Jainism

Author(s): M R Gelra
Publisher: Createspace

Page 96

CHAPTER-8
ECOLOGY
Introduction Ecology is the branch of Biology which deals with the relation between organisms and their environment. The term ecology has been derived from Greek word 'Oikos' which means home. Thus, Ecology is the science of our home, our environment and our planet.
Narration
In India, Vedic people, in the early stages of their development were worshippers of the powers and forces of nature. Many of the hymns of the Rgveda are addressed to a sungod, a moon-god, a fire-god or a goddess of dawn, the earth and also their significant attributes, all natural phenomena already captivating man's mind. It has also excited the devotion and imagination of the Vedic poets. These natural forces were gradually transformed into mythological figures and into gods and goddesses presiding over natural phenomena.
Jain Ecology Jain ecology has given due consideration to the existence of the natural forces and regarded that life does not exist only in human beings and animals, but also exists in lumps of earth, drops of water, and flames of fire, in breezes of wind and in bundles of vegetation. These five kinds of immobile living beings fulfill their own functions in nature. They are known as one-sensed souls as they only have the sensation of touch. They too experience violence caused to them just as experienced by a human being and hence, the Jain doctrine strongly advocates one to refrain from destroying them. It maintains the moral, ethical, mental and physical values of a civilized society; the Jains pay the highest regard to all forms of life.
Jain philosophy invokes such a commitment as an integral part of the society so that human beings do not mess with the semblance of nature i.e. the embodied souls of earth, water etc. The Jains have cultivated the practice of living non-violently with nature, and helped in protecting the environment and ecology. Jain seers attach great importance to the welfare of plants and have produced sacred laws for the care of the natural world. By postulating the animated character of one-sensed souls, the Jain teachings were ahead of their time and are the predecessors of today's environmental concern of maintaining ecological balance in the world.