environmental crisis

What is environmental crisis and why is it happening? who is responsible for it? can it be arrested? how? Let there be a discussion on this





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HOW DO WE KNOW?

Yes. This is indeed an intriguing question. Granted that we know the question is how? Is there any special instrument with which man is equipped that gives him the ticket to gain knowledge? Philosophers are generally divided over this question

the question of knowledge

What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is establishing a relation with that which is beyond me. When I look around and see the running water I desire to know its source, its path and its ultimate end. The night sky with millions of statrs and a cresent moon, makes me curious and I want to know how they hang out there but I cant? Who lights up the little lamps and who puts them off when the sun appears? The path of the sun seems fixed but who did it? It was not difficult for our early ancestors to experience a pattern in the workings of all that he was surrounded by, his environment. The winter snow melting into soft green grass of spring, little shoots and buds changing slowly but surely into leaves ,flowers and fruits, then falling away in autumn, all this aroused that little part of man 'rationality' . This was his special trait, which drew a thin line between him and the beast who could not enjoy the pink dawn or oopaque twilight. Philosophy came naturally to man. He started to philosophise long before he developed a religion. But how do we know?

what is philosophy

I have been wondering ever since I took up lecturship as my job that I would make available to all who are interested , the basic idea about 'philosophy' as a subject. This is specially for all who are not students of philosophy but interested to know about the subject. Today I will introduce the word 'philosophy'.
Let us start with the question 'what is philosophy?' philosophy is a combination of two words 'philo' and 'sophia'philo meaning love and sophia means knowledge.Hence a philosopher is one who is engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. philosophy began in 'wonder' as man wondered about the events like sunrise and sunset, and change of seasons, he started asking questions about himself, the purpose of his life and the cause of all the changes he observed. Thus began seeking knowledge, began philosophy.

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AHIMSA –NON-INJURY/NON- VIOLENCE
The Indian attitude of reverence towards nature ensues from the basic tenet of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence. All Indian philosophical systems (except Carvaka) have the underpinning that ‘Nature reverberates the Divine presence’ because the supreme soul desired, ‘let me become many, let me be born’ (Tat Up. Brahmanda Valli, 6th anuvaka1.6.7). As the cause of all that is, He is indwelling and not transient, “…this whole universe trembles within the life (the Supreme Brahman), emanating (from it) it (the universe) moves on…” (Katha Up 6.2.). It is further stated in the Taittirya Upanisad Brahmanda Valli, 6th anuvaka1.6.7, that the Supreme soul having created it even entered it. He is therefore in all that has form or devoid of form; as extension it is in ether, as taste in the water, in the earth as food, in fire as light. Consequently the interaction with Nature took an emotional rather than a practical approach. We will argue in this chapter that Divinity was attributed to Nature because Indian philosophers had realised far ahead of modern scientists, the intrinsic worth of Nature as well as their connectedness to it. /It.
"As I am, so are others; as others are, so am I." ” (Yathâ aham tathâ ete
Yathâ ete tathâ aham
Attânam upamam katvâ
Na haneyya na ghâtaye. Sutta Nipata 705). Having thus identified self and others, harm no one nor have them harmed.‘
Ahimsa follows from this basic tenet of Indian philosophy. . In common usage ‘Ahimsa’ is ‘non-violence’, but literally it is the avoidance of violence – himsa. It is a mental attitude, which can be differently functional towards addressing environmental problems. Our focus in this section will be to examine the different ways of communicating ‘ahimsa’.
Ahimsa is articulate in every aspect of Indian culture. The Rig Veda does not directly refer to ‘ahimsa’ but the appeal the Vedic seers have made to Rudra for the protection of their herds in the same manner as for their progeny is a clear indication that concern for ‘other living beings was an aspect of Vedic religion In Book 1. 164 they pray for the safety of all things great and small, of the steeds and cows, for their crops and their progeny. ‘Non-injury’ has been differently addressed in the Atharva Veda, which contrary to the present circumstances, entreats that what has been dug out from the earth, by way of food and agriculture, ‘let that quickly grow over; let me not hit they heart, …’ Yajna or sacrifice was very popular during the Vedic period which naturally raises a question about Vedic ‘ahimsa’. Sacrifice However can be interpreted from a scientific and ecological perspective as a symbolic representation of the Balance of nature or ‘Rta’. Prof., Laurie L. Patton reasoned that animal sacrifice in ancient India justifies the claim that, as inherent processes in nature, decay and violence are necessary for nourishment, and that creativity requires a movement between life and death. (Nature Romanticism and Sacrifice in Rig Vedic Interpretation, pg 39. Hinduism and Ecology. The Intersection of Earth, Sky and Water, Ed Christopher Key Chapple&MaryEvelyn Tucker. O.U.P.2001). This can also be termed ‘Ecotheology’ that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. Besides, cosmological functions are sacrificial if we remember the ‘Purusha-Sukta’which suggests a natural kenosis, in order that the whole world might come into being.

The vow of Ahimsa as the avoidances of injuring life by any act of thoughtlessness in any movable or immovable thing is the primary code of conduct for the Jains. This follows from the Jain metaphysics that all life monads are fundamentally fellow creatures as they are permeated by the same life force, that enters into them so to say, to the tip of their nails, ‘as a razor may be put in a case’ (ref Br Up.1.6.7. Trans Swami Madhavananda, Advaita Vedanta Ashram Kolkata).
“He who is disinclined from killing the smallest living beings knows what suffering is because he who knows his own happiness and pains, knows others' too, and he who knows others' feelings knows his own feelings. This is the way one must compare himself with others. He who has obtained this knowledge would not wish to live at the expense of other living beings." (Agama text Acharang Sutra, stanza 1.6.55). Not only animals and plants but also indwelling molecules of matter are alive, the basic laws of life being constant throughout, the Jains practice ‘Ahimsa’ even upon the smallest, mutest, least conscious being. Although worship of stones, rivers, mountains and groves was prevalent in ancient times and finds importance in Indian religions, conferring feeling to them is unique to Jainism. The two principal tattvas or categories in Jain metaphysics are ‘jiva’ and ‘ajiva’. Jiva is pure intelligence and ajiva pure non-intelligence. There is a further subdivision of the jiva into mundane and released. The mundane that possess internal sense are ‘samanaska’, while those without it are ‘amanaska’. The Jains have classified the ‘amanaska’ into the ‘locomotive’ or ‘trasa’ and the ‘immobile’ or ‘sthavara’. Interestingly the Jains assign at least two senses (touch and taste) to ‘trasa’, which include such life forms as shellfish, worms, to those having four and five senses. The sthavara or immobile are those life monads existing on the elemental level and have only the sense of touch. They feel and respond to touch and are therefore known as ‘ekendriya’.

