Ramayana is rich with beautiful descriptions of different elements
of nature, life in forests, animal characters, trees, plants, river,
mountains, etc. reflecting the integral relationship of humanity with
environment. There was ample examples and references in the talk. As we
read through the stories in Ramayana, we get to know love for nature,
animals, plants and vegetation and also get an inherent message about the
need to preserve it all.
In that context, the reference to the very origin of the writing
of the epic Ramayana, which points towards the compassion that Sage Valmiki
had towards nature, is very relevant. Valmiki’s first utterance to a hunter
and the shlokas which followed, trying to stop a hunter from killing one of
the *Krauncha* birds, shows the agony that he had undergone on seeing the
cruelty inflicted. The first word he uttered – *“Manishada”* – literally
means “Abstain, wild man”. The legend is that till he uttered the versus,
that came from within, expressing his anguish, Valmiki himself was
oblivious of his capability to write shlokas. It was after having heard his
first shloka that Brahma asked him to write the great epic, known as
Valmiki Ramayanam. So one can say that the birth of the epic itself stemmed
from a statement of compassion for nature.
Most of the incidents in Ramayana is set in forests and therefore,
it is lavish with descriptions of different types of forests – Alpine,
deciduous, tropical, semi tropical, rain forests, evergreen forests and so
on. The lives of the characters in Ramayana are intertwined with life in
different Ashrams where hermits, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Devtas as well as the
tribals co-exist, as a result of which the ecology of these places find
special mention in the stories.
The descriptions of the ecology and habitats inside religious
retreats like *Panchavati,* hermitages of *Sabari, Bhardwajamuni,
Agasthyamuni* – all ideally help the reader to visualise the beauty of
these places, the tranquillity, sweetness, the chirping of birds, and also
the existence of wild animals. These hermitages are all located near
rivers which then had unpolluted water full of natural elements and
minerals, and also availability of pure fresh fruits from the trees, the
fresh and pure air, medicinal plants and roots. All these lead us to
appreciate the quality of life they all would have had those days and how
healthy life would have been.
A vast treasure of medicinal herbs were available and known –
particularly we are all aware of the story of how Lord Hanuman set off to
get *Mrithasanjeevani* from the Dronagiri mountains in Himalayas and that
since he could not identify the plant, he brought the whole mountain to the
battlefield. It is the medicine prepared from the magical herb
*Mrithasanjeevani* that revived Lakshmana who was nearly killed by Ravana’s
son Indrajit.
While on this, all of us remembered the news item that we read in the
newspapers about a plant called *“Rodiola Rosea”,* a plant found in Ladakh,
locally known as *“Solo”, *which as per scientists could be the mythical
herb *Mrithasanjeevani.* This plant is supposed to have vast medicinal
properties and helps in keeping the immune system strong in high altitude
areas where oxygen is much lesser. Isn’t it great to note that even in
those pre historic times a reference of such herbs is made in an epic of
ours.
Another interesting aspect was the divinity showered on
Natural resources like rivers – *Ganga, Yamuna, Alakananda and Sarayu *to
name a few – and mountains were all treated and given respect in those
days, in contrast to how we treat them in the present day- as a place for
conquering or dumping waste. Also there are some interesting instances like
– the *Mainakam* mountain telling Hanuman that he can sit and rest on him
during his search for *Sita; *the Ocean saying that his son *Viswakarma *can
build a bridge across the ocean. Being someone who loves nature, I could
imagine those visual treats – as though many of these narrations in
Ramayana lead us to think that nature is in conversation with men, animals
and plants.
Ramayana stories are full of animals and birds as characters
*– *great
birds *Jatayu and Sampati; the Vanaras (monkeys) Hanuman, Bali, Sugriva,
Angada, Nala and Nila; the bear king, Jambavan, *and even the squirrels who
helped in building the *Ram Sethu.* All these lead us to believe that the
characters of Ramayana –even the evil characters – lived in good harmony
with the environment and knew the importance of conservation of nature and
its resources. Sita’s attraction to *Mareecha, *the golden deer – though
treacherously disguised – plays a pivotal role in the whole story of
Ramayana. Each of these animals and birds are strong characters in the
Ramayana stories.D
Maybe we should share these thoughts with our future
generation. I am not sure whether the media/internet from which the coming
generation get information about our epics, will present them with such
details or permit them to pause and devour such thoughts. Incidentally, the
photographs depicted above and a whole lot of them are already there on the
internet, from where I have taken them. But then, in the normal course
even we don’t go through these, except when we come across such topics.
(The talk was by Shri A Sreevalsan, who was earlier the Chairman of the
Paristhithi Samrakshana Samithy, Kozhikode) KR IRS 18 9 23
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Markendeya Yeddanapudi <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 18 Sept 2023 at 07:50
Subject: The Path of Success
To: ggroup <[email protected]>, thatha patty <
[email protected]>, <[email protected]>,
Satyanarayana Kunamneni <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>,
viswanatham vangapally <[email protected]>, Kunamneni
Satyanarayana <[email protected]>, Rajaram Krishnamurthy <
[email protected]>, Ramamurti PV <[email protected]>, Rangarajan
T.N.C. <[email protected]>, Ramu S <[email protected]>, Deepali
Hadker <[email protected]>, Krishnamacharyulu Nanduri <
[email protected]>
--
*Mar*The Path of Success
The gigantic vacuum of the universe is simply gigantic consciousness,
creating objects of awareness. You are an extension of that abstract
consciousness or vacuum, striving for awareness in your voyages in many,
many lives, life after life. The basic subject matter of Quantum Physics is
quantum Consciousness. The sub atomic particles become sprouts of
consciousness. Throughout your life you traverse from one awareness to
another, as part of the vacuum, the notice of consciousness happening in
your mini life. When you pay attention to what you really are, you end up
with the abstract and formless director as you.
And as an extension of the great vacuum, you can direct events, by directed
notice. The notice is not merely mental notice, but total notice, creating
hormonal flows and making every cell of you, team up. The only point is,
that your effort must be symbiotic, synchronizing with the symbiosis of
nature.
Can you compete with a five month old baby, in continuously kicking with
legs? You simply cannot. That is how we learnt to stand and walk and run
and do all sorts of feats, attempting without any thought of failure. The
tiny baby is inducting the whole nature to its help in its attempt, without
any doubts about results. Nature has been helping it automatically. Nature
is always there to help, provided you do not wound and kill nature.
Our problem is we are in the quagmire of antibiosis, where we do not allow
the spontaneous flow of reinforcement from nature. We allow doubts and
apprehensions, to become the monsters that make us abort.
Once we all believed that the God above is watching. If you identify God as
nature, then God is not only watching but also directing, as you simply
cannot disconnect from nature. When you synchronize with nature, you will
be always happy. Suffering happens only when you go against nature, and
destroy nature calling it economic activity. You cannot have a living and
guiding forest when you destroy the forest and change it into furniture.
No University in the world trains the students in symbiotic living and
perceiving. It is putting them under the thralls of machines and training
them in the mechanization of everything, mechanization where there can be
no feelings, emotions,the basic ingredients of understanding.
YM
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoqABL5n_BWw4-kutPetY1xHB0SgoSO24p%2BcSVSnZ0ODCA%40mail.gmail.com.
