The East is green
LAXMI MALL SINGHVI
outlines the cultural foundation for environmentally
friendly
values laid down over many centuries in India
Long before ecology became the refrain of the global song at Stockholm and
Rio, the ancient Indic heritage had already provided a spacious spiritual
home for the environmental ethos. In the West, the term 'ecology' was
coined only in the latter half of the 19th century from the Greek word
Oikos, meaning 'home'. But India has, throughout trackless
centuries, provided an ample expanse of friendly space for an open and
ongoing discourse of ideas. The Jain, Vedic and Buddhist traditions
established the principles of ecological harmony centuries ago - not
because the world was perceived as heading for an imminent environmental
disaster or destruction, nor because of any immediate utilitarian
exigency, but through its quest for spiritual and physical symbiosis,
synthesized in a system of ethical awareness and moral responsibility.
The ancient sacred literature of the Vedas enshrines a holistic and poetic
cosmic vision. They represent the oldest, the most carefully nurtured, the
most elaborately systematized and the most lovingly preserved oral
tradition in the annals of the world. Unique in their perspective of time
and space, their evocative poetry is a joyous and spontaneous affirmation
of life and nature.
The Vedic Hymn to the Earth, the Prithvi Sukta in Atharva
Veda, is unquestionably the oldest and the most evocative
environmental invocation. In it, the Vedic seer solemnly declares the
enduring filial allegiance of humankind to Mother Earth: 'Mata Bhumih
Putroham Prithivyah: Earth is my mother, I am her son.' Mother Earth
is celebrated for all her natural bounties and particularly for her gifts
of herbs and vegetation. Her blessings are sought for prosperity in all
endeavours and fulfilment of all righteous aspirations. A covenant is made
that humankind shall secure the Earth against all environmental trespass
and shall never let her be oppressed. A soul-stirring prayer is sung in
one of the hymns for the preservation and conservation of hills, snow-clad
mountains, and all brown, black and red earth, unhurt, unsmitten,
unwounded, unbroken and well defended by Indra.
The Hymn says, in prayerful thanksgiving and homage:
Earth in which lie the sea, the river and other waters,
in which food and cornfields have come to be,
in which lives all that breathes and that moves,
May she confer on us the finest of her yield.
Earth, in which the waters, common to all,
moving on all sides, flow unfailingly, day and night,
may she pour on us milk in many streams,
and endow us with lustre.
May those born of thee, O Earth,
be for our welfare, free from sickness and waste.
Wakeful through a long life, we shall become
bearers of tribute to thee.
Earth, my mother, set me securely with bliss
in full accord with heaven,
O wise one,
uphold me in grace and splendour.
The Vedic seers regarded the Earth as 'sacred space' for the consecrated
endeavours and aspirations of humankind and for the practice of restraint
and responsibility. This affirmative view of the inviolable sacred space
in human consciousness is integral to the Vedas and the Upanishads. On it
rests the Vedic vision of a world filled with the purity of the spiritual
environment and the sanctity of environmental spirituality and morality.
Such a world can only be sustained by 'Satyam Brhat Rtam Ugram',
the severely exacting discipline of truth, harmony and rectitude, based on
a conception of cosmic and comprehensive peace as envisioned in the famous
Vedic Hymn of Peace:
We invoke and imbibe Aum, the primordial sound of
cosmic Harmony and pray for:
Peace and Harmony in Heaven;
Peace and Harmony in the Sky and on the Earth;
Peace and Harmony in the Waters;
Peace and Harmony in the Herbs, the Vegetation and the
Forests;
Peace and Harmony among the
Peoples and the Rulers of the World;
Peace and Harmony in Spiritual Quest and Realization;
Peace and Harmony for one and all;
Peace and Harmony Everywhere and in Every Thing;
Peace, True and Real Peace,
Let that Peace repose in my inner space,
Peace of Peace, Everlasting Peace,
We pray for Peace.
The ecological philosophy of Jainism, flowing from its spiritual quest,
has always been central to its ethics, aesthetics, art, literature,
economics and statecraft. It is virtually synonymous with the principle of
Ahimsa (Non-violence) which runs through the Jain tradition like a
golden thread. Lord Mahavira said: 'There is nothing so small and subtle
as the atom, nor any element so vast as space. Similarly, there is no
quality of soul more subtle than non-violence and no virtue of spirit
greater than reverence for life.'