One who neglects or disregards the existence of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his existence, which is entwined with them. Hence the Jain scriptural aphorism ‘Parosparopagraho Jivanam’ The Jain call to honour every life form and natural resources is an excellent example of environmental consciousness in Indian philosophy. This idea is in agreement with the Vedantic view of Brahma as the power, which creates, and supports the worlds, the eternal principle of all beings, who lives whole and undivided in each one of us. (The system of the Vedanta. Paul Deussen. Trans by Charles Johnston. Karen publications. Delhi. 1987).
So Mahavira ‘s first teaching was ‘reverence’. If one has reverence for the ‘Indweller’ he will have reverence towards everything. The Jain concern for environment is remarkable! The Rig Vedic philosophy that the natural world in all its forms issues following the sacrifice of the ‘Virat Purusha’, (R.V. bk 10. 90.) is continued here as the Jains believe that each and every object both living and non-living contains soul. Intentional or unintentional violence against any life form violates the cosmic harmony generating negative vibrations. Their philosophy of ahimsa can be summarised as:-
1. Live and let live. Love all; Serve all
2. Where there is love there is life. Violence is suicide.
3. All living beings love to live. No one wants to die.
4. All souls are alike and potentially divine. None is superior or inferior
5. Just as I dislike pain, so all other beings dislike pain.
6. Have compassion towards all living beings. Hatred leads to destruction.
7. Self control is non-violence; so is silence
8. Not only refraining from physical violence, ‘ahimsa’ includes non-injury by word and thought.
Religion has a wide connotation in Indian tradition; it is more a way of life than a way of thinking. It is not withdrawal from life but life itself. ‘Ahimsa’ is a path that is capable of resisting ‘disharmony’ and ensuring that man lives his religion. This has been reflected in the following lines:-
The king of hills may waver
And cold the fire may grow,
The rock may swim in the water,
And the moon send forth rays of heat
The sun may rise in the West
But in the killing of beings
Religion can never consist. (Harischandra Kaviratna From Sunrise magazine, March 1973. Copyright © 1973 by Theosophical University Press).
In Buddhist traditions, ‘ahimsa’ has been analysed from a different standpoint; the emphasis is on ‘Karma’ (to be understood as effect of action). The doctrine ‘Pratitya samudpada’ or dependent origination conveys a significant message, which Thich Nhat Hanh, of the Vietnamese Zen tradition has interpreted as the ‘Interbeing’. The basic idea is of mutual interdependence. According to Buddhist cosmology all things in the universe come into being, ‘arise’, as a result of certain specific conditions. The Buddhists do not posit ‘God’ as Creator neither is there any first cause. Assemblage of certain conditions gives rise to certain effects.
‘ When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn't, that isn't.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that’ (SN 12.61 Assutava Sutta
Translated from the Pali byThanissaro Bhikkhu Copyright © 2005 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.)
From the perspective of ‘Pratitya samutpada’, it implies that our existence becomes intimately related to causes removed from ourselves, yet, inextricably linking us with everything around us and at the same time denying us any autonomous existence. Hence Buddhism emphasises that all aspects of nature are inseparably connected. Harming the environment (the nexus of living beings of which one forms but a part) is thus in a non-trivial sense harming of oneself. “Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out indefinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel at the net's every node, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that the process of reflection is infinite”. (The avatamsaka sutra. Francis H. Cook: Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra. 1977). This philosophical position provides an important clue for solving the crisis with which we are presently threatened. The alienation which modern civilization has brought along with it is to a great extent responsible for this detachment with our environment. The ‘cause of suffering’ as the Buddha explained in the second noble truth, lies in our fragmented view of the world. We continue to exist as separate selves, in separate worlds, with separate goals, the truth however is the phenomena of relatedness as Thoreau observed, when we try to pick out anything by itself; we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
Ahimsa has been looked upon as the greatest virtue in the Indian epic ‘Mahabharata’. In the Anusasana Parva, Yudhishthira questioned Bhishma about the merits and demerits of eating flesh to which the latter replied, a man who wished to increase his own flesh by the flesh of another living being is such that there is no one meaner and crueler than him. In this world there is nothing that is dearer to a creature than his life. Hence instead of taking that valuable possession one should show compassion to the lives of others, as one does to ones own life. So the ‘Mahabharata’ declares ‘Ahimsa paromo dharmo’
Ahimsa is cultivation of forgiveness, universal love and friendliness as exemplified in Bengal Vaisnavism. The supreme end is not happiness in the ordinary sense of the term but devotional joy (prem- bhakti). The word ‘bhakti has been derived from the root ‘bhaj’ meaning complete servitude or ‘seva’ of the lord. It demands entire submission to Him in body, mind and work. This philosophical school explains that the ‘jivas’ (individuals) are parts of the Lord’s power so it is only natural that they should serve Him. This is because the part is in, for, and by the whole, and it is its intrinsic nature to serve the whole even as the roots and branches serve the tree. What is of importance is this relatedness with God. A true Vaisnava sees God in all beings and reasons that all beings including himself as parts of God. ‘sarva-bhutese yah pasyed bhagavad-bhavam atmanah
Bhutani bhagavaty atmany esa bhagavattottamah’ (Caitanya Charitamrita3.20.25).
From this follows the as in Buddhism and Jainism, God is the same in all beings, it is a sin to despise any one. A true Vaisnava believes that all beings continue to exist by the love of God who dwells in all bodies. He thus pays respect to all creatures, as each of them is an abode of Krishna the Lord. “Uttama hana vaisnava have nirabhimana
Jive sammana dive jani Krishna adhisthana (C.C.3.20.25).
Vaisnavism inculcates mental and verbal non-violence towards self and towards others, is compassionate, free from spite, having truth as the essence of his very being, equable, generous, doing good to all, honouring all; a true Vaisnava should be more humble than a blade of grass, tolerant like a tree, desiring no honour for oneself, but rendering honour to all those who deserve it. “…trinad api sunicena, taror api sahishnuna amanina manadena, kirtaniya sada hari: (Caitanya Cariamrita Adi 17.31).
Ahimsa is, not causing pain and suffering to others including plants and animals. This is inherent in Indian customs like the ‘Vat-Savitri Vrata’which is in fact a form of tree-worship. Legends associate it with ‘Savitri’ a princess was married to Satyavan who was destined to die within a year of their marriage. When the fateful incident happened and ‘Yama’ the ‘Lord of Death’, appeared to make his claim, Savitri pleaded with Him and begged Him to return Satyavan’s life. Yama refused, but Savitri was persistent in her claim. However, her unfailing devotion and love for her husband compelled Yama to return Satyavan’s life. It is believed that Satyavan was laid under a banyan tree while Savitri continued pleading to the God of Death. The Banyan tree has thus become a symbol of women’s power that can stand firm as the tree to shield and preserve her family. Thus on the full moon day of Jyestha (may-June), married women keep a fast and offer prayer to the tree. Because they do not stop growing, trees symbolise reproduction, especially the flowering and the fruit-bearing species. Indian fig tree, (Vat) whose branches root themselves like new trees over a large area give rise to more trunks and branches. Because of this characteristic and its longevity, this tree is considered immortal
Vat-Savitri Vrata
. The cult of tree –worship may have always existed and seals discovered in Mohenjodaro depict the worship of Aswattha or peepal (The Indus Civilization A contemporary Perspective. Gregory L. Possehl. Vistaar Publications New Delhi 2002. pg 59, fig 3.1). In the 10th chapter of the Gita Lord Krishna said, “Among all the trees I am Ashwattha…” With its root above, its branches below the Ashwattha is said to be imperishable…(B.G.15.1,2) The Lotus, literally meaning is “born from the mud,” (Sanskrit panka-Panka” means mud and ja means “born) the Lotus symbolizes ‘non-attachment’. It has its roots in the mud from which it grows, yet it is ever unsullied as it floats on the water, and any drop of water that touches it immediately slides off. The lotus is ever pure and aloof from the world. It is in the world, but not of the world. It is the seat of Gods and Goddesses, like Lakshmi, (the Goddess of Wealth)

