“The Vedic sages regarded the whole universe as a single living
organism, a vast and intricate and unceasingly changing and interacting system
of vital energy known as Prana, continually streaming forth from Brahman
(consciousness), but is also pervaded by it, the two being related to each
other like body and soul.”
—Prabuddha Bharata, (September 1983) a journal of the
Ramakrishna order, started by
Swami Vivekananda in 1896.
Dorbal Prabhakara Sharma looks at the Godavari, standing on its
bank at Kovvur in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district and he seems to be
one with it.
It’s late morning in
Kovvur, but a mist still hovers over the river. The water is greenish and a tad
murky. The road-cum-rail bridge—4.1 km in length—that connects the south to the
east coast, and Rajahmundry on the opposite bank in East Godavari district is a
ghostly silhouette. A multi-purpose irrigation project is being built 30 km
upstream.
A group of pilgrims from Maharashtra are bathing in the river, and
some are sitting and praying. They have trekked down from the Brahmagiri Mountains
at Trayambakeshwar in Nashik district of Maharashtra where they would have
tasted the water at the point of origin, and now are in its mighty mainstream.
The river branches into two major distributaries, Gautami and
Vasishta, at Dowleswaram, 12 km downstream, where stands the Sir Arthur Cotton
Barrage, built in 1850 and rebuilt in 1970. Downstream, the river again
branches off into six waterways. After
completing its 1,465 km journey, it empties into the Bay of Bengal.
Sharma, 70, has long contemplated the river, its flows and its
moods. Its myth and lore ground him in the spirit of the river. Born in 1948 in
Ramayampeta, in Medak district of (now) Telangana, he came to Kovvur in 1968.
He worked as a Sanskrit teacher at the Oriental college, and from 1995 to 2006
was principal. He is the Andhra Pradesh president of Samskrita Bharati, an
organisation working to revive Sanskrit. He has developed a 10-day course for
children to speak Sanskrit, which forms the base for further development. Every
summer, he conducts regular camps to help kids speak Sanskrit.
He is steeped in the Hindu shastras. They comprise the Vedas (vid:
to know)—Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Athrva Veda. Each
Veda has two sections, namely Samhita, containing hymns and mantras, and
Brahmana, detailing the meaning and use of the mantras. Some portions of the
Vedas are called Upanishads, which are many in number, and are also called
Vedanta, either because they are at the end of the Vedas or because they are
the essence of the Vedas. Since the Vedas are direct revelations the sages
experienced, they’re called shruti.
The rest of the shastras derive their authority from the Vedas. Smritis
prescribe codes of conduct, in accordance with a person’s period of life
(ashrama) and social group (varna) they belong to. There are many smritis,
like Manu Smriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti and so on. Most importantly, smritis
(and their dos and don’ts) are related to social circumstances at a given time.
As Hindu society changed, new smritis came into existence, in accordance
with the time and place. There are smritis for a region, for example, Raghunandana
Smriti, which lays down the code for the Hindus in Bengal.
Based on the Vedas, six sages—Jamini, Vyasa, Kapila, Patanjali,
Gotama, and Kanada—introduced six schools of thought, called Darshanas: Purva
Mimasa, Uttara Mimasa (Vedanta), Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, and Vaisheshika.
While Purva Mimasa deals with karma-kanda of the Vedas, Uttara
Mimasa deals with the jnana-kanda of the Vedas. The latter, written
by Vyasa, is also called Brahma Sutras or Vedanta Darshana. Such
is its importance that Shankaracharya and Ramanujacharya later wrote
commentaries on it.
For the ordinary people there are the puranas, a
compilation of popular wisdom in stories. Eighteen in total, they reveal
glimpses of ancient history. Then there are Itihasas (histories), which
include Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is a
portion of the Mahabharata.
The Upanishads, Brahma sutras, and the Gita constitute prasthanatraya
and are the basic scriptures of Hinduism. Advaita, Vishistadvaita, and
Dvaita philosophies owe their source to them.
