon borrowed this concept, and Western imagery concerning time was fundamentally altered. Linear time encourages hierarchical thinking, assisting the myth that humanity stands not only apart from, but also above nature.
One other ancient shift, occurring shortly thereafter, likewise mitigated against a green conscience for Christianity. When Christ's followers first distinguished themselves from pagans, the word "pagan" meant "country-dweller," and the pagans' otherness was bound up with being a country bumpkin. Anything connoting rural life seemed alien to the early Christians, who lived in cities of the Roman Empire such as Antioch and Alexandria. Christianity had a decidedly urban style, and the stiffest opposition Christian proselytizers would encounter for more than a millennium was from the "tenacious nature religions of the peasantry," as Alan Watts wrote in Nature, Man, and Woman. Uniquely Christian as well is the way it bases its legitimacy on miracles bending the laws of nature to the will of God. While some other religions may sprinkle in miraculous events, their role is the crux of the matter only with Christianity.
Monotheism's condescending attitude toward nature appears even more hostile when contrasted with the environmentally friendly religions of the East. Western maximalism (bigger is better) contrasts sharply with Eastern minimalism (small is beautiful). Buddhism, for instance, is less didactic and more inferential than monotheism's big three religions. Buddha taught that the processes of nature are shaped by the morals of humans. Therefore, ecological problems can be alleviated by living simpler, gentler, more spiritual lives. Pollution in the environment is caused by the pollution of human hearts. Material excess often leads people away from living the existence of moderation practiced by the Buddha. Compassion and loving kindness for all living things are fundamental Buddhist values concerning nature.
Taoism can be traced back to the teachings of Lao-Tse (604-531 B.C.). It started out as a philosophy and was adopted as a state religion in 440 A.D., at which time Lao-Tse became venerated as a deity. Lao-Tse taught that Tao is the first cause of the universe and that our goal is to become one with the Tao. People must develop virtue through compassion, moderation, and humility. Taoism's beneficence toward nature matches Buddhism's. Meaning "The Way," Taoism represents a depersonalized ethic demonstrating none of the anthropomorphism of a creator God.
In Taoism, nature is a living whole into which humanity, like everything else, must fit: "According to the Tao, there is a moral imperative to be virtuous toward nature." Taoism is based partly on the dialectical interplay of Tao's key cosmic principles--yin (dark side) and yang (light side)--which accounts for the rhythm found in the natural world. There can exist no unbridgeable gulf between humanity and nature, because absolutely everything is connected. The doctrine of Wu Wei advocates "acting in accord with nature, that is, in harmony with the Tao." All beings are embraced by Taoism's egalitarian ethic.
As mentioned earlier, Hinduism's sense of time remains cyclical, not linear. This contributes to Hinduism's organic view of nature, with humanity of it, in it, but not above it. Symbolic of Hinduism's cyclical mind-set is the doctrine of reincarnation of the soul. Reincarnation provides the vehicle for eventual perfection of the spirit and ultimate unity with the deity, or godhead. The main scriptures (the "Veda," the "Upanishad," and the "Bhagavad-Gita") teach tolerance and respect for life. The ancient Hindu religion continues to shape life in India and other Hindu cultures.
Eastern insights
We must look to these Eastern religions for insights, because they enable more openminded approaches to the dilemmas of existence--especially environmental ones. One difficulty with looking East for enlightenment, though, is that understanding Eastern theologies is not easy. The extensive writings of Watts represents a resource noteworthy for making Eastern inscrutability accessible to the Western mind. Employing prose that stands up and performs poetically, he allows us to know something of Zen Buddhism, for example, without devoting a lifetime to unraveling its subtle paradoxes. While Buddhism and Christianity may differ greatly in form, they share many basic principles.
A similarly engaging contemporary meeting of Eastern and Western minds can be found in The Monk and the Philosopher, a tete-a-tete on metaphysics, morality, and meaning between French rationalist philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and his son, Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk who works as a translator for the Dalai Lama. As the two men meet in an inn overlooking Katmandu, Western modes of thought take in Eastern modes of spiritual experience. The bond between father and son helps to bridge the gap, as they straggle to find commonality between Western theology and Buddhism concerning humanity's search for meaning.