In recent times, Mahatma Gandhi has been the pioneer in campaigning the cause of ahimsa. In fact he challenged violence with ahimsa as his weapon. He defined ‘ahimsa’ from two different aspects: - in its negative sense it simply meant avoidance of acts harming others, while in its positive sense, it denoted promoting their well –being based on infinite love. Prof Bidyut Chakravorty explains, that Gandhji gave a comprehensive definition of ‘ahimsa’ drawing from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions, as compassion that is equated with love. (Social and political thought of Mahatma Gandhi. Bidyut Chakraborty. Routledge Studies in Social &Political Thought. Oxon 2006 pg 73).For him ahimsa meant ‘both passive and active love, refraining from causing harm and destruct ion to living beings as well as positively promoting their well- being’. (Harijan, 7th July 1946) Further, it connotes the largest love, the greatest charity, even towards my enemy. (Social and political thought of Mahatma Gandhi. Bidyut Chakraborty. Routledge Studies in Social &Political Thought. Oxon 2006). He however remarked that like charity it should begin at home. If one does not observe ahimsa in ones personal relations with others, he cannot use it in bigger affairs. For Gandhji, ahimsa was a social virtue to be used for the uplift of the society. He believed that a virtue ceases to have use if it serves no purpose in every walk of life. Ahimsa is not a cloistered virtue to be practised by the individual for his peace of mind and final salvation, but as a rule of conduct for society if its members are to live consistently with human dignity. Gandhiji’s ‘non-violence’ became his weapon, the active force against all oppressions. Non-violent resistance does not rely on strong muscles, devastating armaments and fiendish poison gases, but on moral courage, self control, on the gripping awareness that there is in every human being, however brutal, however personally hostile, a burning light of kindness, a respect for goodness and truth which can be roused by anybody who uses the right method. Questions may be raised whether non-violence is an escapist attitude, a passive state of existence, to which the Mahatma remarked that non-violence is not doing nothing, nor is it an excuse for cowardice or weakness. It is the expression of strength, of refusing to co-operate with evil. Gandhi’s non-anthropocentric position respects not only human beings but also all creatures.
The most salient features of this discussion can be traced back to Vedic cosmology where creator is inherent in creation. This leads to the position that everything is a continuation of the divine, hence sacred. Ahimsa evolves as a respect for the Creator and his creation. It is similar to respecting and preserving a work of art. This attitude of non- violence is translated as non-injury towards all by the Jains and Buddhists. In Vaishnava philosophy it suggests , tolerance, forbearance and universal love, while Mahatma Gandhi made it the most formidable weapon to resist himsa

Prehistoric ReligionIt would appear that religion in some form or other has been an essential element in the life and culture of humankind throughout the ages, going back far beyond the threshold of history. Moreover, many of the beliefs and practices of the later and higher religions, both ancient and modern, are rooted in their prehistoric prototypes of the Old Stone Age, a period lasting roughly from about 500,000 BC to 10,000 BC. This phase therefore has its place and significance in any study of the religions of the world, past or present. The difficulty, however, about such an inquiry is that nearly all the available data are confined to those concrete survivals like graves, sacred places and their contents, sculptures, bas-reliefs, engravings and paintings that have escaped the ravages of time. Their interpretation must be to some extent conjectural, but much of the material has survived, little changed, in everyday occurrence among the peoples who live today under conditions very similar to those of early humans. If employed with proper caution such evidence can afford useful and illuminating clues to the purpose and meaning of prehistoric religion.Since of all mysterious events the most prominent, puzzling, disturbing and arresting is that of death, it is not surprising that centred on what was to become a highly developed cult. Various forms of this seem to go back in China to a very early period in the Old Stone Age, estimated by Professor Zeuner as being in the region of 500,000 years ago. Thus, in the caves near Peking, indications have been found of the cutting off and preserving of the heads of some of those interred, either to keep them as trophies or to abstract their contents to be eaten in order to obtain the vitality of the deceased. And this is by no means an isolated instance, skulls having been treated in a similar way in Europe before the arrival of the species homo sapiens, towards the end of the fourth phase of the Pleistocene Ice Age, about 70,000 BC.Skulls found in the Placard cave in Charente in France had been made into drinking cups, which suggests that they were used for sacramental purposes. Similar vessels have been found in the Dor-dogne, near the village of Les Eyzies, now well known as a centre for decorated caves, and again at Puentc Vicsgo not far from Santander in Spain, in a cave called Castillo, full of paintings.In this phase of the Old Stone Age the corpse was often laid in a grave containing red ochreous powder, sometimes with quantities of shells and other objects in bone and ivory. The ochre represented blood, the life-giving agent, and there were often shells, like cowries, in the grave, shaped in the form of the portal through which the child enters the world. These emblems were associated with the female principle, and were widely used as fertility charms and givers of life. Therefore, if the dead were to live again in their own bodies, to colour the bodies red was an attempt to revivify them and make them serviceable to their occupants in the hereafter.Near Nordlingen in Bavaria, nests of skulls have been found, twenty-seven in each of two caves, and six in another. The heads had been intentionally cut off the trunk with flint knives after death, and then, dried and ceremonially preserved in the nest with the faces looking westward. Some were crushed, and had apparently been added later.It was not only the skull which received this ritual mortuary treatment however. A number of skeletons have been discovered, ceremonially interred with very great care and supplied with grave goods. At Le Moustier in the Dordogne, a great centre of mid-Palaeolithic culture, the skeleton of a youth was laid to rest on its right side with the forearm under the head and the cranium resting on a pillow of flint chips. Near the left hand was a fine oval axe, and a scraper was placed not far away with the burnt bones of a prehistoric ox above the skull, suggesting a funeral feast.In a low-roofed cave close to the village of La Chapelle-aux-Saints in the Department of Correze, a well-preserved Neanderthal skeleton was deposited with its face to the west in a pit dug in the middle of the marly floor, and wedged into position by several stones. The legs were folded, and near the hand was the foot of an ox, with the vertebral column of a., the outward expression of one of the most vital aspects of prehistoric religion, can be found in the treatment of the dead the earliest traces of religious belief and practice have clustered round the burial of the dead,.. Having little understanding of natural processes and their laws beyond their own observations, early people felt the need of establishing friendly and beneficial relations with the ultimate reality behind the mysterious phenomena around them, however this may have been interpreted. In all probability it constituted their conception of divine providence, the transcendent universal good, greater than themselves and the source of all bounty and beneficence, controlling their destiny. This concept of deity at once above and within the world was not very far removed from what in our idiom could be described as both transcendent and immanent.The Concept of DeityThis speculation was in line with the evolutionary thought of the period in which it arose, but it has now become apparent that it was too neat and tidy, too specialized and intellectualized an approach to explain accurately the origin and development of religion and of the concept of deity.The recurrence of this conception of deity in all states of culture and phases of religious development from prehistoric times onwards suggests that it arose spontaneously. It was the expression of some inborn thought and feeling, rather than a developed kind of knowledge about the universe and natural phenomena. Its highest expression undoubtedly has been in its monotheistic idea of god as the sole creator and sustainer of all things. So far from polytheism passing into monotheism, speculation about the cosmos and its processes led to the peopling of the natural order with a multitude of spirits and gods, making the supreme being a very vague and inoperative figure obscured in the mist of animism and polytheism, unless it became a pantheistic impersonal absolute “Every religion is a product of human evolution and has been conditioned by social environment’ In order to appreciate the essence of ‘religion’ it is required to be aware of the social and natural setting that has made it. Religion as a mode of expressing gratitude, fear, and submission, to some unknown power is an organized method developed by man. Following Hopkins, we will, in this chapter, attempt a study of the relation between the three major forces of -nature-society-religion to man. The idea I wish to maintain here is not ‘religion’ as something abstracted from society, but as a vital element of cultural activity. My focus will be on the study of religion across a range of different cultures, or a cross-cultural investigation, with a view to determine the underlying unity of all religions. The natural environment in which early man found himself was also his first social environment. Man and nature stood face to face in direct interaction, experiencing intimately all natural phenomena and changes. He was another member in the natural setting as all other biotics and a biotics. He was nature’s subject and not its master. As nature was evolving, so was man. The mystery of nature was yet undiscovered, unknown and so evoked a mixed feeling of awe and wonder! Man submitted to this power. This accord with a power that was beyond him, whose presence he experienced and whose assistance he needed was the initiation of religion. Hence, religion is one of the earliest, the most constant, and the deepest and most engrossing forms of human reaction towards nature. Nature therefore is man’s first religion and nature worship, as we will see, his first religious act. This chapter is concerned with the ‘religion of man’. Religion in some form or other has been an indispensable element in the life and culture of humankind throughout the ages. Going far beyond the doorsill of history, the focus of this chapter will be on the prehistoric forms of religion, look for a comprehensive definition of, try to understand its nature, its various modes of expression, discuss the religious types, and question the need and impact of religion in the modern society. A comparative study of the religious life of ancient civilizations will be necessary to prove or disprove the fact that all religious beliefs are rooted in the instinct for self- preservation. If religion appeared first as a necessity, does it continue to be so? Has there been a shift in the role religion played in contriving the course of human history?Another important inquiry will be to appraise the responsibility of Universal religion in fostering world peace. It will also be a worthwhile to estimate the importance of tribal religions in making the diverse cultures of the world. We will start with an attempt to define ‘Religion The starting point of religion must be sought in something more comprehensive: in a belief in a sacred power which transcends the universe, and is its ground and support. This may not have been personified, and so it would seem to have been a vague conception of providence as a creative and recreative power operating in the food quest, sex, fertility, birth, death and the sequence of the seasons. When the idea of this potency acquired an independent life of its own in its various aspects and functions, it found expression in spiritual beings, ghosts of the dead and departmentalized divinities. These had many different shapes and forms, and characteristic features and functions of their own, emerging from a common providential source, incalculable, strong and good, determining the operations of nature and the destinies of humanity, at once above and within the world of time and space. The starting point of religion must be sought in something more comprehensive: in a belief in a sacred power which transcends the universe, and is its ground and support. This may not have been personified, and so it would seem to have been a vague conception of providence as a creative and recreative power operating in the food quest, sex, fertility, birth, death and the sequence of the seasons. When the idea of this potency acquired an independent life of its own in its various aspects and functions, it found expression in spiritual beings, ghosts of the dead and departmentalized divinities. These had many different shapes and forms, and characteristic features and functions of their own, emerging from a common providential source, incalculable, strong and good, determining the operations of nature and the destinies of humanity, at once above and within the world of time and space.
Whether or not the mother-goddess was actually the earliest attempt to give expression to the concept of deity, as we have seen, her symbolism was the most prominent feature in this aspect of prehistoric religion in the Upper Palaeolithic Age with its sculptured 'Venuses' and other emblems in the decorated caves. Subsequently, this life-symbol became the central feature in the cult of the Great Mother in the Ancient Near East, the Aegean, Crete and Western Asia, and when the king was identified with the sky as the source of transcendental vitality and beneficence, the queen was equated with the earth as the immanent principle essential to the bestowal of providential bounty. Therefore, as he was reborn as the gods he embodied by his consecration, so his consort became the mother-goddess in one or other of her several capacities as the creatrix, having been the dominant figure in the earlier cult.
As the Great Mother became more clearly defined, and consciousness of the duality of male and female in procreation was recognized increasingly, from being the Unmarried Mother personifying the divine principle in maternity she became associated with the young god as her son and consort. Then, while she remained the crucial figure, the goddess cult assumed a twofold aspect in the ancient seasonal drama in which both the partners in generation played their respective roles of creative energy, the one female and receptive, the other male and active. From Neolithic times onward phallic emblems were increasingly prevalent, though maternal imagery was predominant in Western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean, where in the first instance the male god was subordinate to the goddess





