MAN AND NATURE
British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson termed the steps taken in Britain to check the
pandemic as a “national fightback against the Corona virus… by staying at home we
are going to beat it and beat it together”. This sums up the western approach
pretty neatly … that life consists of a constant struggle against the chaotic
forces of nature and progress consists of defeating these forces and bringing
them under control. Recall the words of English political philosopher Thomas
Hobbes who said felt that the state of nature was that of war of all against
all. This way of thinking has quickly spread to many parts of the world and man’s
mission in life seems to be taming nature.
I am
reminded of a trip some years back to the Pueblo cliff dwellings at Manitou
Springs in Colorado in the United States. Just like at other archaeological
sites, descriptions about the site and the people who lived there were engraved
on stone and concrete. Now Manitou Springs is located in the Rocky Mountains,
the mountain chain that runs from north to south in western United States. What
struck me most was a piece which said that the Pueblos who lived there called mountain
range as ‘Shining Mountains” as they had a lot of metallic ore veins that
sparkled in the sun. When European immigrants saw the place, they called the
mountains the Rockies. So, while the indigenous Americans chose to note the beauty
and man’s harmony with the mountainside, the European-Americans emphasised the
toughness of “taming” the rocks to get at the metals – looked merely as a resource
to be used for the benefit of man.
So,
the West looks at the world in terms of conquering it. That is why they ‘conquer’
the North Pole, the Everest, the South Pole or the highest and toughest
mountains putting their lives in danger. Indians lived with the tallest
mountains of the world for centuries but it never occurred to them to conquer
them. Many Indian sages are believed to have retired to the high Himalayas for
meditation but they did not leave any signboards. Not only did the British
think it essential to measure the mountains but also to reach its peak but in
the process set off a procession that continues to this not just leading to tons
of garbage being left on the Himalayas but also leading to ‘traffic jams’ of
climbers. The legacy has been carried forward in Bengal where many people are
madly eager to scale the Everest and other tall peaks.
As
against this habit of plundering and conquering nature, the Indian and Oriental
way of thinking envisioned a harmonious one-ness of nature and man. Humans were
part of nature and were not meant to exploit it. This is evident in the
centuries old philosophy whose remains are to be found among the Buddhist
sculptures, stone carvings and frescos. A beautiful rendering of this is the
composite creature found as a wall carving in the Sanchi stupa.
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COMPOSITE CREATURE, SANCHI STUPA (PHOTO BY BENOY K. BEHL)
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The photograph
has been taken by Benoy Behl who brought it to my notice. this joyous
depiction. It is a composite creature, says Behl who has made many
documentaries on Indian art and architecture. “The depiction displays the
oneness of all life forms. It is such a delightful and happy creature, with the
qualities of an elephant, cow, deer and even a horse. All of creation is seen
in a vision full of warmth.
In today’s time, the message from Indian art and philosophy is of the oneness of all beings, human, animal, birds…It is time to stop being cruel to bats, chicken, all animals, trees…nature.”
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