One Eastern philosophy barely mentioned yet is Confucianism. In Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West, Washington Post Tokyo bureau chief Thomas Reid explains the relevance of history to contemporary Asia. Confucian moral values still live throughout the East (not only China) and undergird responsible social behavior, ecological sensitivity, and the work ethic common to Asian societies. Even after 2,500 years, Confucius' timeless values of respect for elders, rising above sociopolitical hardships, group responsibility, and personal integrity, matter greatly. Reid emphasizes how similar are the moral statements shared by the ancient Greeks, Confucianism, and Christianity.
Hinduism and Taoism are the other Eastern religions vital for broadening the Western perspective. Since Western logic is vulnerable to the fallacy of single cause, the Occidental mind always wants to single out one factor causing a given result to occur. Westerners want to know which Eastern religion (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism) is the real answer to their problems. That they are all heuristic for the task strikes most Westerners as evading the question.
One of the most broad-minded Western scientists today is biologist Edward Wilson, who condemns the tunnel vision characteristic of those who stay within the comfortable boundaries of single academic disciplines. His highly interdisciplinary approach remains praiseworthy, but his faith in science may be excessive. Wilson pays homage to monotheism's Biblical tradition as the wellspring of Western science, and he laments Oriental philosophy having missed the scientific boat: "It abandoned the idea of a supreme being with personal and creative properties. No rational author of Nature existed in their universe; consequently, the objects they meticulously described did not follow universal principles." This condescending attitude belies the blind spot of even the most eclectic Western scientists, such as Wilson. Maybe he has it backwards; maybe it is really the West that has paid too high a price for its strident scientism.
Similarly trained in Western science, physician Andrew Weil nevertheless manages to go beyond those intellectual parameters, advancing an intellectual paradigm that he calls "integrative." Weil traces how fundamental differences between Eastern and Western philosophy manifest themselves in the science (and art) of medicine. Owing to a proscription against cutting up cadavers, for thousands of years Chinese medicine focused on function (immunity, potency, energy) and developed means--like herbalism and acupuncture--to help the body's natural healing properties do their work. Western medicine concentrated on structure (circulatory system, liver, skeleton) and developed means, like surgery, to remove infected tonsils or cancerous tumors. Both approaches offer benefits, and Weil's eclecticism enables him to segue between Oriental and Occidental techniques in ways that unidimensional healers of either stripe cannot.
Weil's eclecticism in medicine understands the luminous insight derived from ecological studies in recent decades--everything is linked in an organic whole. Such holism needs to saturate the triptych where religion, science, and ecology converge if what passes for philosophical eclecticism is to grow beyond its Western blind spot. Such expansion, one might argue, will blossom from Western consciousness grounding itself in Eastern religions since they embrace nature as a living whole wherein everything must fit. Despite failing the test for a green conscience, monotheism's track record for flexibly adapting to new human needs is impressive, which provides reason for hope. Today, humanity's changing needs begin with valuing nature as a sacred trust.
Michael J. Strada is professor of political science, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and West Liberty (W. Va.) State College.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Society for the Advancement of Education<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Namastheâ¦â¦â¦
Message from Bharat-Heritage on 20.04.2005
Some Scientific Aspects of Yagna Environmental Effects
There are two basic energy systems in the physical world: heat and sound. In performing yagna, these two energies, namely, the heat from yagnaâs fire and the sound of the chanting of the Gayatri and other Vedic Mantras, are blended together to achieve the desired physical, psychological and spiritual benefits.
The fumigation, vaporization and subtlisation of specific substances in the yagna-fire constitute a verifiable scientific method of sublimation of matter and expansion of its colloidal state, generates ions and energy with positive effects in the surrounding atmosphere through the specific sonic waves of the mantras.