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. Definition of Religion. Etymologically, religion is derived from the Latin word ‘re,ligare, which means ‘to tie, to bind. This can be interpreted as that which binds human beings to each other and as a force or power to uphold and integrate. It is also an indication that through religion we are bound to God, that religion is the way which endeavors to lead us back to the world soul from Whom they are led astray. It generally indicates faith or belief concerning the supernatural, sacred or divine. Prof Gustav Mensching in ‘Structures and patterns of Religion’ defines religion as “Religion is experiential encounter with the sacred and the responsive action of man affected by the sacred.” (pg.5.MDS1976) This definition distinguishes the two basics of all religion. ‘Encounter with the sacred’, is acquaintance or coming into contact with the revered. This experience can happen through religious insights, through a vision as occurred to Moses in Mount Sinai, in an experience of faith which Swami Vivekananda witnessed, in the hearing of the word, to which Sree Chaitanya answered, when he left home, in inner enlightenment, like Gautama Buddha. . The objects through which this communiqué with the revered takes place can be anything though the most common is “Nature, with its variegated abundance of forms and its deeply mysterious ways…besides events in ones personal life, words and deeds of great religious men can also be objects of religious divination”. (pg.6) The responsive action of man affected by the sacred, his reaction to the divine call can be expressed through his whole life, like the Sufi saint Kabir, or Mirabai, as well as through folklore, mythology and various forms of arts. Religion is there for man and can be best understood through human activity, through life. Religion is also associated with practices, values, and institutions related with such beliefs given to explain humankind’s relationship with the universe, his desire to explain the inexplicable. In agreement with his philosophical analysis, Kant defines religion as fulfillment of all our duties as divine commands. Religion for Kant is just the performance of our moral duties to the neglect of sentiments and emotions. In contrast to “Religion within the limits of Reason,” Schleiermacher defines religion as the contemplation of and feeling for the Universe. He never lost sight of the importance of feelings and treated the feeling-experience as fundamental to religion. “Religion”, says James, “shall mean for us the feelings , acts and experiences of the individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine”(Varieties of religious experience pp34-35). Max Muller termed religion “a mental faculty or disposition which enables man to apprehend the infinite. Prof. E.B.Taylor in ‘ Primitive Culture’ defines religion as “a belief in spiritual beings.” Prof Menzies, in History of Religion states that religion is the worship of spiritual beings from a sense of need. Religion can also be defined as Man’s faith in a power beyond himself whereby he seeks to satisfy emotional needs and gain stability of life, and which he expresses in acts of worship and service not only towards the divine but also towards the society. A good definition of religion is yet to emerge, as there is a staggering amount of data, phenomena of human experiences and expressions, that might be characterized in one culture or another, by one criterion or another as religion. So, there are different forms of religion. What this study seeks is whether there is any arrangement of thought that links all the various forms, the historical development of modern religion from the natural, examine the influence society and religion exerts on each other and subsequently, responsibility of religion as a harbinger of world peace. Yet, we can undertake
only a rapid sketch, but such as is necessary for the proper working of the general theme. We will first consider the general trait of religion, as outlined in the ‘Encyclopedia of Philosophy’, and ‘Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics’. All religion, from the ani mistic to the modern, (a) believe in something sacred, something supernatural. (b) Make a distinction between the sacred and the profane. (c) Consists of certain ritualistic acts, focused on the sacred object. This can include anything, from igniting the holy fire, sacrifice, physical austerities, or simply meditation. (d) As religion is by definition a binding and preserving force, it enjoins a moral code for all its followers, who believe it to be sanctioned by the gods. This code has a positive and a negative aspect. The positive function, it congregates all those who abide by the same idea of the Holy. Negatively, it segregates all other forms of belief. It will not be wrong if religion were termed an integrating and disintegrating force’. The truth of this is witnessed throughout the globe. Every religion carries with it a special feeling ‘the religious feeling’ (awe, sense of mystery, passion, despondency, total submission, guilt, adoration), awakened in the presence of the Sacred Object, or during the practice of rituals. The universal characteristic of religion is prayer. It is the simplest method of communication with the Divine. Prayer can be a personal affair, or it can be a public event as the ‘Diwali’, the ‘Durga Puja’, and ‘Christmas’, which has an important social influence. A very common and central subject of all religions is ‘Cosmology’. the first verse of the Christian Bible ("In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth") indicates the only self-existent entity is God with all other things deriving from GodThe Babylonian creation myth is described in Enûma Elish. It existed in various versions and copies, the oldest dating to at least 1700 B.C.Ecosmogenies in Egyptian mythology, corresponding to at least three separate groups of worshippers. cosmogenies in Egyptian mythology, corresponding to at least three separate groups of worshippers.
· The Ennead, in which Atum arose from the primordial waters (Neith), and masterbated to relieve his lonelyness. His semen and breath became Tefnut (moisture) and Shu (dryness), respectively. From Shu and Tefnut, were born Geb (earth), and Nuit (sky), who were born in a state of permanent copulation. Shu separated them, and their children were Osiris (death), Set (desert), Isis (life), and Nepthys (fertile land). Osiris and Isis were a couple, as were Nepthys and Set.

