Value Added Course Ethics and Values in Ancient Indian Tradition Shubh Gupta 2022/05/073 Bharat - The Sanskriti of Nature Ancient Indians used to believe that this physical form of Bharat was created by Prajapati Daksha in divine age , a land protected on all four sides is rare to find, the divine experience of six seasons is provided by the nature of india alone , heaven is here and sois liberation, Only those with the bountiful nature can believe that the world is one family and they have no need for looting and deceit. The forest representing Vedic and Indian civilization, which is appropriately metaphorical , as in a forest there exists a lot of diversity, so many kinds of species of plants and animals, and new things coming whereas old things evolving and thriving in inderdependence , so many types of cultures traditions emerging and subjected to fluxes and changes in sync with Nature, This diversity was due to the diverse philosphies, in Samkhya Philosophy there are 2 basic entity which sustains everything are Purusha (consciousness) and Prakruti (Nature) , purusha is constant but prakriti is continuously changing , change-novelty and diversity are the main rules of the prakriti, Therefore change, novelty and diversity were an integral part of Indian life from time and also of Philosophies, in some Karma is dominant, in some Gyaan , sometimes it is Bhakti, othertimes Asana, sometimes yoga thru mantra at othertimes Tapas, above all the ultimate was common-"Hrith’ (Divine Goal or Truth). " Colonial powers mistook Diversity as Chaos, but diversity creates Rasa, the way every leaf of a tree is different but nurtured by a single sap, the way trees are many but nurtured by the single forest. Similarly, there were multiple sects but were nurtured by similar principles of Yoga, that was Oneness of Consciousness and concentration of Chitta Consciousness than it illuminates the self. if we go deep into Indian Ancient past from the Vedic Texts we get Prithvi sukta, which is incredible example to understand Indian traditional perspective towards Nature. On seeing generous fertility of their land Indians considered the Earth as their mother, but does the idea of Prithvtis only limited to land of Bharat or is it about any specific part of Earth, which the Hrishi was referring to ? But unless we keep in mind all seven continents of Earth we car't do justice to the prithvi sukta, it is not only for land of India alone, "Earth is my mother and iam her son’, But this sentiment is towards the whole earth , because Indians have always considered themselves as the representatives of the world, which is evident from: “poaect fasarea" (Krunvanto Viswamaryam) "We take vow to make the world Noble/Honorable" (Rgveda- 9/63/5)“aa faery safe Us ASH”, means “Where the world becomes a nest” (Vedic Mantra) “ste Pro: et afe ort aya seRaRant J ayaa SgraAI" ~ "He is mine, he is another, not mine- such are thoughts of narrow minded people. For the noble minded the whole world is a family” (Maha Upanishad 6.72) With this realisation of oneness with world and nature , a person starts revering the earth as mother . When we get up, sit or walk, we must take care that our mother is not hurt, perhaps as a result of this reverence there was no archaeological footprints of the Vedic forest dwellers. “arat ff: gat sé gfe" (Mata Bhimih Putro Aham Prthivyah) - 0 Motherland, | am the Son of Mother Earth, (Prithvi suktam, Atharvaveda 12.1.18) The knowledge of nature through Yoga is far deeper than what modern science-has achieved, the scene we observe is not the nature by itself ,the senses themselves are an inherent part of nature but equally the wandering mind which is beyond the senses is also nature , the intellect which is beyond mind is also nature and beyond intellect Ahankar (self- consciousness) is also nature. Prime nature and consciousness or Purusha are far beyond all of this. The knowledge of consciousness can be realised by the knowledge of Nature, Nature is the inspiration for Arts and Aesthetics. Nature, Knowledge and Arts together have brought a qualitative transformation in the life experiences of indians, Nature have been force behind culture. Indian culture can be understood within this traingle, the apex of triangle is Nature, Nature has been guru of both Arts and Knowledge. Nature Knowledge Art Triangle of Indian Ancient TraditionWhen supreme consciousness descended into the natural body, people saw him into beauty of Nature , Sri Krishna himself said "See me in the divine glories of nature" (Bhagvadgita 10.41). Similarly, the idea that the Earth is