Notions of Nature in Traditional Hinduism
This article focusses on four features in the perception of nature which are specific to Hinduism. However, this does not imply that I summarize the concept of nature in Hinduism for there is no such single concept. Any attempt to put forward such a conce
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Axel Michaels
1 lntroduction This article focusses on four features in the perception of nature which are specific to Hinduism. However, this does not imply that I summarize the concept of nature in Hinduism for there is no such single concept. Any attempt to put forward such a concept would be falsifying Hindu thought which is based on a variety of independent sources, social groups, languages and regions and which, therefore, cannot be reduced to a one, single, uniform world-view. In this context, it must not be forgotten that the term "Hinduism" itself, denoting a monolithic religion, was coined by Muslims to speak of the phenomenon of Indian religious life, whereas the so-called Hindus themselves have not tended to regard theselves as a unitary social group or community. Thus, in those cases where the Hindu conceptions of nature is spoken of it is usually either simplistic or reductive and even wrong, tending predominantly to focus on just one corpus of literature, the Sanskrit literature, and merely one social group, the Brahmin priests. This enquiry is underpinned by a simple but highly relevant question: Do there exist conceptions of nature in traditional Hinduism that are peculiar to Hindu culture alone, to an extent that other cultures can leam from it? In other words, I am suggesting that it is not only the technique of preserving and conserving nature of a society which are worthwhile emulating but also its cultural conceptions of nature itself. A classical example of such cultural conceptions is the Gandhian idea of ahimsa or non-violence which is even today inadequately tried and tested by govemments initiating peace processes. Similarily, I would argue that traditional Hindu conceptions of nature, correctly understood, could also effect a positive transformation in the ideologies of environmental conservation in Western societies. The theoretical problern behind the question raised is, as Ellen (1996: 104) aptly remarks, that of commensurabilty between different conceptions of nature (including the assumption that our nature always exist as a category comparable to their nature); the implication that each culture has a single ruling (nd unambiguous) conception of nature, which it is our task to locate, excavate and describe; and the problern as to how those colective notions of nature which we can claim to exist are 'constructed'or 'negotioted'. I have, thus far, talked repeatedly about conceptions of nature in traditional Hinduism. By this is meant that I Iimit myself, in this article, to an analysis offour basic ideas which underpin much of traditional Hindu discussions about nature: (a) the E. Ehlers et al. (eds.), Environment across Cultures © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003
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Axel Michaels
re1igious concept of space, (b) animism, (c) the belief in reincarnation and the related concept of nonviolence (ahimsa ), and (d) the concept of cyclical destruction ofnature. The paper, therefore, does not elaborate on many cognate Buddhist, Jain or Sikh ideas and concepts of nature (for which s
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