Hinduism on environment

Hinduism and Environment The principle of the sanctity of life clearly ingrained in the Hindu religion, only God has absolutely sovereignty overall creatures; thus human beings have no domination over their own lives or non-human life; consequently, humanity can not assign degrees of relative worth to other species. The idea of Divine Being as the one underlying power of unity expresses in the Yajurveda: The loving sage beholds that Being, hidden in mystery, Wherein the universe comes to have one home; Therein unites and there from emanates the whole; The omnipresent One pervades souls and matter Like warp and woof in created being. The sacredness of God’s creation means no damage may be inflicted on other species with out adequate justifications. Therefore all lives, human and non-human, are of equal value and all have the same right to existence. According to Atharvaveda, the Earth is not for human beings alone, but for other creatures as well: Born of Thee, on Thee move mortal creatures; Thou bearest them-the biped and the quadruped; Thine, O Earth, are the five races of men, for whom Surya (Sun), as he rises spreads with his rays The light that is immortal. The earliest Sanskrit texts, the Veda and Upanishads, teach the non-dualism of the supreme power that existed before creation. God as the efficient cause, and nature, Prakriti, as the material cause of the universe, are unconditionally accepted, as is their harmonious relationships. However, while these texts agree on the concept of non-dualistic theism, they differ in their theories regarding the creation of the universe. According to Rig Veda: He is one, but the wise call him by different names; such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Divya-one who pervaded all the luminous bodies, the source of light; Souparna- the protector and preserver of the Universe; whose works are perfect; Matriswa-power like Wind; Garutman-mighty by nature. Hindu scriptures revealed a clear conception of the ecosystem. On this basis a discipline of environmental ethics developed which formulated codes of conduct and defined humanities relationship to nature. An important part of that conduct is the maintance of proper sanitation. In the past, this was considered to be the duty of every one and any default was a punishable offence. Hindu society did not even consider it proper to throw dirt on a public path. Kautilya says: The punishment of one-eight of a Pana should be awarded to those who throw dirt on the roads. For muddy water one-fourth Pana, if both are thrown the punishment should be double. If latrine is thrown or caused near a temple, well, or pond, sacred place, or government building, then the punishment should increase gradually by one Pana in each case. For urine the punishment should be only half. The strong vegetarian ethic of Hinduism is derived from the belief in Karma, as is the general attitude of using but not killing life, an attitude well exemplified in the special status of the ‘scared cow’. The cow is venerated as mother, for from her comes food, drink, fuel (dung) and, at her natural death, leather. What use would be it to eat flesh when she can provide so much more, for so much longer, while alive? Cow protection is the key to the Hindu attitude to the rest of creation and unlocks its distinctive ethical bias. As Gandhi said: “In its finer or spiritual sense, the term ‘cow protection’ means the protection of every living creatures”.