GeoJournal 26.2 1 3 5 - 1 3 8 © 1992 (Feb) by Kluwer Academic Publishers

135

Indian Attitude towards Nature

Pandeya, R. C., Prof. Dr., University of Delhi, Department of Philosophy, Delhi 110 007, India

To unders tand the Indian mind and culture one needs to explore the a t t i tude that the Indian people have adopted towards nature. The Indian view is bo th the cause and the effect of man ' s involvement in and with nature. Geographica l condi t ions have been responsible for shaping the Indian mind and life, but Indian thought has also given a distinct perspect ive on nature. This dual character of man ' s re lat ion to nature has impar ted a un iqueness to the Indian at t i tude towards nature.

The Contemporary Scene

M o d e r n man, having gained the knowledge of nature ' s secrets, has employed technological means to construct industr ial society as a rival to the society roo ted in nature. He cultivates, manipula tes , pol lutes and at t imes obl i terates nature , thinking that nature is an en igma which, if cannot be subjugated, should be annihi lated. This antagonist ic a t t i tude towards nature somet imes assumes an ex t reme form where closeness to nature is taken to be a sign of lack of culture, of barbar ism and backwardness. To be cul tured means , for many m o d e r n men, to be far r emoved from nature and to lead a life which is not in keeping with nature. That very cause which is responsible

for the pol lu t ion of nature gets s t reng thened when nature is avoided because of pol lut ion. No a t tempt is made to break this vicious circle by embracing nature with an open heart ; ra ther following the drift man hopes to overcome the horror of pol lu t ion by plugging a hole here and modify ing a structure there. M o d e r n man in industr ial society has created a p rob lem which threa tens his own existence and survival, little realizing that a major cause of this impending disaster is his antagonist ic a t t i tude towards nature.

In this paper I a t tempt an exposi t ion of the Indian point of view explaining it in terms of (i) the metaphysics of nature and (ii) na ture as an object in religion. This dis t inct ion be tween rel igion and metaphysics can not, of course, be neat ly drawn. Especially in the Indian context every major rel igious posi t ion has some under lying metaphysics and every metaphysics demands some practice to realize it. Just as pure speculat ion outs ide a world-view has no authentici ty, so also a world-view which cannot be given a concrete shape has no substance.

Nature in the Polytheistic Framework

In the very early per iod of the his tory of Indian people , when perhaps their Aryan forefathers were not yet set t led

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in that country which was to be known later as India, nature was viewed both with reverence and with awe. It was revered because it was the source on which man's life totally depended. It was as vital for man as was his own breath. Food and life were placed on a par and reverence for life was automatically transferred to nature which sustains life by providing food, water and shelter. Nature was conceived to be bigger, mightier and beyond man's control, whereas life was not only dependent on it for existence but also derived its essence from it. Thus not only reverence but reverential wonder accompanied by fear and awe were associated with nature.

In a polytheistic framework each distinct element of nature was given the name of a god having a distinct quality, function and power. The thunder god (lndra), the wind god (MaruO, the water god (Varuna), the fire god (Agni), to mention only a few of them, must have derived their origin from some such way of thinking of the Vedic Aryans. These gods were thanked for whatever they provided, they were praised so that they would supply what was needed and keep away their wrath and fury so that people could lead peaceful lives. The extent to which nature occupied a central position in the life and thought of that time is evident in the oral prayers and active worship by means of offerings given through fire, which was supposed to be the great messenger of the gods. The practice of sacrifice combined man's response to nature with nature's participation in the affairs of man. The idea of godhood (devas as gods were called) contains a sense of luminosity which means that gods were thought to be shining entities giving breath and vitality to nonluminous material nature. Trees, rivers and mountains were only physical manifestations of their respective gods; they in themselves in their physicality, in isolation from divinity, had no authentic existence.

This view of godhood consists in seeing divinity in every physical manifestation which is quite distinct from seeing life therein, what we call animism. The Vedic view of nature is not an animistic one. The two views, ie "the nature has life" and "through nature divinity manifests itself', have different sets of implications. The first view would imply equality of nature with man and the sense of equality would go on changing with every shift in our attitude towards other human beings. If man can wage war against other men he can, with equal force, undertake to destroy nature. Any view of nature which has this primitive idea of animism at its root would result in wanton destruction, distortion and pollution of nature, bringing with it a strong sense of competition. These implications are conspicuously absent from the Vedic world-view.

