In the early periods of human history, the environment strongly determined
the lives and activities
of the people. They were very much close to forest and natural resources as
we find in historical
documents. Ancient Indian texts like Arthasastra, Sathapatha Bhramanas,
Vedas, Manusmrti, Brhat-
Samhita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Rajtarangini reflected the concepts of
forest ecology and
conservation in a sustainable manner. In the Indus valley civilization,
several characteristics of the
city planning and social structure showed environmental awareness. The
presence of leaves, wild
animals like peacocks and one-horned deer, tigers, elephants, bulls in the
seals and the mud pots can
indicate the pattern of biodiversity in those areas. Reduction of forests
in that area was due to the use of
huge amounts of timber-wood for burning bricks. So rainfall reduced and
soil erosion caused
deposition of silt in the Indus River which had choked off Mohenjodaro from
the sea, causing a rise in
the water table that must have been a prime factor in the destruction of
Mohenjodaro. The sacred
Groves (Tapovana) of India were rich in biodiversity and ecological wealth,
which was also
mentioned in many ancient Indian documents like Abhigyan Shakuntalam
written by Kalidasa. They
are small packets of forests dedicated to local deities. In the Bhagavad
Gita, Krishna compares the
world to a single banyan tree with unlimited branches in which all the
species of animals, humans and
demigods wander, which reflects the concept of community ecology. The trees
like Banyan and
Peepal were often referred in historical background (widely protected in
Asia and Africa) are
keystone resources. In modern age, there are many policies developing in
many countries for forest
and biodiversity conservation, but they are all directly or indirectly
influenced by the traditional
knowledge developed in ancient India.
2 Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, was the minister of
Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BC), India‟s first emperor. The book
Arthashastra written by him is a treatise on government and economics of
ancient India. The book informed that the people knew about the
rainfall regimes,
soil types and appropriate irrigation techniques in specific
micro-ecological contexts. Arthasastra had a number of sutras in different
chapters dealing with various
aspects of statecraft and administration, which shows environmental
awareness.1 In the book, importance was given on the protection and
management of forests, gardens, orchards as these all were considered as
sources of revenue, besides being of recreational spots. The Arthasastra
divided the country between the Himalayas and the
oceans into various kinds of regions - Forests (aranya), Village areas
(gramya), Mountains (parvata), Wet or humid areas (audaka), Drylands
(bhauma), Plains (sama) and Uneven lands (visawa). The average annual
rainfall in some of the famous places like Asmaka and Avanti was 13.5 and
23 dronas (1 drona = 1.5 to 2 inches) respectively. Asmaka (upper Godavari
plains), Avanti (Malwa) and Aparanta (Konkan) together formed a continuous
territory.2
Arthasastra demonstrates Kautilya’s perception and concern about the
living creatures - domestic and wild animals, plants and vegetations.
Penalties and punishments were specified for injuring living creatures.
Special positions were occupied by directors of forests, supervisor of
animal slaughter, superintendents of cattle, horses, elephants, and
pastures. These officials used to protect wildlife, ensured proper rations
for pet animals, regulated grazing, prevented poaching of wild animals,
ensured proper care of domestic animals etc. Individuals were supposed to
follow norms about their dealing with the domestic animals.3 Non-agricultural
lands were sometimes used for animal parks where animals were given
full protection.
In these sanctuaries, capture or killing of animals were prohibited. List of
protected animals, fish, birds were found which executes the scientific
knowledge of biodiversity. Village head-man was made responsible for
preventing cruelty to animals in village communities. Details of care,
training, and treatment of horses, elephants and cows had been indicated.3 The
king is supposed to protect forests, elephant forests, irrigation works and
mines that were made in ancient times and also should start new ones.
Forests were considered as a
valuable resource, forest products should be used in a sustainable manner
and factories for goods made from forest products should be started as
Kautilya mentioned in Arthasastra. For cutting any part of a tree, fines of
variable amounts were imposed on the offender depending on the types of
injury. Emphasis was given particularly on those which bear fruits, flowers
or provide shades. Among material forests, one which was large, full of
resources, accessible and watered by a river was given more importance,
because it could be a shelter in time of trouble.4 The environmental issues
described in Arthasastra are very much relevant in modern society. In 1972,
the conference on human environment in Stockholm mentioned about some
principles
which were very much similar to the edicts of Arthasastra. Even in India,
some of the environmental laws like Water (prevention and control of
pollution) Act 1974, The Forest Conservation Act 1980 and The Wildlife
(Protection) Act 1972 show amazing similarity with
forms and contents of Arthasastra.
