Why is environmental legislation require
nis
Dofino Avironmental ethics
Answers
Our age old traditions teach us to live in peace and harmony with nature and to conserve it, as we all are creatures of one creator , and we don't have any right to harm, any of the living being in any manner as they are also one of the creations made by the almighty, this is taught to us since the very beginning of our civilization but as the civilization progressed we forgot everything and started thinking that we are the master of nature and everything in this world is made for us and we can utilize it, at any cost , as and when require, this is against our ethics and moral values.
Since Vedic times the main motto of social life was to live in harmony with nature .Sages, saints and great teachers of India lived in forests, mediated and expressed themselves in the form of Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis and Dharma .Thus we can imply that all the divine thoughts and literature which served as ideal for living life and taught guidelines how to live life came up when these saints and great thinkers were in touch with the nature. This literature of Olden times preached in one form or the other a worshipful attitude towards plants, trees, mother earth, sky (akash),air (vayu), water(jal) and animals and to keep benevolent attitude towards them. It was regarded a sacred of every person to protect them. The Hindu religion enshrines a respect for nature, environmental harmony and conservation. It instructed man to show reverence of divinity in nature. Therefore trees, animals, hills, mountains, rivers are worshiped as symbol of reverence to these representative sample of nature. A perusal of Hindu religious scriptures reveal that the principles.
1. to respect nature and protect it,
2. Non violence is the dharma of highest order (Ahinsa parmo dharma) one should be non violent towards animals, trees and other organisms.
3. Hinsa was considered as sin therefore not eating of meet in Hinduism is considered both as conduct and a duty.
Purity of thought and expression, and cleanliness of the environment around us should be observed .All lives, human and non-human including trees are of equal value and all have same right to existence. It shows that the principle of sanctity of life is clearly ingrained in Hindu religion. As Hindu religion is the oldest religion and is of divine origin and we don't know from where it originated but we can derive inference that it would have developed slowly and slowly in due course of time as man progressed. Man since the time immemorial knew the importance of nature, the things which helped him in progressing and he knew if we want to progress further we would require these things, so he related them to God and then slowly it became a practice.
Therefore different names given to different factors constituting environment:
Lord Surya- Sun ,
Vayu Devta -Lord of Winds,
Agni devta - Lord of fire,
Prithvi mata-Mother Earth,
Vanya Devi-Goddess of Forests, etc
Therefore cutting of trees was considered as sin as elements of nature were to be respected and regarded as gods and goddesses.
Rig Veda , Manusmriti , Charak Samhitaha emphasize on purity of water and healing and medicinal values of water. Because of those injunctions of system of maryada developed in Indian Society to keep clean and wholesome.
In Current scenario people have forgotten their age old traditions of living in harmony with nature and conserving natural environment and natural resources. In the mad rush for industrialization and industrial development we are forgetting the importance of environment. Earlier man coexisted with nature like other creatures but slowly he started thinking that whole universe is meant for man and he is the master of whole universe. Previously he cared for the environment in which he lives in because he had place in his heart for everything and he was sensitive towards other organism but as civilization progressed the sensitive attitude of man towards nature started deteriorating and he had totally forgotten the importance of nature and he though is well aware of the fact that Industrialization brings with it problems of environmental pollution but doesn't at all wants to understand this simple fact.