· .
.
In the poem, the god Marduk arms himself and sets out to challenge the monster Tiamat. Marduk destroys Tiamat, cutting her into two halves which become the Earth and the sky. Later on, he also destroys Tiamat's husband, Kingu, and uses his blood to create mankindIncan account of creation is known based on what was recorded by priests, from the iconography on Incan pottery and architecture, and the myths and legends which survived amongst the native peoples. According to these accounts, in the most ancient of times the earth was covered in darkness. Then, out of a lake called Collasuyu (modern Titicaca), the god Con Tiqui Viracocha emerged, bringing some human beings with him. Then Con Tiqui created the sun (Inti), the moon and the stars to light the world. It is from Inti that the Sapa Inca, emperor of Tawantinsuyu, is descended. Out of great rocks Con Tiqui fashioned more human beings, including women who were already pregnant. Then he sent these people off into every comer of the world. He kept a male and female with him at Cuzco, the "navel of the world." In Islam all creation is attributed to Allah (the proper name for God in Arabic), the one and only God for Muslims. He is clearly identified as the "first cause" at numerous places in the Qur'an. Three instances follow:
(13:16) … Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Supreme
(57:3) … He is the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is Knower of all things
(112:1) … Say: He, Allah, is One
(112:2) … Allah is He on Whom all depend

As religion revolves round a focal point, ‘ God’ creation and the place of the individual in it are explained with reference to ‘him’. The world is not uncaused “In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, born Only Lord of all created beings.
He fixed and holdeth up this earth and heaven
By him, the heavens are strong and earth is steadfast, by him, light ‘s realm and sky-vault are supported. The pre-creative state
described in the Nasadya Sukta, as ‘…neither being nor not being. The atmosphere was not, nor the sky above it…No sign
was there, the day’s and night’s divider…Darkness was thereat first, concealed in darkness this all was indiscriminate chaos.
All that existed then was void and formless….’(RV x.129.). To bring order and harmony to the chaotic mass was the task of
Viswakarma ‘the sole god producing heaven and earth’ Dhatar, the great creator who formed in due order Heaven and Earth
., the regions of the air and light. a similar undefined pre-creative state of the universe in Egyptian cosmology ‘not yet, was the heaven, not yet the earth, men were not, not yet born were the gods, not yet was death…’(Pyramid of Peppy 1., 1.663). In ancient Greece, this
initial formless state of the universe is ‘chaos In Hermopolis, a creation myth stated that the world began in a cosmic egg, laid
by the colossal gander, Sibu.The egg is a sacred symbol representing fecundity, In Nordic mythology Yimir,the cosmic world
giant, came into existence and the body of Yimir was used to make the world; "From the flesh of Yimir the world was formed,
From his bones were mountains made,
And Heaven from the skull of that frost cold giant,
From his blood the billows of the sea".(o.Bray,The Elder Edda,p.47 This picture contains some specifications of an over-all purpose or point of the world and an indication of how the individual fits into it. The Babylonian creation myth is described in Enûma Elish. It existed in various versions and copies, the oldest dating to at least 1700 B.C.E.
In the poem, the god Marduk arms himself and sets out to challenge the monster Tiamat. Marduk destroys Tiamat, cutting her into two halves which become the Earth and the sky. Later on, he also destroys Tiamat's husband, Kingu, and uses his blood to create mank ind
Religion is a means which relates or binds man with some power, higher or Supreme, which we call God.Religion, establishes the union between man and God. The whole nature of man is involved in such a union-through cognition,emotion and volition. The nature of such a union is spiritual because the supreme is pure consciousness the ‘sat-chit-ananda’.
Any body of thought ,belief or activity ,to be termed religious must have (a)belief in something sacred.
(b) a distinction between divine and profane.
© Ritual acts focused on the sacred objects.
(d) a moral code believed to be sanctioned by the Gods.
(e) characteristically religious feelings (awe, sense of mystery, guilt, adoration, which tend to be roused in the presence of sacred objects and during the practice of the rituals.
(f) prayer and other forms of communication with the sacred
(g) a world view , or a general picture of the world as a whole
(h)a theory of creation
(i)a place of worship









A social group bound together by a common faith.
Almost all these traits are present with individual modifications in all religions, ancient or modern. To be declared a religion then there must be belief in a supernatural power regarded as sacred, ways and means to seek its protection and benevolence, an accepted code regarding food marriage and other social activities, a common notion regarding death, soul and life thereafter. The difference between the various religions as we will have occasion to witness, is only in form not content. Why then do we not have a common religion and why did certain religions perish? How then do we distinguish between ancient and modern religions? To get a comprehensive view of ‘Religion’, I have divided the study in the following manner:
Religion of the ancient world -Animism
Tribal religion-Totemism
Ethnic Religion-Egypt, Babylonia, Mionia, Maya
Modern Religion- Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.
.
Religion of the ancient world
The primeval man ,in presence of the moving spectacle of nature, conceived to be the expression of living power, felt an awe in which fear, wonder, reverence were mingled. Early man lived in the unity of an undivided and unreflected life. He stood not against the natural world but lived in harmony with it. The manifold powers that animate the world also enlivened him. This was a stage when subject and object, as well as object and object were not exactly distinguished. Man essentially participated in everythingand in the depths of all things felt an essential identity which he expressed through his religion.
Animism is the oldest known religious attitude, with its origin likely dating to the Paleolithic age. Etymologically derived from anima meaning breath or soul, it was a system of thinking based on the belief that what is active is alive and that being alive is having the spirit that is the seat of life (activity). It is the reflection of the natural environment conditioned by man’s incessant struggle for self-preservation and every day struggle for existence. From the standpoint of both culture and religion, animism may be described as that root which sinks deepest in human experience and continues even today. No stage of culture, no great religion has been able to disown some of the commonest heirlooms left by this primitive mode of thinking. Animism explains all the phenomena of nature by attributing them to a spiritual agency. The concepts that humans have souls and those souls have life apart from human bodies before and after death are central to animism It is that stage of human history when, any object, rock, river, plant, was believed as possessing emotional, volitional and act ional potency like man himself. For anything to be alive is to have the same sort of life force, which man believes he possess.. In the animistic worldview, the human being is a member of the natural community and share the realm with others including plants animals, minerals, and natural phenomena. It is significant that the objects of worship did not cross the limits of mundane life. They were mainly those which aroused his curiosity or generated the emotion of fear .As Professor Hopkins observed that it may seem that the ancients worshipped a bewildering jumble, yet he never worshipped anything “…save what he imagined behind these phenomena…. power”(Hopkins Origin and Evolution of Religion P13). In the Germanic tribe, a big oak tree was supposed to have super-human power. In ancient China, human beings were considered as child born between heaven and earth, where heaven was the father and earth mother. In the South Pacific, primitive communities, as well as in India the earth is believed to have a soul and is revered as the ‘mother’ from which everything springs. “On whom are the ocean and the river, the waters; on whom food plo
wings came into being; on whom quickens this that breathes, that stirs….On whom the people of old formerly spread themselves ;on whom the gods overcame the Asuras; the station of kine, of horses, of birds-let the earth assign us fortune, splendor”(Atharva Veda 12.3,5).The Mother Goddess the symbol of the earth’s fertility and creative force of nature was worshipped under many names; Astarte (Syria)Ceres (Rome), Cybele (Phrygian), Demeter (Greece), Ishtar (Babylon) and Isis (Egypt)..
. The worship of animals was simultaneous with those of natural objects and the two existed side by side. The animist attributed to animals the same sorts of ideas, the same soul, the same mental processes as himself, which may] also be associated with greater power, cunning, or magical abilities.It is partly based on the fact that animals possess qualities that humans lack or have in lesser measures, such as strength or speed, and which inspire fear. Another factor is the mysteries that surround certain animals and this also gives cause for worship.An example is the snake. It is feared, yet in many cultures it is held sacred; it has healing properties or is associated with healing (it is the symbol of the healer god) and it is a symbol of immortality (the shedding and renewing of the skin). Important snakes in mythology are the Egyptian z, the world-serpent Jormungand, Ananta of the Hindus, and of course the great Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec.The Hebrews worshiped serpents down to the days of King Hezekiah, and the Hindus still maintain friendly relations with their house snakes. The Chinese worship of the dragon is a survival of the snake cults. The wisdom of the serpent was a symbol of Greek medicine and is still employed as an emblem by modern physicians. In Hindu religion and mythology, the snake is one of the most significant and frequently recurring symbols. Strangely, it is the symbol of both birth and death, reconciling these contradictions within itself. Snake worship precedes idol worship, and while practices have evolved to focus more on deities conceived as superhuman, snake worship is still prevalent in all parts of India
. The Indus Valley civilization of 3000 B.C. gives evidence of the popularity of snake-worship. In modern India, serpent worship is performed in all parts of the country. Battis Shirala is a tiny, obscure village in the south of Maharashtra. It is said that this area has a greater snake population than anywhere else in the world. The festivities are at their most colourful in this village. In Kerala, snake temples are crowded on this day and worship is offered to stone or metal icons of the cosmic serpent Ananta or Sesha. Puja rooms in many Kerala homes have silver or copper cobra that is worshipped and offered milk. In West Bengal and parts of Assam and Orissa, the snake deity worshipped on Naga Panchami is the Goddess Manasa. The cow is referred to as Gomata. She represents the Earth, the nourisher, ever-giving, undemanding provider. In the Indian tradition, the cow is honored, garlanded and given special feedings at festivals, most importantly the annual Gopashtama festival. The Rig Veda says “May the wind blow upon our cows with healing; may they eat herbage full of vigorous juices. May they drink water rich in life and fatness: (10.159.1) Animals are frequently regarded as the abode, temporary or permanent, of the souls of the dead. Respect for them is due to two main reasons: (a) the kinsmen of the dead desire to preserve the goodwill of their dead relatives: (b) they wish at the same time to secure that their kinsmen are not molested and caused to undergo unnecessary suffering. The geographical character of a place largely determines the worship of animals. Thus, the bear enjoys a large measure of respect East Asia among the Siberian tribes. The bear is traditionally associated with Bern in Switzerland, and in 1832 a statue of Artio, a bear goddess, was dug up there to connect the Greek goddess Artemis with a cult of the bear; girls danced as "bears" in her honor, and might not marry before undergoing this ceremony.
Another animal worshipped and protected is the elephant and more so the white elephant. Just before the birth of the Buddha Mayavati dreamt of a white elephant and throughout South east Asia, India, Ceylon it is believed that a white elephant may contain the soul of a dead person, perhaps a Buddha. If one is captured animal cannot be bought or sold.. In some parts of Indo-China, the belief is that the soul of the elephant may injure people after death; a whole village therefore fetes it. In Cambodia, it is held to bring luck. Religion is an expression of the social and economical circumstances in which man finds himself and is largely shaped by the drive to survive. Acknowledging the benefits received from animals and admitting their natural instincts, animals were regarded as sacred. Their power, their cunning, their keen sense of smell, their ability to see in the dark, were regarded as symbolic of supernatural guidance. They also honored the animal's superior strength, speed, and fertility, and the animal became recognized as symbolizing these powers. These people always held the animal sacred because it shared a vital part of their lives, and they recognized their dependency upon the animal. It is not surprising to find that many people respect and even worship animals, often regarding them as ancestors of there clan.or protector of their community. The Egyptians believed that specific species were adored by each god or goddess, and by honoring that animal, they would please the god. Animals were believed to be the incarnation of the god or goddess. Upon the animal's death, a young replacement was found to represent the god or goddess. Dead animals are sometimes credited with a knowledge of how their remains are treated, potentially with the power to take vengeance on the hunter if he is disrespectful The human race was not considered superior to the animal world. Both had been created by the gods to share the earth as partners.
.. Among other objects of worship were creatures that were regarded as half human and half animal, such as centaurs and mermaids.