3 In the dicta for prevention of pollution in Manusmriti, we can get
the reflection of ecological awareness:
1. Biodiversity means all living forms broadly ascribed as Chara (movable
living world) and Achara (immovable: plant kingdom).
2. Pollution refers to spoilage of the five gross elements by unethical
activity.
3. Contamination refers to any action against wholesomeness (Ssoucha).
4. Storage organs of plants like tuberous roots and underground stems,
leafy vegetables, beautiful flowers, tasteful fruits, timber yielding
trees, crops etc. remained objects of allurement in that period. For saving
the plants and their parts from injury, Manusmruti describes various
punishments for the offenders.
5. Importance was given for conserving and domesticating animals,
biodiversity protection, and vegetarian food habits. According to Manu,
agriculture caused injury to animals, specially the insects and germs in
the soil.
6. For biodiversity protection, he mentioned that fishes of all types
should not be killed for food purpose; one hoofed animals, village pigs,
solitary moving animals and unknown beasts should be protected; carnivorous
birds, birds of village habitat, web footed birds, diving birds feeding on
fishes, birds with striking beaks should not be killed for the purpose of
eating. He stated that killing of Khara (ass), asva (horse), ustra (camel),
mrga (deer), ibha (elephant),
aja (goat), ahi (snake), ahisa (buffalo) is a sin.
4 CHARAKA SAMHITAI AND SUSHRUTA SAMHITA:
a. jangala, or the region of open spaces where a steady dry wind blows.
Thecommon plants of the region were khedira (Acacia catechu), asana
(Terminalia tomentosa) and badari (Zizyphus jujuba).
b. anupa, or the marshy tract bordered by seas, where cold wind and
networks of rivers prevailed. The common plants were vanjula (cane or
reed), hintala (kind of palm) and narikela (coconut), varieties of lotuses
and water lilies, variparni (Pistia sp.), musika-parni (Salvinia sp.),
jalanili (algae) and saivala (moss).
c. sadharana, or the intermediate regions which had some of the features
common to the other two regions. The common plants were mandara or
parijataka (coral tree) and santana (kalpa tree). Susruta classified
animals on the basis of their food habits and habitats. He also classified
edible fishes into freshwater and saltwater varieties. The behaviors, mode
of life and ecological distribution of many animal species can be gathered
from his writings
5 The Vedas specified four types of living beings, namely andaja
(born of eggs), jivaja (born of womb), svedaja (born of moisture) and
udbhija ( born of earth ) and declared that these are impelled by prajnaman
( consciousness ). The Vedas described the diversified range of flora and
fauna and urged human beings to protect, preserve, nurture and nourish
the environment
and natural world. For the benefit of the humans and other living organisms
they
prescribed a pleasant environment consisting of sweet breeze, sweet flowing
rivers, beneficial herbs, sweet day and night, sweetness of earth
particles, sweet fruit bearing trees, beneficial sun and healthy cows.
Importance was given on the habitats which should be protected. For the
protection and development of forests, the concept of afforestation was
developed. Plants were compared with mother, friends and deities. The voice
of the trees was compared with
the sounds of drums, lutes and flutes. Water was considered as the symbol
of purity which should be free from pollution. With a social objective,
they emphasized that water is a common resource to be used by all. Rg Veda
contains many notes on irrigated agriculture, river courses, dykes, water
reservoirs, wells and water lifting structures.18 Water was compared with
living beings, creator, edible crops, truth, desires which in totality
signifies the ecological and environmental dimensions. Animals were divided
in terms of those of the air (vayavya), those of the jungle (aranya) and those
of the village (gramya). Prayers were offered for the welfare of animals.
Plants were
classified into trees, shrubs with spreading branches, herbs, spreading or
deliquescent plants, bushy plants, climbers, creepers, creepers spreading
on the ground. The Vedas hailed the trees, the roots, the panicles, the
corona, the branches, the leaves, the flowers and the fruits. Herbs were
considered to have remedial powers. Rg Veda mentioned that plants had
preceded animals, particularly man, in the process of evolution. In
Upanishad, the idea of evolution was expressed as „ From that very Atman ether
came to be; from ether air, from air fire, from fire water, from water the
earth, from the earth herbs, from herbs food and from food the person came
into existence‟. The oral tradition and the Veda would have to be among the
earliest record of ruminations on nature and environment in India. In the
Vedic literatures mother Earth was personified as the goddess Bhumi, or
Prithivi. Her beauty and profusion were vividly
portrayed in the Atharva Veda: “O mother, with your oceans, rivers and
other bodies of water, you give us land to grow grains, on which our
survival depends. Please give us as much milk, fruits, water and cereals as
we need to eat and drink.” The Chandogya, one of the principal Upanishads
pointed out:
“The rivers --------- all discharge their waters into the sea. They lead
from sea to sea,
the clouds raise them to the sky as vapor and release them in the form of
rain……” This is mprobably the oldest reference of the hydrological cycle.
In Ishopanishad, the concepts of sustainable development and conservation
were established: “All in this manifested world consisting of moving and
non-moving are covered by the lord. Use its resources with restraint. Do
not grab the property of others- distant and yet to come. ”.
The later Vedas, especially the Ayurveda section, demonstrate profound
knowledge of
biodiversity. The inter-relationship between living species and the
environment was
established. It described the need to maintain natural dynamism, the right
ways of handling plants and trees, native flora and fauna and the price one
should pay for going against the ecological principles. Medicinal plants
such as palash, arjun, yava, laksha, haridra, haritaki etc. were
widely used for treatment. Among post Vedic ancient texts, a classic work
was Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda, which executed knowledge of soil, seed,
manure, irrigation and
care for health and proper growth of plants. Vrikshayurveda means the
science of plant life, which is known to have existed in ancient India as a
special branch of knowledge. This traditional document mainly deals with
the practical aspects of plant science. The chapter “Bijotpatti Kanda”
describes the forest ecosystems. Forests were referred to by different
names like
„atavi‟, „bipina‟, „gahana‟, „kanana‟, „bana‟, „aranyani‟ etc. The books
described forests
where trees, shrubs, creepers and grasses grow naturally. Classification
and characterization of woodlands were done according to their location and
natural surroundings.Banwari, the day-editor of Jansata, a Hindi daily
newspaper published in Delhi, has made a detailed study of the forest
culture of India. He wrote: “Hindu tradition describes
three basic categories of forests. One is shrivan, the forest which
provided prosperity. Tapovan where one could contemplate as the sages did
and seek after truth. The third is mahavana, the great natural forest where
all species of life find shelter.”. Once some of the original forests were
cleared, however, Vedic culture required that another kind of forest be
established in its place. Each village preserved sections of forests (shrivan)
for their own specific needs. These forests were different from the
mahavanas, the wild forest or jungle, because they were open for
exploitation and harvesting according to strict ecological practices. These
were the forests of wealth and the basis of community‟s
prosperity. In Vedic age, each village was responsible through its
panchayat, or committee of five elders, for maintaining the forests in its
own locality. No village was complete without its corresponding woodlands
in and around its houses. “The Hindu idea is that this whole world is a
forest. To keep this world as it is we have to keep the world forest
intact”. This gave rise to the concept of cultural landscapes such as sacred
forests and groves, sacred corridors, and a variety of ethno-forestry
practices that reflect the ecosystem-like concepts in traditional
societies.23 In the post-Vedic period, this tradition continued; in
addition to considering a landscape as such valuable and sacred,
individual species and micro-units were also treated as sacred. Examples
include the temple forests, monastery forests, sanctified and consecrated
trees, the sacred forests, sacred groves, sacred trees etc.
7 According to the Mahabharata, Hastinapur, the capital of Kurus,
was situated in a forested area. It also mentioned that the kingdoms of
Kurus and Panchalas – covering roughly the upper Gangetic plains – were
located in forested area. Devipurana (chapter 14) mentioned nine sacred
forests of which Kuru jungle, Nimisha and Utpalaranya covered the upper
Ganga plains. Pollen records from Hastinapur excavations show the presence
of Pinus, Dalbergia, Holorabera etc. When the Pandavas was given half the
kingdom, they had to build their capital, Indraprastha. This required the
clearing of the forests and in order to do this effectively the god Agni
burnt the forest. Krishna and Arjuna went to Khandava forest which was
situated on the bank of Yamuna, where Delhi stands today. Agni,s appearance
as a Brahman begging alms was significant, because Brahmans played an
important role in the process of colonization.
In Ramayana, the prince of Ayodhya, was about to set out on his long exile
in the forests south of the Gangetic plains, his mother Kaushalya,
expressed fear about his safety: “May the huge elephants not harm you my
dear son, nor the lions, tigers, bears, boars or ferocious horned buffalo.