Another group of shastras are tantras, which deal with the worship
of the shakti aspect of Brahman (consciousness), embodied in Divine
Mother, and 64 of them are well-known. Related to the tantras, there are
pancharatra samhita, belonging to the Vaishnavas and Shaiva Agamas,
belonging to the Shaivites. There are said to be 215 texts of the former, and
28 texts, with many sub-texts of each, of the latter.
Sharma’s life and scholarship spans the whole gamut. Moreover, the
Vedas, he says, give environment and ecology utmost importance, and are full of
mantras invoking harmony with the natural world. As in, “May there be peace in
heaven...in the sky...on earth...in the water...in the plants...in the
trees...”
Nadinaam bandhaha na karyaha—don’t dam up rivers. Don’t obstruct
the river flows.
So, what is water (jalam)?
Jarayateeti jalam…That which makes hard things soft.
If water gets into the earth, it becomes soft. It does the same to
the rocks. It does the same to even iron, corrodes it. Directly, when your
nails are wet with water, they become soft.
Moreover, rocks, stones, mountains try to be away from water. If
something like a dead body is in the sea, it comes to the shore, a solid place.
It is usually said that waves bring it ashore. The larger fact is water mixes
with water, a piece of the earth unites with another piece of earth, light into
light, air into air. Each element seeks its own element to unite and merge in.
Each element possesses consciousness and a will, an intention.
Everything is endowed with life. That is why there is order, an
eternally existing order, an organisation, a self-regulating organisation of life at all levels.
Take the case of our body. Hands, feet—these are material. But the
impulse to move, to do, comes from the “I” consciousness. Similarly, the order
comes from the Universal being.
Whether we admit it or not, intention is necessary; that alone
makes for our order, keeps the universe together. That comes from consciousness.
Water has another name, jeevanam, life. It is a living substance. From that itself, living beings come into existence. It lives and makes other life possible.
What are the qualities of water and other elements?
Air has tiryak gamanam—moves sideways. Agni has urdhva
gamanam—goes up. Water flows to low ground. That shows its intention.
Earth—a piece of it always goes to the thing with larger mass.
When you throw a stone into the air, it comes down because earth with its
larger mass attracted it. Space is everywhere.
Water has another name, jeevanam, life.
It is a living substance. From that itself, living beings come
into existence. It lives and makes other life possible. Living beings are born in water. Even in polluted waters, living beings are
born, new forms come into existence or the ancient life forms come into
existence. When there is no water, there is no life.
When you drink pure water, you can feel fresh and rejuvenated for
5 to 6 hours. We need our food stuff mixed with water. For example, we cannot
eat paddy. We have to cook it in water. We cannot eat seeds of mango fruit or
seeds of dates. We need their juicy pulp and soft skin.
Water creates us, grows us, and dissolves us in the end. It’s said
that in Pralaya, everything dissolves in the water. Or in fire as when
lava comes.
Layam—dissolution—means things going back to their basic elements.
Floods, too, dissolve things.
What is its specific quality? What happens when flows are
obstructed?
Water’s specific quality is it knows and determines its own
direction, the direction of its flow. It’s always to the low ground, downhill.
All we can do is to live without any obstruction to its flow.
We have not made the Godavari now.
It has been flowing from time immemorial. It looks for low ground and it
flows there.
When you build a dam, or any obstruction to its flow, it one day
pierces it. The river doesn’t remain there, it squeaks out. For lift
irrigation, we have to build walls. Water needs pressure to go up the wall. How
far up can it be arrested like that?
All the dams and obstructions are only temporary measures, not
long-term solutions for our needs, because water intends to flow downhill. It
does now or after sometime. Another thing is, how much effort we have to put in
to stop the flow of the river.
There is only one other element that helps here: the earth. Cement, rock—all of that come from the earth,
Even to mix cement, we have to use water.