Fumigating Substances Used in Yagna:
In order to get an idea of the various chemical changes that take place during the performance of yagna, it is essential to know the various substances used and offered in the yagna-fire. These can be broadly classified into two types: wood (samidhá), and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri)[1, 2].
Wood: Wood has to be dry and free from dust, insects and worms. Wood is cut into small pieces of varying sizes called samidhás depending upon the size of the altar or pit (kunda) in which the yagna is to be performed. Santalum Album (sandalwood), Aquilana Malaccensis and Valeriana Wallchii (borax wood or agar and tagar), Cedrys Libani (cedar or deodar), Mangifera Indica (mango), Butea Frondosa (flame of the forest or palásha), Aegle Marmelos (bengal quince or bilva), Ficus Religiosa (the holy fig or pipal), Ficus Bengalensis (banyan or bargad), Proposis Spicigera (sponge tree or Shami), Ficus Glomerata (wild fig or gular) are considered appropriate for this purpose.
The havisya or havan sámagri should be prepared with a proper combination of the following. Odoriferous Substances: These are usually saffron, musk, agar, tagar, sandalwood powder, cardamom, nutmeg, javitri and camphor; Substances with Healing properties: clarified butter (ghee), milk, fruits, lin seeds, and cereals like wheat, rice, barley, various millet, gram, peas, etc; Sweet Substances: sugar, dried dates, resin, honey, etc; Medicinal Herbs: These are used as per the specific requirements. Some commonly used herbs are Tinospora cordifolia (tinospora/guduchi or giloya), Bacopa Monieri (bacopa or bráhmi), Convolvulus Pluricaulis (shankh pushpi), Mesua Ferrea (cobraâs saffron or nágkesar), Glycyrrhiza Glabra Bois (liquoric root or mulhati), Red Sandalwood, Terminalia Bellirica (beddanut or bahedá), Dry Ginger, and Terminalia Chebula (chebulic myrobalans or harada). Different combinations of these and/or other special herbs are used for the treatment of specific diseases through yagna-therapy.
Products of Combustion:
The interpretation of the process of combustion in a yagna on a scientific basis is rather difficult due to the following reasons: (i) The properties of substances, which are used here vary; (ii) The conditions under which combustion takes place inside the yagna-fire are very sensitive to the shape of the kunda and the type, quantity and arrangement of wood etc; (iii) the variation in the temperature and thermodynamic effects is quite significant from the top to the bottom of the kunda and it also depends upon the shape and size of the latter. The products of combustion depend on the factors like ââ (a) The nature of substances used and their proportions; (b) Temperature attained; © Controlled supply of air and (d) Interaction amongst the various products formed.
Distillation of Wood:
Besides the complete combustion of the cellulose material of wood, it is also subjected to distillation. This happens due to the way samidhás are arranged in the kunda (also called yagna kunda or havan kunda)2 and the levels of temperature and air supply which prevail in it.
Vaporization of Odorous Substances:
The temperature attained by the kunda varies between 250°C and 600°C, while in the actual flames it can rise as high as 1200°C to 1300°C. At their boiling points, the volatile constituents vaporize and their gaseous forms get diffused. Also, when cellulose and other carbohydrates undergo combustion, steam is formed in copious quantities by the combination of the hydrogen of the decomposed organic molecules with the oxygen. This is how the substances like thymol, eugenol, pinene, terpinol etc., are dispersed to in the surroundings and the aroma of a yagna can be smelt at a considerable distance.
In addition to steam, smoke is emitted in large quantities and solid particles existing in a decomposed state offer sufficient scope for its diffusion. Thus smoke also functions as a colloidal vehicle for the spreading of volatile aromatic substances. This process depends on the inside and surrounding temperature and on the direction of the wind.
Combustion of Fatty Substances:
The fatty substances used in yagna are mainly ghee and other fatty substances of vegetable origin. Ghee helps in rapid combustion of cellulose of wood and keeps the fire alight. All fatty substances used are combinations of fatty acids, which volatilize easily. The combustion of glycerol portion gives acetone bodies, pyruvic aldehyde and glyoxal etc. The hydrocarbons produced in the reactions again undergo slow combustion and as a result methyl and ethyl alcohols, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, formic acid and acetic acids are formed.