”The forested lands were a source of pleasure for Sita. References of lotus
ponds, geese, ducks, honey-scented groves, herds of deer were found. When
building their home in the forest, they first sacrificed one of the present
day endangered species, the blackbuck. Lakshmana made sure the animal was
killed but left with its limbs intact to be cooked, broiled and only then
offered to god. The antelope, the krisnasara, had long represented the
culture of the open spaces, of cereal- bearing dry land. Aryavartya, the
land of
the Aryans, was often co-terminus with the land of the black antelope.
These were areas to the north of the Vindhya mountain chain. Ramayana
described that Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna), Jupa Puspa or Karnikar
(Hibiscus mutabilis/Hibiscus
rosasinensis) etc. were favourite trees of Sita. The Asoka Garden of Ravana
had Sala (Shorea robusta), Asoka (Saraca indica), Champa (Michelia champaca)
etc. In that period, the Chandan or SandalWood trees (Santalum album) were very
popular. The gradual clearing of forests over the centuries has changed the
ecology of certainregions. The pace of change was not uniform. It was
slower in earlier times and more limited in its geographical area, but as
the demand for land increased, the clearing of the forestsbecome faster and
the area so cleared , larger.
In the Abhigyan Shakuntalam, Dusyanta went on a hunt, accompanied by a
large number
of warriors, and they indiscriminately killed the animals (herds of deer,
tigers and elephants). The people of the settlement were demonstrating
their power over nature. Also in the play, the closeness of man to the
forests through ashrama life was demonstrated. The forest was executed as a
place of peace and gentleness, where even the plants and the deer
were very close to Shakuntala. Kalidasa romanticized the forest life to
make it more familiar. Sacred groves are small packets of forests dedicated
to local deities. They are a common phenomenon in many parts of the country
particularly in the north- eastern regions and the Western Ghats. These
dark evergreen forest patches are believed to be sacred to the village god
or goddess, and have been preserved from time immemorial. Many of them contain
climax level vegetation and harbour rare and little known species of
plants. Sacred groves not only protect the ecology of that region but also
provide dry fuel wood, dry leaves and many kinds of non-wood produce for
the village communities. Some previous studies reported the existence of
over 10,000 sacred groves in India. These forest patches harbor
huge trees and giant climbers and serve as repositories of rare, endemic
and endangered organisms. The ancient cities of Vaisali, Kushinaraand,
Champa, all maintained sacred groves. The groves may even have been
specially planted as they are often described as being of specific kinds of
trees, such as Banyan or the Sala. Vrajbhumi, the region around
Vrindavana, always had a very good environmental balance, following the
traditional pattern of Hindu India. Many ancient Indian texts highlighted
the concept of sacred groves through the ages. In the Bhagavad Gita,
Krishna compared the world to a single banyan tree with unlimited branches
in which all the species of animals, humans and demigods wander, which reflects
the concept of community ecology. The trees like Banyan and Peepal were
often
referred in historical background (widely protected in Asia and Africa) are
keystone resources. The worship of trees as a part of fertility cult
remained a constant feature of the religion of pastoralists, peasants and
those of lesser status among urbanites. Srivastava Goswami, a vaishnava
scholar considered the life of Krishna „the greatest chapter in
environmental history‟. He says that there were only two recorded
occasions when
Krishna performed formal religious worship, and on both these
occasions he worshipped
nature. Krishna said that all creatures are born, die, and get pleasure and
pain by International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences Vol. 30 41 the
force of karma; so there is no necessity to worship Indra (the lord of
water) as everyone could control its own destiny. He also said “your
environment is your concern, it is your duty.” Krishna taught that it was
better to worship the hills, forests and cows than to perform a ritual for
the demigods. Krishna defeated the serpent kalya and purified the Yamuna
River.
He swallowed the forest fire to protect the forest. He looked after the
cows. He spoke to the birds in their own language. He was always protecting
nature. Krishna praised the trees of Brindavan: “they have dedicated their
lives to the welfare of others. Individually they are tolerating all kinds
of natural disturbances…………. They supply various kinds of facilities to
human society, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, flavour
extracts and fuels.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.22.32-35).29
Vrindavana was famous for its groves of sacred kadamba, papal, tamal,
amalaki and vata, but now is almost bare. The environment was also very
pleasant, as mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam : “ Krishna brought forward the
cows and played on his flute through the forest of Vrindavana, which was
full of flowers, vegetables and pasturing grass……….. full of bees, flowers
and fruits. There were chirping birds and clear water lakes………. Sweet flavoured
breezes blew always, refreshing the mind and body.” There are many stories
in the Vedic literature which showed the interactions between worldly
persons and sages in their forest ashramas. From this profoundly natural
setting emerged the Vedic teachings of the Upanishads such as the Brihad-
Aranyaka, which means „the teaching which began in the forests‟. The
beauty of natural creation was called in Sanskrit vanavaibhava. It could be
argued that the romanticization of the forest began when it was thought
that culture was suppressing nature. In the period of Vanaprastha and
Sanyasa,
for a man the forest was an avenue to the discarding of the mantle of
civilization and the
discovery of the self.
Some categories of literature are very aware of ecological differences and
their links to culture. Thus the Tinnai concept of Tamil Sangam texts,
composed around the start of the Christian era, is a fascinating example of
detailed and early perception of the significance of the eco-zones. The
landscape had been classified by five types of eco-zones which were
interrelated
with the cultural and social structure of society. The zones were listed as
the littoral, the wetlands, the pastoral tracts, the dry zones and the
hilly backwoods. Fishing and the making of salt was important in the
coastal areas, the cultivation of rice in the wetlands, the breeding of
livestock and practice of shifting cultivation in the pastoral tracts,
which were subject to cattle-lifting from those who lived in the dry-zones,
and hunting and gathering was associated with back wood life. Wetlands were
extremely limited as compared to the non cultivable
tracts, but over a period of time this changed. There were some
interactions through
the exchange of paddy and salt for other products, generally at the
exchange centers. There have been some historical studies attempting to
trace the process by which these micro eco-zones gradually evolved into
macro-zones.
8 With the advancement of civilization and development, the
environment has become affected to a considerable extent. Environmental
degradation has raised uncomfortable questions about the concept of
development itself. With environmental degradations, a large section of
people has become marginalized and their live and livelihood has faced
grave concerns.
Development as expected has increased consumerism in a small section
of the society,
but it has degraded and depleted natural resources simultaneously. It is a
need of the hour to secure the right to save food, water, air and all other
natural ingredients in particular and environment in general. To get rid of
the emerging environmental and ecological problems of modern civilized
societies, there is an increasing trend of consciousness growing among us.
There are many policies developing in many countries for environmental
protection,
but they are all directly or indirectly dependent on the traditional
knowledge developed in the ancient age which teaches us the concept of the
value of a simple life. We can follow the simple policies of our
forefathers who probably had much better understanding of the environment
than we currently have. Detailed studies are urgently needed to extract,
analyze and implement the ancient Indian environmental and ecological
conservation
policies in modern societies, so that in the near future we can get a more
stable, clean, rich and healthy environment. { From the WB blogger from my
researched diaries} KR IRS 241122
On Thu, 24 Nov 2022 at 06:29, Markendeya Yeddanapudi <
[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> --
> *Mar*Communicating and Interacting with Other Organisms
>
>
>
> You are not a single organism. There are 10,000 trillion bacteria,in you
> making you, you. When the ‘you’ inhales air, the smell message carrying air
> changes into hormones, travel via the blood stream, the hormones become the
> instructions of coordinated living to all the bacteria constituting you.
> The electromagnetic Brain, photon-synthesizes observations, while the
> Amygdala, gives the emotional feeds or the collective voice of the
> trillions of organisms in you.
>
> Breathing constitutes your living. You smell by breathing. You smell the
> smell messages of the other organisms. You interact with every other
> organism via smelling and sensing. The ‘you ‘or the 10,000 trillion
> bacteria, are communicating with each other as a result of your breathing.
>
> When 10,000 trillion bacteria can communicate with each other, ultimately
> via the air, will it not be possible to use the same air to communicate
> with the other organisms of the biosphere? You must first feel that you are
> part of the Biosphere, and that emotions bind you to the Biosphere via
> breathing. Then you must accept that the other organism is a being of
> emotions and feelings and that you can breathe, smell and feel the feelings
> of that organism. You have to practice breathing and smelling, and then
> gradually you learn to sort out the smells into smell messages. You learn
> to give smell responses. Gradually your mind also participates in this
> process.
>
> Start by sitting near a tree, and try to smell and sense the messages of
> the tree.
>
> In a big forest, when you adopt this method of communication with the
> other organisms, you swim in a wonderful ocean of approval. That feeling
> becomes your living. Once the human organism could sort out 50,000
> different smells.
>
> Today we do not even bother to communicate with nature. We lost our very
> basic faculty of smelling and communicating. We do not even realize that we
> are part of the planet earth. This basic indifference is euphemized as
> scientific temperament.
>
> Just go into a forest, and try to breathe, smell and sense. You can
> experience the real world, the world of emotions and feelings. You begin
> reclaiming your macro personality.
>
> YM
>
--
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