When you scour the earth for the material to build a wall, you are
also making a hole somewhere, you’re making low ground. What is better: is it
not wise to look for low ground that already exists and catch water there; or,
a build a dam to collect water?
In one of the dharma shastras, it is said Nadinam
bandhaha nakaryaha—don’t dam up rivers. We should not obstruct their
natural flows. Nadinam sagaro gatih—the aim of river is the sea, it ends
up in the sea. That means sea is the lowest ground.
In the Srimad Bhagavata, there are verses on how the Cosmic
person is worshipped. The mountains are his bones, the trees his hair, the
rivers his nerves.
Nadyastu Nadyaha—rivers are His nerves. Their
pathways are determined; we haven’t made them. In the Krishna Yajurveda
Samhita, the lord of rain himself removes obstacles to the flows of rivers.
(With his thunderbolt, the Lord of Rain, measured the earth, where
there was highs and lows, and removed obstacles in the low ground areas, even
removing mountains, and cleared long pathways for rivers to flow.)
The implicit message is that we ourselves should not build any
obstruction to river flows.
In the Krishna Yajurveda Samhita, there are prayers. “O Water
Mothers, with your unobstructed flows, protect our flow of life. Not just us,
purify the whole universe. It’s you who are the greatest purifier.”
What’s the way the shastras prescribe?
Shastras prescribe vapikupatataka—step-wells, house wells,
and ponds for our needs and for agriculture. The idea is to collect water in
naturally occurring low ground. Anyhow, all flows lead to low ground. We can
have such water bodies for all our villages. We can utilise it for our needs
and for agriculture. If one pond is not enough, we can make ten water ponds.
Irrigation through canals also ends in damage. Let’s say a canal
benefits 1,000 acres. How much land is dug for that canal? How much does it
cost? We cannot grow crops in the canal. In lift irrigation, how far up we can
lift water?
Instead, if we make water bodies in naturally occurring low
grounds, all the flows, all the rain flows will eventually go there.
What about places drought-prone places, places in rain shadow
areas.
These are natural phenomena. However, due to climate change, that
has changed already. Rain will fall over the places, not at select places. By
constructing reservoirs and dams, water percolates where it need not or should
not, giving rise to imbalance. It should go to the sea and then percolate. It
should go up as vapour there.
Our shastras ask us to harvest every drop of water. They call it bindu
dharalu, water coming from roofs in rainy season. They also say where there
are termite mounds, we can find water. We have to collect water. It’s not that
people are not living there. People have been living in those places for ages.
What do shastras say about ecology?
There is mutual connection, mutual cooperation at all levels in
nature. Each component of nature takes care of the other component of
nature.Vultures and crows take away things revolting to human beings. The fish
in the ponds, river and seas keep pollution at bay.
There is always this mutual dependence and cooperation. Every
living being is connected with the other living being and the whole universe.
Without knowing, one part of prakriti has mutual beneficial relationship
with another part of prakriti. Even in conflicts such as between cats
and rats, snakes and rat, in the end it helps out human beings. The seeming
conflict is to achieve total harmony. They may have conflicts with particular
individual species, but not to species as a whole.
Some have organising power and sense of community. Monkeys don’t
have conflict with anybody, although they fight among themselves. Likewise,
cows don’t have any conflict with anybody. Elephants, only when they are
threatened, challenge it by organising themselves.
They have organising power. Those species that have organising
power such as elephants and human beings are capable of bringing about order.
They can help distribution of resources to all species, not to one particular
species to detriment of others. They can see to it that benefits are not going
to one particular species.
Example?
For example, where monkeys are, there grow fruit and shady tress.
They grow because monkeys come in and monkeys come in because they’re
growing. It’s both ways.
Cows and goats eat plants. Plants have life. But they eat what can
flourish again, what can rejuvenate again. Mutually protecting, growing and
living.
Nature teaches each one of us.
