The Bishnois (A community that worships and protects mother Earth)

Whenever there is any talk about environment and the preservation of our Earth, there is one community in India whose name comes foremost to the mind.They are known as the first environmentalists .They are the Bishnoi community of India.They not only worship mother Earth but also donot hesitate to lay down their lives for the sake of it!!!!

The Bishnois are a Vaishnavite sect, living in western Rajasthan on the outer margins of the Thar desert.They have been conserving the flora and fauna for many centuries to the extent of sacrificing their lives to protect the environment. The Bishnois are a nature-loving people and for them the protection of the environment, wildlife, and plants is a part and parcel of their sacred traditions. They follow the philosophy in which all the living things have a right to survive and share in all the available resources on Earth.

In the fifteenth century, Jambhoji, a resident of a village near Jodhpur, had a vision that the cause of the drought that had hit the area and the hardships that followed afterwards, was caused by people’s interference with nature!! Thereafter, he became a sanyasi or a holy man and came to be known as Swami Jambeshwar Maharaj. This was the beginning of the Bishnoi sect. He laid down 29 tenets for his followers which included a ban on killing animals, a ban to the felling of trees – especially the khejri trees(Shami trees) which grows extensively in these areas.And using material other than wood for cremations. Nature protection was given the foremost importance in these tenets. Since then, the sect has religiously followed these tenets.

There are many stories about how the Bishnois have beaten up hunters and poachers for trespassing in their area. The sacrifice made by Amrita Devi and over 350 others is a heart-touching example of their devotion.There story is as follows:

 The Maharaja of Jodhpur wanted to build a new palace and for it he required wood . To procure this his men went to the area around the village of Jalnadi to fell the trees. When Amrita Devi saw this she rushed out to prevent the men from cutting down trees.When she saw that they didnot heed to her request,she said that before you cut any tree,you have to cut me!!! Saying so she hugged the first tree.The king's men didnot deter in cutting her !!! Before dying she uttered the now famous couplet of the Bishnois, ‘A chopped head is cheaper than a felled tree’. Her three daughters named Asu, Ratni and Bhagu though shocked to see their mother's severed head, they too followed in their mother's footsteps and hugged the trees.The king's men severed their heads too!!!

People from 49 surrounding villages rushed to prevent the men from felling the trees and by the end of the day 363 of them had lost their lives!!!

When the king heard about this, he was filled with remorse and came to the village to personally apologize to the people. He promised them that they would never again be asked to provide timber to the ruler, no khejri tree would ever be cut, and hunting would be banned near the Bishnoi villages. He issued a dictum stating these rules, which is followed even today!The village of Jalnadi thus came to be called Khejarli.

The Bishnois would go to any extent to protect the wildlife and the forests around them.This sect was in the news due to the activities of some Mumbai film group that had gone on a hunting spree in their area targeting the black buck. The Bishnois, in keeping to their tradition, prevented them from doing so and lodged a complaint against two of them in the local police station.

The heartland of the Bishnois in the forests near Jodhpur is abundant in trees and wildlife. The landscape around here is greener than elsewhere and the animals mainly antelopes, particularly the blackbuck and the chinkara, in these forests are not afraid of humans and are often seen near the villages and they eat from the villagers’ hands! The Bishnois have indeed proved that human lives are a small price to pay to protect the wildlife and the forests around them!!

Though they are staunch Hindus they often do not cremate their dead but bury them, as they are not permitted to use wood for the cremation!!!

There is a saying that goes "Sir santhe rooke rahe to bhi sasto jaan" this means that if a tree is saved from felling at the cost of one’s head, it should be considered as a good deed. It is for this environmental awareness and commitment that the Bishnois stand apart from other sects and communities in India.

Nearly 230 years after it happened, the Khejarli story inspired another environmental movement—the Chipko Andolan (1973) in the Tehri-Garhwal Himalaya. This further inspired the Jungle Bachao Andolan (1982) in Bihar and Jharkhand, the Appiko Chaluvali (1983) in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, and other similar protests. All these were aimed at preserving and protecting the natural environment and resulted in changing public policies. The ‘tree-hugging’ tactic of the Chipko Andolan and its messages gained popularity in many countries beyond India’s borders, leading to protests in Switzerland, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

This community are known as the first environmentalists of India.The sacrifice which they have done for preserving our mother Earth is unfathomable and hard to believe! They donot even cremate their dead as they are not permitted to use wood.Although they are staunch Hindus, they bury their dead!! They take care of the animals and trees around them like their own children!

Today when thousands of trees are cut down everyday for wood and other necessities, their example should atleast inspire the governments of the world to grow one tree for each tree felled!!

Do only we need to cut trees for our necessities, do the Bishnois donot need wood ; but they donot cut the trees as they worship them.Today we observe World Earth Day,World Environment Day, and what not!!!But the Bishnois celebrate each day as Environment Day and could go to any extent to preserve their flora and fauna and animals!!

They deserve not only recognition but much more than this.They need to be worshipped, each one of these Bishnois, for they teach us how to live harmoniously with our environment,with the trees, animals,birds , everyone !! It is a beautiful sight to see them feeding the blackbugs and deers with their own hands!!