Human-induced climate change, especially in South Asia, is causing extreme weather conditions like more intense and frequent heat and rainfall that are challenging to negotiate. April and May 2024 have recorded the highest temperatures, especially in Asia. World Weather Attribution Group report states that the combined effect of global warming caused by climate change and the El Nino phenomenon has pushed the temperature to record high, causing intense heatwaves. It is estimated that climate change turned the heatwave 1°C hotter while El Nino made the heatwave further 0.2°C hotter this year. The unprecedented and accelerated warming of the Indian Ocean is likely to continue unless greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are capped. It is stated that global warming due to GHGs made El Nino events stronger during the last six decades.
Consequently, hotter heat waves, drier droughts, bigger storm surges, erratic rainfall, thinning of Ice caps and sea-level rise are becoming the new normal. Heatwaves are making life much tougher for people, especially those living in poverty-ridden areas across Asia. As a result, energy consumption is soaring, and the supply chain is disrupted. These events demonstrate that humans have proved to be poor custodians of Mother Earth and are struggling to sustain its ecosystem.
Climate change leads to widespread socio-economic impacts, viz., food, water, breathable air, energy insecurity, and migration, significantly affecting terrestrial and aquatic diversity. These impacts threaten our health by affecting the quality of food, water, air, and weather. Even the ongoing democratic process of elections in India is also impacted by the low turnout of voters owing to soaring heatwaves. This scaring scenario invites our attention to climate action, biodiversity protection, and circular economy.
Environmental ethics are deeply rooted in Bharatiya culture, which promotes faith and action in the conservation of the environment to maintain ecological balance. The Vedas are at the core of Bharatiya philosophy and also a storehouse of wisdom and insights practised from time immemorial. Several Vedic hymns identify the man as part of his environment, not apart from it. For us, nature was never an entity to be conquered. Vedas inspired us to believe that all biotic and abiotic creatures are intrinsically connected within the fabric of Brahman, the Supreme Reality. Sanatan culture strongly believes that GOD is omnipresent and omnipotent and is the ultimate source from which everything emerges and returns. This philosophy is similar to the unified field in quantum physics from which all forces and particles arise. This concept promotes a sense of universal oneness, harmonious co-existence and responsibilities. This implies that individual and collective actions have a larger impact on the cosmos. Deeply inspired by Upanishads, Erwin Schrodinger said that the metaphysical and spiritual knowledge of science and humanities can help understand the world better. The convergence of quantum physics and Indian philosophy prompts us to probe deeper into the interconnectedness of all entities in the universe.
Humans, being the mightiest and wisest of all life forms, should be acting as the promoter of interconnectedness among all living and non-living forms
Sanatan culture imbibes ecological ethics and duties to take care of nature. Rites, rituals, and customs of the Vedic culture embody a plethora of knowledge and wisdom that helps preserve nature in its entirety. Worshipping of various elements of nature, namely rivers, mountains, animals, plants, etc., was aimed at creating a social awakening about their role in sustaining the environment and ecology. Vedic literature accords the sacrosanct status of Mother to Earth. Atharva Veda says, ‘O mother earth, with your oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water, you give us land to grow grains, on which our survival depends’. Ancient Indians used to perform “puja” before ploughing, digging a well, fetching excess water from the river, cutting trees or any other action that was considered to wound Mother Earth. We believe that every plant has some medicinal value. Nature occupies centre stage in our beliefs, values and actions. Over-exploiting of nature was forbidden.
We believed that all living and non-living world elements have a divine presence. Lord Krishna bestowed the honour on Govardhan Parwat and made Yamuna free from the poisons of Kalia Nag as a symbol of protecting nature. Bhagavad Gita teaches the oneness of Lord Krishna with Nature, where He says, ‘I am the Self seated in the heart of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings. All beings have, therefore, to be treated alike. I pervade the Universe. All objects in the Universe rest on me like pearls on the thread of a garland. Hence, India has numerous holy shrines, holy rivers, holy mountains, sacred places and sacred plants and animals. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Semphasisedhagavad Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata emphasise all pervasive divine presence. The resting of Lord Vishnu on the lap of Sheshanaga in the Ksheer Sagar also teaches us that we can co-exist even with deadly animals. The interaction of Lord Rama with various facets of nature while in search of Goddess Sita and conquering Lanka with the help of monkeys is an excellent example of co-existential and collaborative civilisation.
However, concerted efforts were made by some sections of society to drive us away from such practices, brandishing these as a symbol of uncivilised inferior intellect. Many of us, especially affluent individuals, are now engrossed in the ‘More is Less’ instead of the time-tested ‘Less is More’ frame of mind. That is why the consumption of materials has reached much beyond our basic needs, defying the essence of the first shloka of Isho Upanishad, which says, ‘Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the GOD. One should, therefore accept only those things utmost necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong’. As a result, footprints of water, energy, polluted air, and GHG emissions are increasing alarmingly. The affluent class can mitigate the adverse impacts of these footprints through air conditioners, fridges, air-purifiers, climate-resilient food and beverages, air-conditioned cars, marginalised, lower-order life forms, and landforms (hills, rivers, mountains, etc.) that face the burnt most. These footprints can be curtailed considerably through simpler, environmentally friendly and climate-resilient lifestyles. This implies that we need to revive our ancient practices and restore Mother Earth’s ecosystem for the survival of all living and non-living components.
Humans, being the mightiest and wisest of all life forms, should be acting as the promoter of interconnectedness among all living and non-living forms and sustainer of ecological balance necessary for the survival of humanity. It is a god-gifted responsibility bestowed on humans to preserve all animals, plants, rivers, hills, mountains, ice-caps and oceans to conserve the environment and maintain ecological balance. Contrarily, humans are busy destroying the habitats of all creatures, even their own.
Rites, rituals, and customs of the Vedic culture embody a plethora of knowledge and wisdom that helps preserve nature in its entirety
PM Modi’s Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement can be the game changer in this context. Lowering consumption levels of daily use items, including eatables and clothes, by saying no to fewer items (refusing) and reducing, reusing, redesigning, repurposing, repackaging, recycling of materials and waste management at individual and community levels can help reduce GHGs and energy footprints. Besides, using locally available resources, no to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, maximising use of bicycle, conserving surface and subsurface water bodies, judicious use of energy, and upscaling of thick green canopy are the environmental friendly practices each one of us should embrace, and sooner the better. Such traits of circular economy and theory of minimalism are amply demonstrated in our scriptures.
We cover some portion of the earth with four walls and call it our home, misbelieving that we are safe inside it. Earth’s environment is our home, and we are not safe until our actions and deeds ensure the environment’s safety. We should remember that we have only one earth on which human civilisation with diverse life and landforms flourish and proliferate. The saying is, ‘We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’. Let us commit ourselves to this World Environment Day to protect and conserve the earth for future generations.
The environment and ecology are deeply conditioned by human societies’ cultural beliefs and practices. The role of Bharatiya belief and value system and interaction with nature largely remain unexplored. This aspect has the potential to become a new research area for environmentalists.
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