Hindu Declaration
Faith & Ecology
Not only in the Vedas, but in later scriptures such as the Upanishads, the Puranas and subsequent
texts, the Hindu viewpoint on nature has been clearly enunciated. It is permeated by a reverence
for life, and an awareness that the great forces of nature the earth, the sky, the air, the water and
fire—as well as various orders of life including plants and trees, forests and animals are all bound to
each other within the great rhythms of nature. The divine is not exterior to creation, but expresses
itself through natural phenomena.
In addition, according to the Vaishnava tradition, the evolution of life on this planet is symbolized by a series of divine incarnations beginning with fish, moving through amphibious forms and mammals, and then on into human incarnations. This view clearly holds that man did not spring fully formed to dominate the lesser life forms, but rather evolved out of these forms, and is therefore integrally linked to the whole of creation.
This leads necessarily to a reverence for animal life. The Yajurveda lays down that “no person
should kill animals helpful to all. Rather, by serving them, one should attain happiness” (Yajurveda
13:46). This view was later developed by the great Jain Tirthankara, Lord Mahmavira, who regenerated
the ancient Jain faith that lives down to the present day. For the Jains, Ahimsa, or non-violence,
is the greatest good, and on no account should life be taken. This philosophy was emphasized more
recently by Mahatma Gandhi who always spoke of the importance of Ahimsa and looked upon the
cow as a symbol of the benign element in animal life. All this strengthens the attitude of reverence
for all life including animals and insects. The Hindu tradition of reverence for nature and all forms of
life, vegetable or animal, represents a powerful tradition which needs to be re-nurtured and reapplied
in our contemporary context, India, the population of which is over 80 percent Hindu, has in
recent years taken a special interest in conservation. What is needed today is to remind ourselves
that nature cannot be destroyed without mankind ultimately being destroyed itself. With nuclear
weapons representing the ultimate pollutant, threatening to convert this beautiful planet of ours into
a scorched cinder, unable to support even the most primitive life forms, mankind is finally forced to
face its dilemma. Centuries of rapacious exploitation of the environment have finally caught up with
us, and a radically changed attitude towards nature is now not a question of spiritual merit or condescension,
but of sheer survival.
Let us declare our determination to halt the present slide towards destruction, to rediscover the
ancient tradition of reverence for all life and, even at this late hour, to reverse the suicidal course
upon which we have embarked. Let us recall the ancient Hindu dictum—”The Earth is our mother,
and we are all her children.”
By Dr. Karan Singh
President, Hindu Virat Samaj