3
Give an example of Preservation of Natural Resources in Hindu Culture
I know that Hinduism also worships Nature and gives immense prominence to preservation of nature and natural resources. The sanskrit quote “Taru Devo Bhava” meaning “Trees are Gods” is a classic example of this. While other cultures say that God created animals and nature for human consumption, Hinduism is the only culture which says otherwise, that humans are just another species of the 8.4 million species on this planet and one should respect nature and preserve and protect it.
Can somebody give me practical examples of how Hindu Culture practices preservation of Nature and natural resources.
In Kerala and in the coastal belt along Karnataka every ancient family settlement has a backyard area which is called Kaavu in Malayalam (in Kerala) and Haadi in Kannada (in Karnataka).
This Kaavu or Haadi is a mini forest area untouched and left for wild animals. Kaavu or Haadi are home to many small wild animals like snakes, jungle fowls, monkeys etc. When the ancient hindus started building houses, they were quite aware that they were actually encroaching into the land of the wild animals and birds. So they created these mini forests and ensured continuous protection to these areas throughout their generations.
Unfortunately the materialistic nature of recent times, and the arrivals of faiths which preach that God created nature for human consumption has led to the vanishing of these backyard forests in these regions. The creation of these Kaavu or Haadi is a classic example of how assigning divinity to natural resources can preserve and protect nature from unwarranted destruction.
Hindus for instance have assigned divinity to all trees and especially to huge trees which take decades to grow and provide rich amount of oxygen and clean the air like Banyan tree, Peepal tree, etc. You will find these trees in almost every Hindu temple, village entrances, etc. Even coconut trees because of their extreme contribution to Hindu vegetarian food are considered highly divine. A true Hindu will never cut down these trees.
Kaavus provide natural habitat for birds and small animals and nobody hurts them there. These are a million times better than today’s zoos where people come and make fun of poor animals caged like how humans are caged in jails for committing crime. In case of Kaavus or Haadis its just like any other natural forest and animals and birds here have complete privacy.
The water bodies in this Kaavus harvest rain water. This is not only used by the animals and birds living there, but also acts a source of water for wells and tanks in the region. Some Kaavus are spread across acres of land. On the one hand governments do nothing to create more and more such precious areas, and on the other hand the same Government spends money to promote rain water harvesting & building cement tanks!
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeIn traditional Hindu homes, the cow’s is milked for human consumption only after the calf has had its share. This is called Shilottana Vidhi and is aimed at ensuring that the calf first drinks mother’s milk till it is no more hungry. This is a common practice in most gaushalas across the country which are run on a non-profit basis under religious institutions. This was a common practice in all households in ancient India. Sad that this is not followed in modern materialistic homes and profile based institutions.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeEvery Hindu has a Tulasi plant planted in front of their houses. Its been in practice everywhere. Tulasi is accountable to its medicinal usage.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislike