Mother Nature , I abide in you

Raised in a country steeped in religion and mythology , there has been an imprint , naturally embedded deep in our psyche , India the land of God’s and Goddess , eternally blessed .

Twame wa mata cha pita twame wa

Twame wa bandhuscha sakha twame wa

Twame wa vidya  draviman twame wa

Twame wa sarvam mama dev a deva

An invocation to the Almighty God , saying ,’’O God, You alone are my Mother, my Father,my friend, My brother,You alone are my wisdom and wealth. Indeed you alone are everything to me .

These verses were stated in the Bhagwad Geeta by Lord Krishna. From birth to death , the holy scriptures have revered Nature . The Earth is regarded as  ‘’Mother’’ ,The Vedas say :

O Mother Earth, Let thy bosom be free, From sickness and decay,  May we through long life ,

Be active and intelligent ,And serve thee with devotion .

The National song of India , Vande Mataram , composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterji worships Mother and her rich offerings :

Vande Mataram , Sujalam , suphalam , malayaja shitalam , shasyashyamalam , Mataram

Shubhra jyothsna pulakitayaminim, phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,

Suhasinim , sumadhura bhashinim,Sukhadam varadam , Mataram

Translated , this means:

 :

I bow to thee, Mother,richly-watered, richly-fruited,

cool with the winds of the south,

dark with the crops of the harvests,

The Mother!

Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,

her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,

sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,

The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.

The translation was done by Sri Aurobindo, the great Indian philosopher and Yogi.

 Nature is perceptible to our sense organs and we are directly being benefited by nature in infinite number of ways. Nature is bountiful and showers her selfless love on us humans in infinite number of ways. 

The Bhagavad Gita advises us not to try to change the environment, improve it, or wrestle with it. If it seems hostile at times tolerate it. Ecology is an inherent part of a spiritual world view in Hinduism.

To many Hindus, the concept of environmental protection is not separate from religious teaching. That’s seen in several local practices among rural Hindu communities such as the Bishnois and the Bhils to protect forests and water sources. 

The Earth, depicted as a Goddess or “Devi”, is worshipped in many Hindu rituals. For instance, before the foundation of a building is dug, a priest is invited to perform the “Bhoomi (earth) Pooja” to seek forgiveness from mother earth for violating her.

Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion, perhaps, lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological balance.

Nature worship thus is inherent part of our philosophy .

The prithvi suktha in Atharva Veda states "Mata Bhumih putroham

prithivyah''

''my Mother is Earth and I am her Son''

The Nature's five elements , Air, Fire, Water, Space, Earth are constituents of all body matter of all living beings.

Banyan tree is regarded as the Holy tree where saints seek supreme enlightenment.

The Puranas or the scriptures say, a person who plants at least one neem tree, one peepul tree , one banyan tree, two pomegranates, five mangoes and ten flowering shrubs including creepers shall never go to Hell .

This tradition existed centuries ago from the earliest civilization-the Indus valley civilization.

Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion, perhaps, lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological balance.

Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion, perhaps, lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological balance.

“Sar santey rukh rahe to bhi sasto jan.”

“If a tree is saved even at the cost of one’s head, it’s worth it.” Amrita Devi.

The ultimate sacrifice , of a brave woman AMRITA DEVI

Amrita Devi belonged to the Bishnoi community that is known for its great love for conservation. The Bishnoi faith respects the sanctity and sacredness of all forms of life and their tenets include prohibition on killing animals and felling of green trees. Bishnois also worship the Khejri tree, Prosopis cineraria, considered a critical life force in these desert communities.

 September 11 signifies a very important landmark in the history of India’s environmental movement. It’s said on this day, back in 1730, in a tiny desert village near Jodhpur, 363 Bishnoi people led by a brave woman resisted the cutting down of khejri trees, among others, by the king’s men, preferring instead to lay down their own lives rather than allow the desecration of their environment. 

As the story goes, the King of Jodhpur sent his soldiers to the Bishnois villages to cut green trees to build his new palace. As the soldiers began cutting the Khejri trees with their axes, Amrita Devi, a Bishnoi woman, ran to stop the felling.She hugged a Khejri tree to protect it from the blows and begged them to stop.The soldiers asked her for a bribe to stop the cutting; Amrita Devi was unmoved and told them that it was an insult to her faith to offer a bribe. The soldiers took to violence and struck her with an axe. When her three daughters witnessed the brutality, they rushed and hugged the trees as well and were also killed by the soldiers.Soon the word spread like fire around the village of Khejarli and others joined in, hugging trees in a nonviolent protest. The soldiers continued to mercilessly kill people, both young and old, and the massacre led to the sacrifice of nearly 363 Bishnois, who died protecting their beloved sacred tree.

“Forest is Our Mother. Our life sustains on her.

Our spirituality is tied to the trees.”

An adivasi woman from Jharkhand , India

This was a movement to save trees and forest .Forest is regarded as their Mother.The changes one can notice in the forests since the Save the Jungle Movement began. The forests are regenerating, the birds and animals are returning, one can also spot even a leopard. Life is bound with Nature.

The indigenous trees like Sal, Mahua and Amla are protected  for their foods, medicines and rituals.

Over 60 per cent of the Great Indian Desert (Thar Desert) lies in Rajasthan. With precipitation annually fluctuating widely, the terrain is generally infertile. Summer temperature soars to 50C bringing with it swirling dust-laden winds, often blowing at velocities of 140–150 km per hour. Amid a fragile scrubby vegetation, trees are few and far between—the most important being Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) because of its many benefits. Blackbucks and chinkara gazelles are found here along with partridges and quails.

With this beautiful quotation of Buddha , I close "If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand."

Rana Sanyal

sanyal.rana27@gmail.com

91-6205752588

India