The Cosmic Law

PRELIMINARY
‘Nature’ is one of those words in English vocabulary that has the most multifarious and often overlapping renderings. Nature can be material as Aristotle defines it as the primary matter, shapeless and unchangeable from its own potency, of which any natural object consists or from which it is produced. He further explained that the primary and proper meaning of Nature is the essence of things, which have in themselves (qua themselves) a principle of motion. 1 (Aristotle’s Metaphysics, pg 8.ed trans John Warrington. Everyman’s Library. Dent: London. 1966).
Nature is a totality of ‘things that are and that are not’, observed John Scotus Eriugena the Irish philosopher. Things that are perceived by the senses or are penetrable by the intellect are the things that are, while objects that transcend the power of the intellect are things that are not. This fails to define Nature exhaustively, because Nature is not only the natural world but also spiritual. So Eriugena clarified that Nature, which creates and is not created is God himself who is the cause of all things but is Himself without cause.2 Interestingly this observation associates Eriugena’s ‘Nature ‘with the ‘Purusa’ of Samkhya. Examining the varied manifestations of ‘Nature’ Heraclitus remarked, ‘Nature loves to hide itself.’3 (HERACLITUS The Complete Fragments. Translation and Commentary and The Greek text. William Harris, Prof. Emeritus Middlebury College).
Indeed the mysteries of Nature added to it a sublimity urging philosophers like Spinoza to look at ‘Nature and ‘God’ as interchangeable terms. God or Nature is a free and originating cause, and the only free, because the only self-creating cause (Natura Naturans). Nature/God is conceived as manifesting itself both as unique creator and the unique creation (Natura Naturata) in the same way as Supreme Soul Purushottama and the Supreme Nature Para Prakriti are identified in Indian philosophy. “Know this to be the womb of all beings; I am the birth of the whole world and so too its dissolution.”4 (The Gita 7. VI)
It is generally believed that man became religious long before he became a philosopher, where religion is a state of mind evoked by awe, wonder, humbleness, dependence and acceptance towards a force whose existence one can always experience but cannot explain then Nature is the first object of worship. This is marked in ‘Animism’, (anima meaning breath or soul) the oldest known religion dating back to the Palaeolithic age, which believes that everything existing in Nature possess a soul. Significant to our study is the animistic worldview where humans are considered a denizen of Nature rather than superior to or separate from it. There was no man-nature divide. Animism is basically Nature worship, the objects of worship being local trees, stones, springs etc.
As man progressed from hunter-gatherer to food –grower, he allocated souls to crops and interestingly agricultural people all over the world developed elaborate ceremonies to worship the corn deity. (Onam, Nabanna, Bihu), In India she is ‘Lakshmi’ the corn mother, goddess of abundance, in classical Europe Ceres and Demeter.
To sow your seed
Go naked; strip to plough and strip to reap,
If you would harvest all Demeter's yield
In season. Thus each crop will come in turn,
And later, you will not be found in need,
And forced to beg from other men, and get
No help. (Hesiod, Works and Days (trans. Dorothea Wender)
With the advent of universal religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism these Nature Gods lost their importance in almost all countries (especially Western), but India has been able to sustain the effects of such change.
A summary remark of the above views is- God and Nature is identical.
The Romantics might not have directly contributed to the above view but they established an oneness with Nature and looked upon Nature not as something external but an extension of their own persona. Thus Coleridge made had this genuine feeling… “In looking at objects of Nature while I am thinking as at yonder moon, dim, glimmering through the windowpane, I seem rather to be seeking for something within me that already and forever exists, than observing anything new.(Coleridge Appreciations pg 73 as in Nature , Walter Pater )
The advancement of science has changed our orientation towards Nature and it pointed not so much towards the Divine as towards ascertainable laws of the universe.19th century philosopher J.S.Mill gives very basic definitions of Nature- (i) it either denotes the entire system of things with their aggregate of all their properties or (ii) it denotes things as they would be apart from human intervention.5 (On Nature; Ethics ed Peter Singer, OUP, 1994 pg 273). Hence Nature can represent, following definition (i) a whole workhouse of activity, actions, reactions and relations a continuous process of making and becoming, or (ii) refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects – the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness – wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention. (Information from Wikipedia,). Nothing however suggests ‘sacred Nature’. The general argument is that given the knowledge we have of the natural world and the technique to intrude and interfere in with the course of natural events it is no longer possible to look upon Nature as sacred. Sacredness imposes certain restrictions; this is entailed in the very definition of ‘sacred’. So if we regard Nature as sacred we should treat it as having intrinsic worth exempt from ‘swapping’ of every kind. Keeping this in the backdrop, we enter the central theme of this chapter, - the Indian view of Nature, with a brief historical examination of the different philosophical schools. An assessment from such a study will, we hope lay the foundation of a value-based ethics of the environment.
The Indian Concept of Nature
I am come neigh to thee with balms, to give thee rest and keep thee safe.
I bring thee blessed strength; I drive thy weakening malady away (R.V. 10. 137.4)
The Indian attitude towards Nature is reverential will be evident as we proceed with our discussion. As an introductory I like to mention that appreciating Nature from the Indian aspect requires respect for the primal energy of life, always young and potent. It focuses on a relationship with the vital force from which everything issues and into which they return. “As from the blazing fire in thousand ways similar sparks proceed, so are produced living souls of various kinds from the indestructible and they also return to Him”(Taittareya Upanishad 2.1.1)
The most important characteristic of Indian philosophy is the manifestation of the Divine through Nature. “This world with all its changing appearances is but the manifestation of the supreme soul. From him are produced life mind and all the organs, ether air, light, the water, (and) the earth, the support of all”. (Taitt 2.1.3.). The reaction, which existed in the Palaeolithic age found continuation in the Indus –Saraswati civilization. Seals discovered in the Indus Saraswati basin bear evidence to this fact. The seal showing a nude female figure, head downward and legs stretched upwards, with a plant issuing out of her womb," may be a proto-type of Aditi/Lajja Gauri the personification of all the reproductive energies. Thus we are Nature’s children and all our tradition s and religious paraphernalia are Nature-centric Thus we are born of “The Holy Pair, of wondrous power, …These Heaven and Earth … Widely –capacious Pair, mighty, that never fail, the Father and the Mother keep all creatures safe”(RV 1.160.1-2). From this it is clear that we have a filial bonding with Nature and are duty bound towards its protection and preservation We protect nature as we would protect our child and respect her as we would respect our parents.
Egbert Richter-Ush
To acquire the most comprehensive Indian viewpoint on Nature we will concentrate on the following
Rta the cosmic law
Sristi cosmology
Panchabhutas the five eternal elements
Ahimsa non-injury
Rta the cosmic law
Do we not sense an undetectable but well-established pattern governing our life? Childhood, youth, old age and finally death is a course set for everything, animate and inanimate; the river runs to the sea, day follows night and night day, the moon changes its phase at a regular and fixed interval causing the rise and fall of tides suggesting that all these events have been pre- planned and set to motion irreversibly. Does this not suggest that the whole frame of this Universe is pervaded by a subtle power that initiates, processes and oversees all the proceedings of this huge workshop? Scientists like Einstein was convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive. [c. Dukas and Hoffman] His [the scientist's] religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. [The World As I See It]. http://members.aol.com/heraklit1/einstein.htm
Appropriate to the harmony they observed in the external world and in the happenings within them (as part of the same world), the Rig Vedic philosophers accepted a law to which everything would be subject. This law in the form of a Universal Order they termed ‘Rta’. It is the personification of that power of regulation and conservation that some refer to as Nature and some God.
Indian philosophy has recognized in Nature the essence of all that move and move not Nature have its own set of rules in accordance with which it operates. These are pre-existing settled order by which earth is to look upon Heaven, plants that blossom and bear seed, streams are spread across the field and the matchless lightning flash in the sky. – This is the established Law, the Rta; the pre-existing settled order into which we are born. Its uniqueness lies not only in ordaining but inducing harmony into the natural system. What could have been cacophony, Rta like an expert ‘opera-conductor’ translates it into the music of the Universe.
Einstein believed that the laws of Nature determine everything- it determines for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust – we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.
The focus of Natural law upheld by Rta is on the ‘entire’ universe and not on separate sections as it would disturb the balance and generate disharmony. It indicates a unity relentlessly striving for the preservation and continued maintenance and progressing towards perfection. That ‘One’ who in the unborn’s image hath stablished and fixed firm the world and its six regions is Rta (R.V. 1.164.6.)
Rta is sacred because it is eternal, Universal and unconditionally binding. Etymologically derived from the root ‘re ‘, it denotes fixed proper, right, fit, apt, suitable direction or course to be followed and truth.. (According to Bergaigne’s interpretation In ‘Vedic Religion’)
Rta functions as (a) the course of Nature or the regular or general order of the Universe; it is the wheel with twelve spokes (ratha-chakra) that eternally rotates around the Heavens. It does not wear out –in it rest the world of being. (R.V. 1 164.2).
(b). Rta is the norm or standard of all our actions. “To him who keeps the Law, both old and young, thou givest happiness and energy that he may live