Nature wants to take us to higher realms of the sacred, realms of
universal harmony. That’s the secret of nature.
What does ‘Rishi’ stand for?
Rishi is one who thinks about the welfare of all beings. “By me,
all beings should be happy, and wholesome”—that intention makes a Rishi. There
are scientists—economists and many others—who are working to remove suffering.
They are all Rishis. Rishi’s intention is for all beings, not just to humans.
Creation is eternal. Dhata Yadhapurva makalpayata—He
creates everything—humans, gods, demons, birds, cattle, insects.
To harmonise all, to create an atmosphere where every creature
flourishes is the intention of Rishi. As such, we have Rishis now too.
Our connection to the elements...
We should not pollute any element. We should listen to our
ancients. For example, if there are impurities in the soil, in the earth, it
can be turned, raked and cleared. We can put new mud in there. Creatures in
water should be nurtured. Space should be preserved. Not cluttering our homes
and outside.
There should be no sewers. It’s because sewers drain into rivers
and waterways that our rivers are polluted and dying.
We should not build for any flow. Water itself will take care of that. We should, rather collect the flows. For example, when water flows down from hills, from various sources when it rains, it all comes down to lower ground where we should collect it in a water body.
In olden times, there were no drains. Even hundred years ago,
fifty years ago, even now many villages don’t have any drains. Our shastras say
that each house, each one should have percolation tank at the house itself.
Once you build a drain, it invariably goes into waterways, polluting them.
People are recycling used water for crops and drinking, but at what cost?
Taking care of used water is an individual responsibility, not collective
responsibility.
Washing clothes, doing dishes, going to toilet—all this should be
done on land. The earth can bear all. Water cannot.
The sun vapourises that same impure water and the air becomes impure. That comes down as
rain. That goes into the ground. Then there is change in atmosphere. If water
gets polluted, the atmosphere gets polluted, too. Excessive rains and lack of
rains are due to this.
We should not build for any flow. Water itself will take care of
that. We should, rather collect the flows. For example, when water flows down
from hills, from various sources when it rains, it all comes down to lower
ground where we should collect it in a water body.
The government should facilitate the place to create a water pond.
That should be done before rainy season.
How do you protect air?
We should send sweet aromas into the air by yajnas and yagas.
Smoke from cow dung cakes cleanses the air. If we don’t send sweet aromas into
the air, smoke from industry will spoil the air.
Agni should be done with mantras. As regards akasha, there
should always be free space. Our homes should not be filled with things. Our
spaces should be free. Our shastras embedded precepts of environment and
ecology in daily practice. One should not defecate, urinate or spit in water.
In olden days, farmers used to bring in elephants, camels, cows,
goats into their fields after the crop is harvested. Their manure helped
rejuvenate the soil and the earth.
When we do away with drains, everything will be set right. In
olden days, there were many species. Where are the elephants now? Horses?
Donkeys? No oxen, no cattle. All gone.
They, too, ate food. They drank water. But water was enough.
Trees. How much water trees take in. They are padapaihi: padaihi pibamtiti
padapaaha—they drink water with their feet (with their roots.) Even if you
snap a leaf in the farthest branch, it contains juice, the sap. Their body is
full of juice.
Trees are gone. We have water scarcity even when many species are
gone. The number of species was more in ancient times. Spices have gone
extinct. They exist as subtle beings. Water creates our bodies, through the
food we eat, and sustains us. Water gives our us life force. Water itself is
life.
Way out of water crisis...
We should think, aspire and look up at the sky and pray for rain,
intend that it will rain, then rain comes. Intentional thought has such power.
It’s not just a picture of an old man sitting, despairing, in parched land, all our young people should think of the river. Instead, we teach our children ‘rain, rain go away...’. There is a children’s song in Telugu, “vana, vana, rave vallappa, rave...,” Come, O rain, come, O rain. That should be our aspiration.
is a freelance journalist based in Andhra Pradesh.
