Nature Worship in Hinduism: Ancient Wisdom for Environmental Protection

# Nature Worship in Hinduism: Ancient Wisdom for Environmental Protection Wisdom, as differentiated from ornamental knowledge, refers to the usable form of knowledge, built on the edifice of experiences and observations. The term Hinduism has a cultural and geographical connotation. As declared by the Apex Court in 1966, it is a broad way of life of the people of Bharat, not restricted to any one sect, religion, etc. The topic of the essay requires us to examine nature worship in Hinduism in a multifaceted way. This essay will try to cover various dimensions of the ancient wisdom for the protection of environment. And it is befitting to explore the topic with a beautiful ancient anecdote.

## Ancient Anecdote Buddhaghosa wrote in Suttapitaka that 500 monks went to a forest in Himalayas. They wanted to meditate peacefully. But the tree spirits started terrifying them with haunting sights, sounds, and foul smells. Perturbed and petrified, they went to Buddha for seeking the solution. Buddha advised them to adopt Metta, a love for all the beings of the jungle. The monks went back. The forest spirits calmed down upon seeing the monks' unconditional compassion for the forest inhabitants. The above anecdote exemplifies the ancient wisdom for environmental protection. This brings us to another aspect of the varied forms in which this love for nature was preached and practiced.

## The Manifestations of Wisdom Since the ancient times, the rivers of the Indian subcontinent have been highly revered. Ganga, Yamuna, and other rivers are deified as mother goddesses. A river in the northeast has been named after Brahma. The river is called Brahmaputra, the son of the creator. The Vedas were compiled on the river banks. The Atharvaveda has an exclusive chapter called Prithvi Sukta, where Earth is called Mother of the Beings. The vehicles of the deities are birds and animals like tiger, Garuda, owl, tortoise, mouse, etc. Lord Pashupati has been revered since the Harappan times. The word Pashupati itself means Lord of the Animals. In Indian homes, the first roti (flatbread) was offered to the animals and birds as a sacred ritual. But, our exploration of the topic will be incomplete without going into the reasons. Since times immemorial, nature has taken care of humans from cradle to grave. The foragers and hunter-gatherers survived by consuming plants and animals. Even their bodies used to be covered with leaves. The early manuscripts were written on leaves. The oxen helped in ploughing the fields. Thus, animals and plants were vital in the agricultural revolution, which was a precursor to the age of empires. Given the above utilities, it was inevitable for man to take care of the environment because nature itself was responsible for flourishing of the humans. This was reciprocity in action. Also, the floods, the forest fires, etc., were interpreted by the ancients as expressions of the wraths of God. So, to escape the wrath, it was thought inevitable to protect and worship nature.

And it is very interesting to know that the wisdom to protect nature was present in each strata of the society. In those days, modern scientific concepts were relatively unknown, more so in case of the ordinary people. But how did these ideas proliferate? The proliferation of ideas and practices in context of protection of the natural surroundings happened by way of literature. For example, in the form of stories like Panchatantra. Epics like Mahabharata had terms like Gangaputra Bhishma, in brackets, the son of Ganga. Vanar Sena helped Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, and this carried an important message of even deities utilizing help from the inhabitants of forests. Also, prayers included the concept of Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, which implied the happiness of all the inhabitants of the blue planet. Thus, all these ways contributed to proliferation of traditions that helped conserve nature.

## Partial Usefulness However, the wisdom seems to be just partially useful to the humans of modern times. For instance, the deification and glorification still pervades the common consciousness, but the rivers remain more polluted than ever. Again, the ancients did not spread much awareness about air pollution, the greenhouse gas emissions, or the ozone depletion. Probably because these things were absent during those pre-industrialization times. But today, these things should occupy the central place in any discussion and plan of action. With changing socio-economic conditions, we continue certain ancient practices without knowing the full context. Truly, little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Throwing copper coins in water bodies used to clean the waters. Today's coins made up of other metals will not clean the river as much. But we continue to ape our ancient traditions without considering the repercussions of throwing metallic coins in the rivers.

That said, we would be guilty of selective appraisal of the continued practices from the past till this day. Many ancient practices and rituals by our ancestors have proved to be a boon for the modern times. For instance, the concept of sacred groves has helped in more than one ways. Consider the sacred groves of Bundelkhand. A 2026 study found that each such site contained 72 plant species including rare medicinal herbs. These have been maintained by the local people without much help from the governments. Interestingly, a nearby officially protected zone performs dismally in terms of species of plants protected. It's due to the environmental consciousness generated partly by the historical context that people like Balbir Singh Seechewal, Gajendra Singh, the Waterman of India, and even M.C. Mehta have taken up the tough but noble cause of protecting the environment. The ancients could foresee the dangers of not living in harmony with nature. Take the case of ancient indigenous practice of leaving the land fallow for some time for the soil to recover. The rationale was not to overuse the natural resources. The modern man can foresee the dangers better with the development of science and technology. But the ancestors outshone us in terms of taking the required actions. Our contribution needs to be more than just sharing conservation-related posts on social media for likes. It's high time we bring concrete results.

Our ancestors worshipped nature into survival. We are taking it into extinction.