Photochemical Process:
The vaporized products diffused in the atmosphere are also subjected to photochemical reactions in the sunlight. They undergo photochemical decomposition, oxidation and reduction reactions. To some extent even CO2 is also reduced to formaldehyde as follows:
CO2 + H2O + 112,000 cal = HCHO + O2
From an environmental angle, the reduction of CO2caused by yagna as explained above and the liberation of oxygen cannot be overemphasized. Similar kinds of other useful reactions take place in the presence of specific radiations from the sunrays. This may be perhaps the reason it has been recommended that yagna should be performed during sunlight.
Inverted Pyramid Shaped Yagna Kunda:
The word âpyramidâ means âthe fire in the middleâ. This meaning is closely associated with the inexplicable energies emanating from its center and shape. The pyramid shape is widely known to generate and store a special energy field, which possesses bacteriostatic properties. The inverted pyramid shape of the agni kunda allows controlled generation and multidirectional dissipation of energy. It acts as a generator of unusual energy fields and spreads them in its surrounding atmosphere. Apart from the pyramid shape, some other special symmetric geometrical designs are also used according to the kind of energy fields and the cosmic currents one wishes to generate by the yagna. Specific types of kundas are recommended for different kinds of yagnas. The shapes and properties of the common agnihotra pot and some yagna kundas are illustrated in reference no. 3 cited below.
Chanting of Sanskrit Mantras:
The power of sound vibrations has since long been acknowledged in the field of science. With substantial amplification these vibrations can penetrate the energy spheres at the subtle and cosmic levels. All the alphabets of the Sanskrit language are endowed with special impulsive phonetics, which send out harmonious wave patterns when pronounced.
With the advent of spectrographic techniques and instruments like the Multichannel Tonograph and Retrometer, it has now become possible to study the sound effects of mantras in relation to yagna. The patterns of chanting of the mantras are so designed that they latently contain the essence of the music or the quintessential sound of the torrent of life-sustaining energies emanating from the cosmic energy center of the corresponding mantras. (The cosmic energy center associated with the Gayatri Mantra is the Sun). The chanting of these mantras produces vibrations, which are soothing to human mind and all plant and animal life. These vibrations also help in spreading specific energy waves in the surrounding atmosphere while the oblations are offered[3-5].
Purification of Environment by Yagna:
The huge industrial complexes, rapid urbanization, deforestation, air and water pollution, ozone-depletion, radioactive wastes etc., have disturbed and destabilized the natural harmony of human, animal and plant life cycles. The ecological imbalance caused by these criminal acts of the so called âcivilized manâ has resulted in a disastrous threat, not only to the human survival but, also to life as a whole on our planet.
Experimental studies show that the incidences of physical ailments, sickness and/or diseases become less in the houses where the yagna or agnihotra[3] is regularly performed because it creates a pure, hygienic, nutritional and healing atmosphere. It renews the brain cells, revitalizes the skin, purifies the blood and prevents growth of pathogenic bacteria. Agnihotra is basically a healing process. âHeal the atmosphere and the healed atmosphere will heal youâ, says Dr. Madhukar Gaikwad[6].
The medicinal fumes emanating from the process of agnihotra have been observed by researchers in the field of microbiology to be clearly bacteriostatic in nature, which eradicate bacteria and micro-organisms, the root causes of illness and diseases. This must be the reason why the incidence of physical ailments, sickness and diseases becomes less in the households where agnihotra is regularly performed.