(c) The social and ethical code of behaviour, restrain ing us from breaking the cords: ‘with this petition we strive to gain the powers of our forefathers.’(R.V. 1.89.3.) What would otherwise be mere external causal events, unconnected with unaffected by human thought and action has through this all-encompassing Rta made everything connected and involved. This has laid the foundation of a value attitude towards oneself and others.
. The events of the natural world are sequential, which again indicates the existence of a law or frame. So, ‘when the fair the Bright is come with her white offspring (dawn) to her the Dark one hath resigned her dwelling. Night sent away for Savitar’s uprising hath yielded up a birthplace for the Morning”. (R.V. 1.113.2,) This imparts the important message that Nature has place for every shade and every form, to suppress or interfere with it is to destabilize her. The relatedness between man and Nature, which is the essence of Indian environmental philosophy, is explicable through this Law of natural harmony Personified as the ‘Eternal Herdsman’, who never stumbles, approaching by his pathways and departing. He clothed with gathered and diffusive splendour within the worlds continuously travels. (R.V. 1.164.31). The interrelatedness and interdependence, a precondition to deal with this present crisis is in Nature and we have to realize it. This cosmic law speaks of a ‘whole’, of a unity and ‘Rta’ is indicative of this universal concord.
This is the Divine law, but ‘divinity’ does not indicate origin in a God, designated by a substantive even less by a proper noun .It is divine not because it was handed down, as the Ten Commandments’ were by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, but because it belongs to the nature of things. ‘Rta’, expresses the essence of man and of the other members of Nature, and the way they fit together. It is divine because it expresses the profound structures of a permanent natural order.
This Law, to which we are referring can bring up the question that we are simply cogs in a huge wheel moving because we are so arranged? An answer could be, “Whatever law of thine O God, Varuna, as we are men,
Day after day we violate.
Give us not as a prey to death, to be destroyed by thee in wrath,
To thy fierce anger when displeased.” (R.V. 1. 25.1-2). This passage is a suggestion to the contrary. If ‘Rta’ would be so compelling the option of violating it would not, I believe arise.
About this Law of Nature the Egyptians were aware; they observed regularity in the movements of natural objects. Every evening the lunar bark (moon) emerged out of Hades by the same door through which ‘Ra’ (sun) had passed through in the morning and as it rose in the horizon, the star lamp dotted over the firmament appeared one by one giving light here and there like a camp-fire in a distant army. . Each month, they noticed, there was a fortnight of youth and growing splendour followed by a fortnight of agony and ever-increasing pallor. The moon was born to die and died to be born again, twelve times in a year (ref, Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chaldaaea, Maspero.G London: SPCK 1892 pg 93-94). This universal order was in command of ‘Maat’ goddess of Truth, Balance, and Order. Owing to this connectedness among events in the natural world it was possible they argued, to predict the yearly inundation of the Nile.
The Greeks attributed Themis as mankind’s instructor of the divine law and order along with the traditional rules of conduct. She was the voice (themistes) who first inculcated the primal laws of justice and morality, such as the precepts of piety, the rules of hospitality, good governance, conduct of assembly, and pious offerings to the gods. . Unlike the word nomos, the term was not usually used to describe laws of human decree. Themis is the personification of the order of things established by law, custom, and equity.( Quintus Smyrnaeus. The Fall of Troy. Translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. 298 ff London: William Heinemann, 1913) consequently that he who does not justly perform his appointed duty may appear as a violator of the whole order of the universe. (Conford, F.M.From Religion to Philosophy, Harper Brothers, New York, 1957,pg12.)
Having noticed that the invisible and the visible worlds are subject to a Law or Order, in accordance with which the black earth bears wheat and barley, and the trees are laden with fruits, and the sheep bring forth and fail not, and the sea gives store of fish, the Prophet Zorathushtra applied to this Order the name ‘Asha Vahishta’, the Best Order, or the Highest Righteousness This order is the essence of the Divine Ahura Mazda, the all-good Beneficent Immortal equivalent to Eternal and all out of his good guidance, the people prosper.. ‘Asha’ is that arrangement in consonance with which the Natural scenario has been fashioned. (The Religion of the Good Life; Zoroastrianism, pg 66 Rustom Merancularasani, London). Referring to ‘ the Religion of the Chinese’, (Jan Jacob Maria de Grout) Rta is the ‘Tao’ the order and the way of the Cosmos Heaven and Earth began from this ‘Tao’ who It regulates the diurnal and annual ‘revolutions of the heavens’, and the two powers of light and darkness, summer and winter, heat and cold, birth and death, male and female, in and out. “It represents all that is correct, normal or right (ching or twan) in the universe; it does indeed never deviate from its course. It consequently includes all correct and righteous dealings of men and spirits, which alone promote universal happiness and life. (Jan Jacob Maria de Grout, The Religion of the Chinese. Macmillan, N.York.1910.pg, 174). When all things obey the laws of the Tao, they will form a harmonious whole and the universe will become an integrated organism Humans follow the Tao, by behaving ‘naturally’, the way they are intended to behave according to the law.
The ancient Mesopotamians believed in a universal law like other civilizations of that period. Goddess Ishtare, who is the light of the world …the light of heaven, who is supreme in might, exalted above all Gods. “Upon her are subject the laws of the earth and the laws of heaven,
The laws of the temple and the shrines,
The laws of the private apartments and the secret chambers
Where is the place where thy name is not?
Where is the spot where thy commandments are not known? (Ancient Mesopotamia; Literature Krishna Chaitanya, Orient Longman1964, 1995 pg.23)
Careful estimates of all the opinions lead s one to conclude that pre -Christian thinking acknowledged the presence of a law or order that was simultaneously physical and moral. This law immanent in the universe is the foundation of Indian philosophy encompassing the vast deep earth and the heavens and upholding it. No one is exempt from it. He too who fixes this law upholds it. (R.V. 4.32 10). It has given us the integrating power which is manifested in ‘Vasubhadika Kutumbakam’ the whole world is a family. Here whole is to be understood as all-inclusive, from the lowest to the highest order of Nature. This is the essence of the Indian attitude towards Nature.
This concept of Rta is intimately linked to the Indian ethics of the environment, where ethics includes besides, dos and don’ts, the question of preservation and continuation .In the earlier part of this discussion Rta has been referred to as the wheel, which initiates motion. From the environmental aspect it allows adaptation (with reference to evolutionary changes) and flexibility (to accommodate these changes), whereas from the societal aspect it is tolerance. By virtue of this our civilization has continued since 5000years, whereas contemporaries in Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, have succumbed to external forces.
Tolerance is acceptance that leads to harmony intolerance is discord. The environmental crisis, which threatens us today, is the result of intolerance. I have indicated earlier that with our increasing scientific knowledge and resulting egocentricism we dare to over step the directive laid down by ‘Dhatar’ the ‘Law Maker’ who formed in due order Heaven and Earth, the regions of Night, the air, and light.(R.V. 10)
The emphasis on the cosmic Law when environmental crisis is the issue is to impart the message that in the Indian way of thinking there is no dividing line between natural and supernatural, there is no area of life that is beyond ‘Rta’. Thus in its basic conceptual structure there is no place for any dichotomy between the moral and the natural; on the contrary the focus is on internal peace that manifests as external harmony. This is also an indication of the basic monotheism of Indian philosophy. “They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and ha is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman. ‘To what is one, sages give many a title: they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.”(R.V.1. 164.46). This harmony is embedded in the entire Universe as Rta- the wheel formed with twelve spokes, unweakened by the length of time rolling round the Heaven this ‘chakra’of during Order. Herein established, joined in pairs together, seven hundred sons and twenty*, working as a unit as a whole to maintain the stability of this universe. *(720 minutes =12 hours). The wheel is a symbol of relatedness between the parts , perfect agreement and balance within the entire structure which make possible the uninterrupted cycle of natural events. The emphasis is on integration on relatedness, as disintegration leads to decay which we are experiencing in the present. “Just as the nature of the earth is one, while beings each live separately, And the earth has no thought of oneness or difference: So is the Cosmic which connects us with the root, establishing the kinship between everything because we are born from the same seed. I am the seed of all existence. There is no being moving or still that that exists without me. (B.G). This is the quintessential of Indian aspect of Nature. All forms of life, from the universe itself down to the individual trees and seed and the very earth beneath our feet, is full of this Divine purpose of Nature. (Ranchor Prime calls this God, Artist, Creator, in ‘Hinduism and Ecology. Seeds of Truth.MBD.Delhi 1994, pg 4)
To sum up the forgoing discussion
· Rta-essence is harmony; designates ‘order, pattern observable in the natural world.
· Rta is moral law, the laws of nature. Gods abide by it. It represents dynamic, undecaying Nature.
· It is conservation. Rta is svata and dharma because it is unfaltering.
· It is Foundation of all relationships. Opposing Rta leads to discord. Rta maintains balance of the world.

Underlying this cosmic law is the One Universal Mind, suggesting a bond of friendship with the mortal. “How, and what love hath he for those who love him, who have entwined in him their firm affection? (R.V. 4. 23. 5 “we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible piper”, remarked Einstein. This law is the urge to move onwards, through right relationship and concord. So is ‘Rta’ environmental scenario. Alternatively, the ‘whole’ from which, as we will discuss later, everything has been caused, allow no division in any of its experiences. Yet we cannot resist asking, “What was the tree, what wood in sooth produced it, from which they fashioned out the earth and heaven? (R.V. 10. 81. 4).