The second view mentioned earlier implies an exalted postition to nature. Nature no longer remains an entity unto itself; it is transformed into a symbol standing for the divine. Thus a river, a snow-peaked mountain, even a tree or fire or anything recognised to be a significent part of nature is viewed as pointing towards a god. It is over there, not as a competitor, not an adversary to be overcome, but as the abode of god who is to be constantly respected,

praised and pleased so that man could live on in peace, happiness and prosperity. The relation of men to nature in this way is thus mediated by a divine element and has the sanction of religious authority.

This curious combination of polytheistic, ritualistic religion and the metaphysics of divine manifestation of existence permeates the entire philosophical and religious outlook of the Indian people developed from Vedic times up to today. Various interpretations have been given to this combination which evolved through the continuous process of assimilation and abstraction of the Aryan people. At the religious level one finds polytheism giving way to monotheism and at the level of metaphysics the scene alternating between pluralism, dualism and absolutism with their various shades and emphases. We cannot consider all the phases of this development here. A few land-marks on this development offer illustration of the ways in which the Indian people have viewed nature.

Monotheistic Attitude

All the gods who found various natural elements for the manifestation of their power were gradually assimilated in one God, in the same way as diverse particular natural phenomena were assimilated earlier under various gods, like Indra, Varuna and so on. Under monotheism these various gods became manifestations of the Supreme God. In essence they became one, thereby a kind of divine unity was indirectly established in nature itself. Nature was regarded as a creation by God as a result of His own spontaneous variegated manifestation, or for the manifestation of lesser gods who were His prized manifestations. It was therefore through nature that one could reach Him easily. Once this symbolic character of nature was firmly established, a deeper religious identification of nature with God's glory became the accepted creed.

We find this phase beautifully elaborated in the famous religious philosophical text, the Bhagavad-G~t?t, in which all the spots of natural beauty, mountains, rivers, forests, oceans, are associated with religion. Banks of rivers or sea- beaches with beautiful surroundings became tirthas, the holy places (like Varanasi, Mathura, Madurai, Puri, Dvaraka etc.). Mountain tops, specially those which are not easily accessible became sanctified places (like Kailasa, Manasarovara, Badrinatha, Kedaranatha; the sources of the rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, in the Himalayas). Trees, especially those with uncommon botanical or medicinal properties, became sanctified objects (like the banyan tree, the Bodhi tree, the tulsi (which is planted and worshipped in every Hindu household even today), the Bilva and so on. Thus Godlike respect given to nature has its roots in the monistic metaphysics supported by monotheism. This fact has to be always kept in mind while trying to understand the Indian attitude towards nature. Otherwise one is likely

GeoJournal 26.2/1992 137

to commit the mistake of identifying Indian religious practices with some kind of animism, that is tree worship, stone-worship, animal-worship.

Nature as Viewed under Absolutism

Monism easily leads to Absolutism where even manifestations of God become just appearances of the Absolute, Brahmam. The idea of creation, which is very strong in the monistic tradition is soon replaced bythe idea of appearance, due to innate ignorance, in the locus which is the only Absolute existence. As in monism, Brahman still remains the cause of nature, yet the sense in which he is the cause is no longer creatorship but only as the one providing the basis on which nature appears to those who are not enlightened. Thus nature has no existence of its own; it derives its apparent character because there is the base, the Brahman, and there are beings who, incapable of knowing the Brahman qua Brahman, see instead nature. This is an idealistic Absolutism but never subjectivism; the status of nature is therefore not reduced to that of pure mental imagination. Nature remains the same, objectively out there, for each and every individual who has not yet transcended the sphere of ignorance. Hence though nature is not metaphysically denied, in fact anyone wishing to reach the Absolute has to go through the maze of nature where, at every step, he has to realize that behind nature there is absolute Brahman.

One can easily see that in Absolutism nature becomes an object to be transcended, to be overcome. It is the variegated form of nature that arrests man's attention to this world. In this philosophy nature is not an object of worship as a symbol of God, but it is still a pointer to Brahman in a negative sense, ie in the sense that nature is not Absolute. This philosophy has generated an attitude of apathy and resignation towards nature. Let nature behave the way it is designed to behave but man should not bother about it; he should not get entangled in its affairs.