Compassion and reverence for life are the sheet-anchor of the Jain quest
for peace, harmony and rectitude, based on spiritual and physical
symbiosis and a sense of responsibility and restraint. The term
Ahimsa is stated in the negative (a = non, himsa = violence), but
it is rooted in a host of positive aims and actions which have great
relevance to contemporary environmental concerns. It is a principle of
compassion and responsibility, which should be practised not only towards
human beings, but towards all animals and nature. The Jain scriptures tell
us: 'The Arhats (Venerable ones) of the past, present and future
discourse, counsel, proclaim, propound and prescribe thus in unison: Do
not injure, abuse or press, enslave, insult, torment, torture and kill any
creature or any living being.'
Compassion and non-violence are the basis of the ancient Jain scriptural
aphorism Parasparopagraho Jivanam (all life is bound together by
the mutual support of interdependence). Lord Mahavira proclaimed a
profound ecological truth: 'One who neglects or disregards the existence
of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence
which is entwined with them.'
Humanity's ethical responsibility
In Jain evolutionary theory all souls are equal but are bound by varying
amounts of asravas (karmic particles), reflected in the type of
body they inhabit. The lowest form of physical bodies, like those of trees
and vegetation, have only the sense of touch, yet are able to experience
pleasure and pain, and have souls. Mahavira thought that only the one who
understood the grave demerit and detriment caused by the destruction of
plants and trees could also understand the meaning and merit of reverence
for nature. (Even metals and stones might have life in them and should not
be dealt with recklessly.) Above these forms of life are micro-organisms
and small animals with two, three or four senses. The highest grade of
animals, and human beings, also possess rationality and intuition. As a
highly evolved form of life, human beings have a great moral
responsibility in their mutual dealings and in their relationship with the
rest of the universe. It is this conception of life and its eternal
coherence, in which humans have an inescapable ethical responsibility,
that made the Jain tradition a cradle for the creed of environmental
protection and harmony.
The Jain code of conduct is profoundly ecological. Transgressions against
the vow of non-violence include all forms of cruelty to animals and human
beings. Many centuries ago, Jains condemned as evil the common practice of
animal sacrifices to the gods. It is generally forbidden to keep animals
in captivity, to whip, mutilate or overload them or to deprive them of
adequate food and drink. Domestic animals may be roped, or even whipped
occasionally, but always mercifully, with due consideration and without
anger. Except for allowing themselves the judicious use of one-sensed life
in the form of vegetables, Jains would not consciously take any life for
food or sport. They are strict vegetarians, consuming neither meat, nor
fish, nor eggs.
By taking the basic vows, the Jain laity endeavour to live a life of
moderation and restraint and to practice a measure of abstinence and
austerity. They must not procreate indiscriminately lest they overburden
the universe and its resources. Regular periods of fasting for
self-purification are encouraged. In their use of the Earth's resources,
Jains take their cue from 'the bee that sucks honey in the blossoms of a
tree without hurting the blossom and strengthening itself'. Wants should
be reduced, desires curbed and consumption levels kept within reasonable
limits. Using any resource beyond one's needs or the misuse of any part of
nature, is considered a form of theft. Indeed, the Jain faith declares
unequivocally that waste and creating pollution are acts of violence.
Accumulation of possessions and enjoyment for personal ends should be
minimized. Wealth creation must have a philanthropic goal. Giving
charitable donations and time generously for community projects is an
obligation. It is this sense of social obligation that has led the Jains
to found and maintain innumerable schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics,
lodging houses, hostels, orphanages and relief and rehabilitation camps
for the handicapped, old, sick and disadvantaged, as well as hospitals for
ailing birds and animals. Wealthy individuals are advised to recognize
that beyond a certain point their wealth is superfluous to their needs and
that they should manage the surplus as trustees for social benefit.
In The Buddhist Declaration on Nature, The Venerable Lungrig
Namgyal Rinpoche, Abbot of Gyuto Tantrik University, quotes Lord Buddha
Himself: 'Because the cause was there, the consequences followed; because
the cause is there, effects will follow.' He concludes that these few
words show that happiness and suffering do not simply come about by
chance. A human undertaking motivated by a healthy positive attitude
constitutes one of the most important causes of happiness; it is, in the
final analysis, rooted in genuine unselfish compassion and loving
kindness, seeking to bring about light and happiness for all sentient
beings.
