Environmental Ethics

Author(s): S M Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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of force at his place. Even dedicated saints and recluses, devoting most of their time all through their life in worship and other rituals in obeissance to famous deities suffer diseases, hardships and even imprisonment. There are cases of immoral activities including sexual exploitation of woman devotees in so called holy premises of temples etc. There is perpetuating blind faith that the deity they are worshipping will come from somewhere and help them. Many deities being worshiped are articulated icons of good, brave, samaritan men and women. In India there are icons on the boundaries of villages popularly known as Kshetrapalas (Protectors of the area of the village). Actually icons are of some brave persons who fought invaders and died to save the village people from atrocities. Likewise Vaishnodevi, Jeenmata and such others were real or mythological idols of women, brave and courageous who faught and over powered bad atrocious persons termed devils. Karnimata or Karnidevi of Bikaner (Deshnok) worshiped widely was a real women in recent history, was benevolent and obsessed with her benevolence she was made a deity after her death. The widely revered deities in India Shiva, Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Ganesha etc. were real or mythological persons who were brave, courageous, righteous and benevolent. Hanuman was not monkey but a human being. Different tribes, kingdoms had different marks on their respective flags of birds, snakes, monkey etc. and their clans were known as such Nagas (snakes on their flag) etc. The various shapes, and shades of idols of different deities viz. Ganesha, Hanuman, Shiva, Durga etc. are just imaginative perceptions of artists which in due course with spurious attributes of miracles got deified and entrenched in religious rituals. Ganesha, the elephant god is a glaring example of unbelievable unscientific interpretation because at no point of time the head of the youngest elephant can measure up to fit on the torso of even healthiest human being lest on that of a child. The point is that it is alright to worship such persons as it should remind us of their good qualities, life styles, precepts and motivate us to follow their ideals but not that they will come and do our
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