Purification of environment through the constituent electrically charged particles of the substances fumigated in yagna is an obvious byproduct of this process. The observations of some distinguished scientists (as reported in the reference nos. [2-5]) are noteworthy in this regard. According to Dr. Hafkine, the smoke produced by burning the mixture of ghee and sugar kills the germs of certain diseases; inhaling it from some distance induces secretion from certain glands related to the windpipe that fill our heart and mind with relaxation. âBurning sugar and its smoke has a significant effect in purifying the atmosphere. It kills the germs of T.B., measles, smallpox and cow-poxâ â remarks Prof. Tilward. A Russian Scientist named Dr. Shirowich mentions that â âif cowâs ghee is put into the fire, its smoke will lessen the effect of atomic radiation to a great extentâ. He also related this process to yagna.
Particularly effective results with respect to the elimination or reduction in radiation were achieved through yagnaâs fire and ash. These observations are made by Dr. L. Matela Anatoninhowska of Poland after using P.S.I. techniques[2].
Even without going into detailed chemical bacteriology, it appears highly probable that performing yagna leads to the purification of air in view of the following (as reported in the reference nos. [2, 5]):
Removal of Foul Odors:
As already stated, under steam volatilization, the various volatile oils get diffused in the surrounding atmosphere along with steam and smoke. Since these oils have distinctly good smells, the foul odors are automatically neutralized. This aroma can be effortlessly smelt in the surroundings when yagna is performed. It is due to the diffusion of substanceslike thynol, eugenol, piene, terpinol and oils of sandalwood, camphor and clove.
Removal of Bacteria:
As stated under products of combustion, the partial oxidation of hydrocarbons and decomposition of complex organic substances produce formaldehyde, which is a powerful antiseptic. It is also interesting to note that the germicidal action of formaldehyde is effective only in the presence of water vapor, which is also produced in large quantities in yagna. The use of formaldehyde sprays for disinfecting of walls, ceilings etc., is common and such an effect is automatically produced when yagna is performed. The oxidation of hydrocarbons produces formic acid and acetic acid, both of which are good disinfectants. Use of formic acid for preservation of fruits and that of acetic acid in preserving vinegar is a common practice.
The antiseptic and antibiotic effects of the smoke of yagna have also been examined by conducting laboratory experiments on rabbits and mice and it has been established that smoke emitted in yagna is a powerful antibiotic. Agnihotra ash is also found to purify and cleanse the water, making it fit for drinking[6].
Removal of Insects:
There are non-bacterial parasites like flies, ringworm, dice fleas etc., which are normally difficult to deal with since bacteriocides which can be used against them are also harmful to other living organisms. Such insects are generally immune to ordinary reagents. However they either get killed or are driven away when they come in contact with volatile oils like camphor, which are diffused in the environment during the performance of yagna.
Effects on Plants and Vegetation:
The disinfection of air is not only useful to animal life but it also helps plant life. The aromatic substances, which get diffused in the air through Agnihotra offer protection to plant life against harmful organisms. This ensures a healthy plant growth. Agnihotraâs atmosphere and ash can be used as adjuvants in the natural farming methods â also known as the agnihotra farming methods. It is a holistic concept of growing plants in pure and healthy atmosphere and balancing the ecological cycles by performing agnihotra (yagna) in the middle of the farm and using the yagna-ash as a fertilizer. Several experiments have been conducted in the East European countries on the use of yagna ash in soil treatment. These, too, have shown positive effects and potential applications in Agriculture[7].
Role of CO2 Generated in Yagna:
The wood and fossil burning in atmosphere is always controversial because of the generation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide and a consequent increase in the âgreen houseâ effect. On this basis it can be argued that yagna also produces CO and CO2. It should be noted here that the way in which the samidhás are burnt in yagna is a process of slow combustion. It is not comparable to the burning of coal in the factories or household fire or running of steam engines etc, where oxygen is sucked in large quantities and CO2 is emitted likewise. In the slow combustion process that takes place in yagna, a small quantity of O2 is utilized and CO2 is emitted in a quantity that poses no threat to the environment. In fact whatever CO2 is generatedis readily absorbed by the surrounding plant life and vegetation and thus the CO2 cycle is strengthened[5].