The interdependence of nature
Lord Buddha's vision and speech made him unexcelled as a sage and a
teacher and as the Enlightened Being who saw the interdependence of nature
and taught it to the world through his religion of love, understanding and
compassion and his commitment to the ideal of non-violence. Buddhism and
Jainism, perhaps as much if not more than any other traditions, rejected
the notion of humankind as the exclusive centre of life and existence and
repudiated the selfish anthropomorphic calculus of utility to human beings
for the evolution of other forms of life. As the Venerable Abbot puts it,
we should be wary of justifying the right of any species to survive solely
on the basis of its usefulness to human beings.
He explains his view of the Buddhist philosophical system as one which
propagates the theory of rebirth and life after birth, and shows that in
the continuous birth and rebirth of sentient beings (not only on this
planet but in the universe as a whole) each being is related to us, just
as our own parents are related to us in this life. He points out that for
all their limitations, our ancestors were aware of the need for harmony
between human beings and nature; they loved their environment and revered
it as a source of life and well-being. He quotes His Holiness The Dalai
Lama in The Buddhist Declaration on Nature, in words which breathe
and pulsate with the Lord Buddha's ethical and ecological vision and have
compelling relevance for our own time:
'Destruction of the environment and the life depending upon it is a result
of ignorance, greed and disregard for the richness of all living things.
This disregard is gaining great influence. If peace does not become a
reality in the world, and if the destruction of the environment continues
as it does today, there is no doubt that future generations will inherit a
dead world.
'Various crises face the international community. The mass starvation of
human beings and the extinction of species may not have overshadowed the
great achievements in science and technology, but they have assumed equal
proportions. Side by side with the exploration of outer space, there is
the continuing pollution of lakes, rivers and vast parts of the oceans,
out of human ignorance and misunderstanding. There is a great danger that
future generations will not know the natural habitat of animals; they may
not know the forests and the animals which we of this generation know to
be in danger of extinction.
'We are the generation with the awareness of a great danger. We are the
ones with the responsibility and the ability to take steps of concrete
action, before it is too late.'
The spiritual, ethical, individual and collective dimensions of human life
constitute a continuum, encompassing the whole of the Indic heritage and
transcending all segments and fragments. The Vedic, Upanishadic, Jain and
Buddhist traditions perceived this and together built an enduring
spiritual, intellectual and cultural foundation for an
environment-friendly value system and a balanced lifestyle.
A living legacy
The value system reflected in the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi and
the provisions of the republican Constitution of India of 1950 derived
their spiritual and moral inspiration from the composite Indic culture. It
was shared by different faith traditions and communities in India through
the ages and often emulated and assimilated across the boundaries of
religious affiliations. It is not only reflected in the Vedic,
Upanishadic, Jain and Buddhist scriptural texts and other literature, but
is part of the social ethos of these traditions and of other communities
which trace their roots to them. The wide variety of sects and
denominations which rose in India during the last two millennia have
consistently dug and quarried from those Indic roots. The Sikh, Vaishnava
and Bishnoi traditions and numerous other Bhakti denominations in
mediaeval India - which give spiritual joy, comfort and guidance to
millions of people in India and abroad - are fine examples.
The Indic environmental ethos declares that all aspects and phenomena of
nature belong together and are bound in a physical as well as metaphysical
relationship, and views life as a gift of togetherness and of mutual
accommodation and assistance in a universe teeming with interdependent
constituents. Agenda 21 has to be implemented with this sense of
spirituality, morality and universality if religion is to play a
significant role in creating and sustaining a momentum for ecological
conservation in the hearts and minds of men, women and children.
The Indic approach to the environment is even today a part of the living
legacy of India. That legacy often seems to be embattled and imperilled
all around, and yet it is endowed with an uncanny and time-tested
resilience. In that resilience, there is hope and promise for India and
the rest of the world.
H. E. Laxmi Mall Singhvi is President of the World Congress on Human
Rights, Indian High Commissioner to the Court of St James (London) and
President Emeritus of the Authors' Guild of India. He has been awarded the
Interfaith Gold Medallion Award by the International Council of Christians
and Jews.