not merely a mother but also a Yogi which through its forces has inspired us towards Yoga, Abhinavgupta (the legendary philosopher of Kashmir) in his Abhinavbharati said, "to sprout the seed of Samsara (the world), the Adiyogi Shiva become Moladhra (foundation/the Earth Chakra) positioned himself in the form of the earth’. Indian art embraces knowledge and knowledge finds its expression in Arts. According to Yoga , the fundamental purpose of nature is to exhibit itself, for exhibition Nature takes beautiful forms, is there a formula or Calculation behind its beauty- which is evident from Hemachandra Fibonacci Sequence which was firstly given HRishi Pingal in his "Chhanda shashtra' treaties on poetic Meters in 600BC. Amazingly this series and this ratio are seen in all the beautiful creations of the nature- the number of petals in a flower or the number of circles in a sunflower all beautiful creation show this pattern. We don't know whether the artist knew this but in the most beautiful man made creations this ratio is seen therefore it is called golden ratio of beauty. The same ratio can be seen in the Tala of Indian classical Musics and as well as in Chhandas or Poetic Meters of Sanskrit Grammar (definite number of cycles of long and short meters). They realised that materialistic nature is pulsating rhythmically as in a Chhanda,, they called both matter and voice as "Vaak" , the universe is bound by chhanda therefore knowledge of the universe and nature too bound in Chhanda. in this way the Arts, music and Poetry ensured the continuity of Indian knowledge. Forest dwelling sage Kafiva while biling farewell to his daughter Shakuntala converses with the trees , " the one who never drank water before watering you , never plucked your gentle buds in spite of a great love for floral ornaments, on seeing your new buds she would be overjoyed, the same Shakuntala is leaving for her husband's home, may you all bid her farewell.” urd 7 yer aaeate sie goureattay ar, ated fhe AUsafe acl Hea oT Ueetay | ore a: PHYTATE Hay: , Sa anfe aigecent ofa-ae Hd eaaaaH, 11 (Abhijfi@nasakuntalam 4.1.1) These acts of reverence of trees resurfaced after thousands of years to illuminate the modern science- the renowned Indian scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose was performing an experiment at Royal society of England "Do plants have life? " . This experiment had two objectives one he wanted to demolish the perception that India is the land of dreams, second he wanted to expand the vision of scientific perception of the west. On the success of his experiment, Tagore wrote a poem for Bose, published in Kalpana, Tagore, addressing the scientist, was effusive in his praise:far across the Indus, oh, my friend, you have brought the garland of victory, decorated the humbled head of the poor Mother ... Today, the mother has sent blessings in words of tears, of this unknown poet. Amidst the great Scholars of the West, brother, these words will reach only your years. In his letter to Tagore, dated 29th November, 1901, Bose acknowledged his responsibilities as a scientist to revive the national pride of his country: "lam alive with the life force of the mother Earth, | have prospered with the help of the love of my countrymen. For ages the sacrificial fire of India’s enlightenment has been kept burning, millions of Indians are protecting it with their lives, a small spark of which has reached this country (through me).” Thus, the ancient knowledge ofindia reached the west, in 1789 William Jones translated Shakuntalam in English, it had 46 translations in 12 different languages in a hundred year, europe was awestruck, now art wasn't limited to Aristotle centric , there was a paradigm shift in the sense of Aesthetics in Europe. Shakuntalam was shining among the arts of the world with great admiration. Shakuntala was called as "Child of Nature" but they never thought of saving the child of Shakuntala which was Bharat, lustful people cannot tolerate a child in the lap of a beauty. The destruction of Indian's knowledge was done by the same race at the same time . Sanskrit and Indian knowledge systems have since become a commodity to study. Within a hundred years the consumerist mindset has turned the future of Earth into despair by losing communication with Nature can we say we have progressed The time we lost touch with the soil our sensibilities fell apart. Continuity and creativity is human nature , Indians lived with Nature, revered it & evolved a culture that complemented all existence. It is the time wisdom of Indian Darshan is re-discovered.