Another important fact to be noted is that CO2 produced in yagna is not free CO2. It is mixed with the vapors of other aromatic oils and antiseptic products. It acts as a vehicle in transporting such products to the surroundings.
The use of CO2 as a cerebral stimulant to assist patients suffering from lack of ventilation is a common practice in the medical field. Its use in controlling and curing many mental disorders is also known to medical science. Small amounts of CO2 inhaled by the persons performing yagna act as a stimulant for inhaling more and more aromatic fumes which helps in curing mental disorders.
Results of Some Recent Experiments:
A group of scientists led by Dr. Manoj Garg, Director, Environmental and Technical Consultants in association with the experts from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board had conducted experiments during the Ashwamedha Yagna at Gorakhpur, U.P. These experiments were set up at about 20 meters east of the Yagnashala. The samples of 100 ml each of water and air collected from the surroundings were analyzed, using high volume Envirotech APM-45 and other sensitive instruments for testing water and air pollution. A summary of their results as reported in Akhand Jyoti, Sept. â97 p.22, (ref no. [1]), showed an average reduction by 75% in the level of Sulphur Dioxide and about 10% in Nitrus Oxide; and Over 70% reduction in bacteria in water samples in the surrounding area. Several medicinal minerals were present in the ash (bhasma) of yagna. The average level of carbon monoxide was found reduced from 117 p.p.m. to 0 in some of the experiments conducted on domestic yagnas at IIT Bombay (unpublished results); There are some more ongoing experiments on recording different gas levels and respirable particles are currently ongoing, being conducted by some visiting scientists at Brahm Varchas Research Center of Gayatri Teerth, Shantikunj, Hardwar.
Yagna, thus, appears to be a promising scientific, cost effective, eco-friendly method to counter the ever-increasing deadly pollution of the environment and purify and enrich the environment with healthy ingredients. May the environmental scientists and the experts of the Vedic Science of Yagna come together to enable its global expansion. The Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya at Shantikunj, Hardwar is venturing to be a pacesetter in this regard.
Notes:
Sublimation (in chemistry): The process by which a solid is converted, on heating directly, into a gas, without going through a liquid state. Only a small number of solids sublime; e.g. carbon dioxide, CO2 and Iodine, I2. Some solids that do melt to form a liquid still evaporate quite rapidly if kept below their melting-points; e.g. Iodine and sulphur. This is also sublimation, and can be used as a method of purification.
Kunda (Agni-Kunda or yagna-kunda): The pit or small metallic vessel of a special design for yagnágni.
Agnihotra (Havans or homam): Small-scale yagna that could be performed every-day at home.
REFERENCES:
Selected Articles from Akhand Jyoti (Aug. â84, July & Aug. â92, March â93, Sept. â97). Publisher, Akhand Jyoti Sansthan, Mathura.
Fumigating Substances used in Yagna ââ article published in the proceedings of the Ashwamedha Yagna held in Montreal, Canada (26 to 28 July, 1996).
âThe Integral Science of Yagnaâ. Book Published in 1998 by Yug Nirman Yojna, Mathura.
Yagnaâs Scientific Interpretation â article published in the proceedings of Ashwamedha Yagna held in Montreal, Canada (26 to 28 July, 1996).
âDoes Yagna Add to the Prevalent Pollution?â ââ article published in the proceedings of Ashwamedha Yagna held in Montreal, Canada (26 to 28 July, 1996).
âAgnihotra: The Message of Timeâ â Paper by Dr. Madhukar P. Gaikwad. (Presented in the National Symposium on Unification of Modern and Ancient Sciences, held in Andheri, Mumbai on April 30, 1995).
Personal Communication with Dr. Vasant Rao Paranjape ( www.theromoline.com)
05-24-2005, 10:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2005, 10:14 PM by Shambhu.)
The advocacy of vegetarianism is, to me, the greatest eco-friendly aspect of hinduism. Go to any vegetarian (or vegan) site on the www and see why adopting vegetarianism is the best thing the masses can do for the Earth.
Einstein converted to vegeterianism, and used to say that everyone should. Edison was veg.
These (ie the ones you will find on googling for veg sites-like efficiency of utilization of earth's resources, health reasons, ethical reasons etc) are great arguments to give to a non. I used to be one (4 years ago).
<b>New bird species found, and it's a doozy</b>
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NEW DELHI - A striking multicolored bird has been discovered in Indiaâs remote northeast, making it the first ornithological find in the country in more than half a century, experts said on Tuesday.
The Bugun Liocichla, scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Indiaâs hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.
The bird -- with olive and golden-yellow plumage, a black cap and flame-tipped wings -- is 8 inches long and was named after the Bugun tribespeople who live on the sanctuaryâs periphery.
<b>Sadhus come to the rescue of dolphins</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sadhus do not merely deliver sermons or remain lost in meditation. In Bijnor some of them have been saving dolphins too.
The World Wildlife Fund has turned to sadhus in its efforts to conserve the Platanista Gangeticaor Ganga river dolphin, an endangered species under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, in a 165 km stretch of the Upper Ganga between Bijnor and Narora.
The sadhus quote a reference to the dolphin in Valmiki's Ramayan, where it is called the 'cow of the Ganga'. Quoting chapter and verse, they cite a line from the Bal Khand, the first chapter of the epic, whose English translation would run: "The Ganga, when it landed on earth, brought with it turtles and crocodiles and dolphins."
Said sadhu Akhilesh Kumar, a Vedic Scholar from Karnvas,<b> "For us, dolphins are the cows of the Ganga. We need to protect them." Sadhu Radheyshyam from the Brighu Rishi Ashram in Beria added: "We want people to come forward and help conserve the Puspukata (as the dolphin is called in Sanskrit).</b>
Roping in the sadhus was the brainchild of Sandeep Behra, Senior Coordinator, World Wildlife Fund - India. At a large gathering of sadhus at Narora in 2000, Behra approached some of the prominent ones among them, and convinced them to join his efforts towards saving the dolphin. Said Behra: "As elsewhere, dolphins in the Ganga are threatened by growing river pollution, fishing and poor river basin management."
<b>The results have been heartening. In 1993-94, the number of the dolphins in this stretch was just 20. In 2001, when the sadhus ventured into the conservation, the figure of dolphins in the stretch was somewhere between 25 and 30. At latest count it was 45. Of these 18 are calves, which will grow to full size in coming years, which is most encouraging."</b>
The sadhus, with the help of the WWF, have been holding meetings at village and taluka levels. âRefeering to the dolphin as 'cow of the river' has aroused the religious sentiments of the locals,â said a senior WWF coordinator.
The government, on its part has no major plans for the conservation of dolphins. Said D Basu, surveyor in the forest department: "The UP Government is trying to bring the Bijnor to Narora stretch under the National Wetland Programme."
The are around 600 dolphins across all of UP.
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<b>Manjari Mishra writes in Times of India</b>
The department will launch the Tulsi plantation drive from January 2009. The public-private joint venture is expected to provide an eco-protection cover to sensitive Taj trapezium zone surrounding the 17th century monument as well as the other two world heritage monuments like the Agra Fort and Aitma-ud-Daula tomb. <b>Tulsi was (Occinum sanctum) chosen for its anti-pollutant, anti-oxidation and air-purifying properties, making it an ideal ornamental shrub in the vicinity of the Taj.</b>
The job is to sensitize the masses about pollution, and ensure maximum participation and follow up, he said. Meanwhile, forest department will undertake greening the Taj Forest Block Area (TFBA). Initially, the task involves plating 10,000 saplings alongside the 650 broad leaved environment friendly saplings (peepal, neem, pakar, goolar, kadamb and bargad) planted this year, said DFO, Agra division, N K Janu.
The drive, said the DFO, needs much caution and care as Tulsi is a very sensitive plant and liable to wilt under winter frost. The department will launch the drive by January-end to ensure that survival of Tulsi is satisfactory.
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