Vedic Approach To Environment

The Vedic Aryans were children of Nature. They made a very minute study of the drama of Nature. Sand-storms and cyclones, intense lightning, terrible thunder, heavy rush of rain in the monsoon, rapid floods in the stream coming down from the hills, the scorching heat of the sun, the greed of the crackling fire, all bear witness to power beyond the power of man. The Vedic Rishis realized the greatness of these forces. They acknowledged these activities. They admired these forces. They worshipped and prayed to them with regard, wonder and awe. They instinctively realized that action, movement, creation, change and destruction in Nature are the results of forces beyond the control of men. And thus they attributed divinity to Nature.

(1) Divinity of Nature: The Rigvedic hymns may be divided into many parts, but their main portion belongs to Prakritik hymns, hymns relating to natural forces. Yet the Vedic deities have been explained in different ways by scholars of India and the West, but generally speaking, the hymns addressed to the gods (devatas) are under the influence of the most influential phenomena of nature and its aspects. The word deva means divine, dignity that is bright, strong, giver and powerful. In these hymns we find prayers to certain natural elements such as wind, water, earth, sun, rain, dawn etc., the brilliant brilliance of the sun, the blast of the sacrificial fire, the sweep of the rain-storm across the sky, the recurrence of the dawn, the steadiness of the winds and the violence of other forces and forces (devatas). The appreciation and prayers resulted from interaction with nature but, in fact, after a good deal of observation. The attributes assigned to the deities fit their natural forms and activities, such as Soma is green, fire is bright, wind is swift moving and the sun is the disperser of darkness. The characteristics of these forces described in the verses prove that the Vedic seers were masters of natural science.

In the Vedic view, this world consists of Agni i.e., fire or heat and Soma i.e., water. The Sun (Surya) is the soul of all that is moving and also of that which is not moving. Indra is the most powerful god who slays Vritra, who symbolizes cloud, for free water. Vritra means that which covers and is derived from the root vri, to cover. R.R.M. Roy states that in Vedic cosmology the main force of expansion is Indra, and his main adversary, the main force of contraction, is Vritra. The Maruts are Indra’s allies. The Vedic seer boldly prays to these natural forces and aspects for great prosperity and blessings upon them. Aditi is praised as Devamata, the mother of all natural energies and she symbolizes nature. S.R.N. Murthy, a noted geologist, has written on earth science in the Vedas. He has somehow a different opinion about the Vedic deities and hence states that, ‘Natural geological aspects are personified as Indra, Agni, Vayu, Varuna, Usa etc.

(2) Cosmic Order ‘Rita’ and Varuna: In the Vedas, the order of the universe is called ‘Rita’. Rita reduces chaos to the cosmos, and gives order and integration to the matter. It also gives symmetry and harmony to the environment. Hence the concept of Rita also has an aesthetic content; it implies grandeur and beauty. It is for this reason that the Vedic deities, upholding Rita, are all lawful, and beautiful and good. Their beauty is an important attribute.

Rita has been variously defined by scholars in different Vedic contexts, but in the general sense it has been elaborated as the great ‘Cosmic Order’, which is the cause of all motion and existence, and keeps the world in order. No one can ignore it, even the gods are obeyed by ‘Rita’ and they are born from Rita. It is controlling and maintaining power. It maintains the sun in the sky. Rita as a universal law governs everything in the universe. The entire manifested universe is working under Rita. S.R.N. Murti regarded it as a law of gravitation in the simplest form. According to H.W.Wallis, the principle of the order of the world, accounting for the regularity of cosmic phenomena, was conceived by the sages as existing as a principle before the manifestation of any phenomenon. The phenomena of the world are shifting and changeable, but the principle regulating the periodic recurrence of phenomena is constant; fresh phenomena are constantly reproduced, but the principle of order remains the same; Therefore, the principle was already present when the earliest phenomenon appeared.’

In the Vedas, Varuna is represented as the Lord of Rita, the universal natural order. He is the sovereign God, the great king, the law-maker and the ruler of the universe and even of the gods. Basically, he is regarded as the lord of the waters and the ocean, but primarily he controls and keeps the world in order. From his throne on high he is in the world and in the heart of man. ‘By Varuna’s law heaven and earth are kept separate. He made the golden swing, the sun to shine in heaven. He has made wide avenues for the sun. By his ordinances the moon shines brightly at night, and the stars placed on high are seen at night but disappear by day. He causes the rivers to flow. As a moral governor Varuna is far above any other deity. Thus, the concept of Varuna represents the consciousness of the Vedic seers with regard to controlling and balancing the natural forces in the environment.

(3) Division of the Universe: Vedic seers have a great vision about the universe. The universe is built on scientific principles, and that is why it is well measured. The universe consists of three intertwined webs, Prithvi, Antariksa and Dyaau. Vedic scientists also divided the lengths into three, calling them upper, middle and lower. The tripartite division of the universe into three regions, Prithvi, Antariksa, Hawaii or the intermediate region which is between heaven and earth, and Dyaau, heaven or sky is very well established in Vedic literature. The earth can be given a scientific name ‘observer space.’ This is our space, the place where we live and die, whatever we can see and observe. The earth extends from one end of the universe to the other, and this is the meaning of the name earth: the wide and extended one. DYAU can be called ‘Light Space’ because light propagates in this space. Antiksha can be termed as the ‘intermediate space’ as this space exists between the observer space and the light space. A verse of the Yajur Veda states that the division of the universe was done at the subtle level, not at the gross level. The Vedic sages had the ability to see such a subtle level, which is beyond the reach of modern science. Here; in the context of environmental studies, we consider the division of the universe as the most important concept of the Vedas.

Though a large number of deities have been described in the hymns, and it is very difficult to arrange them in different classes, Yaska spoke about three deities in his Nirukta: Agni in the earth, Vayu or Indra in the atmosphere and the Sun in the heaven. Each of them is known by different names on the basis of the different functions performed by them. These three deities are the three major forms of energy, fire on the earth, air in the intermediate space and light in the upper region. The other energies of those regions are subordinate to or related to them. So generally the deities are classified into three groups called upper, middle and lower, and hence, provide a system for studying the atmosphere and all its aspects. Regarding global harmony, Vedic seers always pray for the welfare of all beings and all regions.

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