Nature in the Framework of Dualism

In contrast to Monism and Absolutism, Indian intellectual history also has a set of attitudes towards nature based on the irreconcilable dualism of consciousness and that which is other than consciousness. This philosophy is more popular among the Indians, as it provides the dominant theme in the vast literature of the Puranas. Even the system of medicine, yoga, and a major section of Tantra are based on it. The Sanskrit equivalent of the English word "Nature" is "Prakrti'~ which is also the name given to non-conscious reality. In this philosophy nature is subject to change and growth in accordance with its own inherent dynamism. It does not depend for its behaviour on any agency, like God, external to itself. It is in this sense autonomous.

It must, however, be remembered that according to this philosophy the human body is as much a part of nature as trees, rivers and mountains are. Hence keeping within the principle of autonomy this philosophy will admit man's interference in the affairs of nature. According to another principle, the principle of identity of constituents, anything is identical in essence with every thing else in nature. Thus what happens in nature affects all the bodies and whatever happens to a body affects the nature outside to varying degrees depending upon the intensity of the happening. If the atmosphere is polluted, tampered with or altered it is bound to affect all the bodies directly, living in the vicinity and indirectly to nature all over the world. This effect is not confined to the body alone, it extends to mind and mental activities too like body, the human brain and other physiological and psychological faculties arc seen as products of nature. Though metaphysically speaking consciousness is supposed to be the principle of awareness, witnessing but never actually participating in nature, yet while existing in a body its awareness varies in accordance with what nature presents it to witness. In fact dualism of the uncompromising type being discussed here takes recourse to the overpowering character of nature in order to explain the co-existence and cooperation between body and consciousness in a person. Being active nature by its overpowering dynamism arrests and overshadows consciousness, preventing it from realizing its own distinctness from body and nature, which is the goal toward which every one ought to strive.

The principles on which this dualistitic philosophy is based are not rooted in any kind of mysticism. They are based on the prevailing scientific insight which led to the formulation of the causal theory of like producing like. Diseases were diagnosed and treated, in the science of medicine called Ayurveda, and consciousness was presented with the correct picture of nature where through yoga body, mind, and the surrounding atmosphere were divested of their overpowering character. Yoga is thus a technique whereby all the overtones and undertones of nature could be eliminated and nature presented to consciousness in its correct form. This dualistic philosophy is thus directed towards proper understanding and utilizaton of nature.

Nature in Practical Life

So far we have discussed some prominent religio- metaphysical frameworks within which nature is viewed throughout the history of Indian people. It may, however, be interesting to briefly review the actual treatment given to nature in practical life. For the people who are looking for places to settle down and establish community life nature has been both an obstacle and a helper. Forests had to be cleared, trees to be cut down, (incidently the root of the Sanskrit word "Vrksa'meaning tree is the same as the word for cutting), grounds to be levelled, streams to be

138 GeoJournal 26.2/1992

channel led before a proper habi ta t ion could be constructed. But then all bui lding materials and everything necessary for survival had to be ob ta ined f rom nature. Thus man found h imse l f in a dialectical re lat ion with nature.

Unlike the countr ies o f harsher climate, where man had to face host i le nature, in India one can rarely find an at t i tude of host i l i ty towards nature. Hence there have been a t tempts to achieve a balance be tween man ' s need and the preservat ion of nature. In and a round every city there had to be some forest, not only for the purpose of beautif icat ion but also for pleasure, games and medi ta t ion in silence. Al l the educat ional inst i tut ions were located ei ther deep in forests or nearby it. The principle has been to disturb the natural env i ronmen t to the m i n i m u m possible extent . Religious and phi losophical sanctions were used to

achieve this balance. It was o n l y w h e n cities deve loped and industr ia l izat ion was in t roduced in the beginning of the twent ie th century that indiscr iminate and wanton dest ruct ion of nature started. This was mainly due to en la rgement of the scope of man ' s need. This t endency was resis ted and in fact Gandhi ' s socio-polit ical p rogramme gave a p rominen t place to the preservat ion of nature. The res tora t ion of nature and the p rob lem of pol lu t ion had actually engaged the a t tent ion of Indian people quite early. Poverty and o ther evils arising there f rom have been retarding factors in the achievement of this goal. But at least in thought every Indian honest ly believes in the preservat ion of nature because he is t radi t ional ly taught that any harm done to nature is bound to adversely affect m a n .

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