Awareness Of Environmental Protection In Brahman Literature: In The Context Of Vedas

Parul University, Varodara, Gujrat The Vedas contain ample references to environmental protection. Although the problem of environmental pollution was virtually nonexistent during the Vedic era, the visionary Vedic sages paid significant attention to it. Today, the issue of environmental pollution has assumed a particularly severe form in India. The Vedic sages had prior knowledge of this problem taking a dire shape. Therefore, extensive mentions of solutions to mitigate the severity of this issue are found scattered throughout the Vedic Samhitas and Vedic literature. When humans excessively tamper with or pollute nature (earth, water, fire, air, and space), the problem of pollution begins. The primary cause of this problem is the excessive increase in population. Due to population growth, urbanization of forest lands, destruction of trees in forests, contamination of natural water sources, scarcity of breathable air, widespread filth, excessive emission of smoke from modern means of transportation, and unchecked pollution of the environment by industries are among the many causes of environmental pollution in the modern era. In the modern age, along with environmental pollution, the crisis of noise pollution is also escalating. The Vedas provide various measures to protect against all these types of pollution. If we wish to escape the deadly grip of pollution, we must adopt the solutions outlined in the Vedas. In the Vedic era, the protection of the environment, closeness to nature, and the essential practice of performing Agnihotra at home were integral to human life. In the Vedas, various forms of nature are considered divine. There is a law to worship and honor these forms of nature. Earth, water (in the form of rivers), air, sky and light (in the form of Sun, Moon, constellations and dawn etc.), vegetation, mountains and six seasons etc., almost all the forms of nature were accepted as deities and all of them were worshipped. In such a situation of belief, it was not possible to harm, pollute or destroy these forms of nature. It is never possible to pollute or harm someone whom we worship or whom we consider a deity. There is also a clear provision in the Vedas for maintaining natural balance. The importance of the uninterrupted functioning of the six seasons at the right time in the balance of nature is expressed. The sequence of seasons and their characteristics should remain intact. Trying to make any changes in these, tampering with nature, is to destroy the natural balance. The sequence of seasons and the process of seasons have been termed as Yagya in Atharvaveda. yajñiyo yajati yajñiyāṁ ṛtūn|¹ (18|1|18) There is a law to perform havan in every house along with the continuous yagya of nature. If Yajna (Havan) is organized every day in every season, in which aromatic and medicinal substances are offered along with ghee, then pollution can be made ineffective even today. It is said in Atharvaveda that the purity and safety of the environment depends on water, air and vegetation. Purification and balance of these three will automatically solve the problem of pollution