Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions PDF
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Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures 12 Meera Baindur Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures Volume 12 Series editors Editor-in-Chief: Purushottama Bilimoria The University of Melbourne, Australia; University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Co-Editor: Andrew Irvine Maryville College, Maryville, TN, USA Assistant to Editor Amy Rayner (Australia) Editorial Board Balbinder Bhogal (Hofstra University) Sheerah Bloor (University of Melbourne) Christopher Chapple (Loyola Marymount University) Vrinda Dalmia (University of Hawaii at Honolulu) Gavin Flood (Oxford University) Jessica Frazier (Kent University) Kathleen Higgins (University of Texas at Austin) Morny Joy (Calgary University) Parimal Patil (Harvard University) Joseph Prabhu (Cal State LA) Carool Kersten (King’s College, London) Richard King (University of Glasgow) Arvind-Pal Mandair (University of Michigan) Rekha Nath (University of Alabama) Stephen Phillips (University of Texas at Austin) Anupama Rao (Columbia University) TheSophiaStudiesinCross-culturalPhilosophyofTraditionsandCulturesfosters critical and constructive engagement of the intellectual and philosophical dimen- sions—broadly construed—of religious and cultural traditions around the globe. The series invites innovative scholarship, including feminist, postmodern, and postcolonial approaches. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8880 Meera Baindur Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions 123 Meera Baindur ManipalCentre for Philosophyand Humanities ManipalUniversity Manipal, Karnataka India ISSN 2211-1107 ISSN 2211-1115 (electronic) Sophia Studiesin Cross-cultural Philosophyof Traditions andCultures ISBN 978-81-322-2357-3 ISBN 978-81-322-2358-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2358-0 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015934684 SpringerNewDelhiHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon ©SpringerIndia2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Printedonacid-freepaper Springer(India)Pvt.Ltd.ispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) To Vinay Preface ThisbookisasmuchaboutIndianphilosophicaltraditionsasitisaboutnature.The interweaving of both these themes is inevitable, not only because they are con- ceptually related but also because as a researcher I am profoundly related to both. The beginnings of this project are based on my interest in nature and in Indian philosophy. I spent a few years of my life living in the Himalayas, studying phi- losophy in a traditional way. During those years I experienced a deep relationship with the environment around me. A strong sense of commitment to a vision of an ethical human–nature relationship became a guiding value in my life. My struggle to find newer ways of thinking and articulating my experience led me to study psychology first and then move on to philosophy. For my Ph.D., I wanted to study the relationship between origins of Indian philosophical thought and nature. In the very first conversation I had with my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Sundar Sarukkai about nature in Indian thought, I poured out a torrent of ideas about conserving nature, eco-ethics and people’s attitude to nature.Helistenedpatientlyandthenstoppedmewithasimplequestion.Heasked “What is this nature you are referring to? What is nature in the Indian traditions?” What was supposed to be a short answer to this question, turned out to be the background question for my doctoral thesis. This book is a later version of my thesis that contributes to this question, “What is nature in Indian philosophy and culture and what do we do after we find that out?” WhenIstartedout,mystudywasunorthodoxandtherewasnocleardisciplinary boundary.Thiswasbothachallengeandanadvantage.Thechallengewastokeep the work descriptive and conceptual and yet not devolve into a discourse of pre- scriptive culturalism. The advantage was that I had an opportunity to produce a workonIndianphilosophical thoughtandrelateittosomethingcontemporarylike ecologicalethics.Thebookreflectsthisstruggleandbalanceinitsvarioussections. In the course of my work I found that cultural geography as a discipline, in a way linksthecontemporaryideastothepre-modernphilosophicalconceptsofnature.It was also evident that certain ideas around Indian Ethics would also have to be examined and recast into the ecological ethics problematic. vii viii Preface ThoughIworkedwithSanskrittexts,myapproachwasnotthatofaSanskritist.I was familiar with traditional methods of reading Indian philosophical texts and had a working knowledge of Sanskrit. I was thus able to access the texts, using a conceptualapproach.TocreateconceptualcategoriesfromIndiantextsistoengage in an act of translation. In this method, I am deeply influenced by the work of my supervisor Dr. Sundar Sarukkai. On the other hand, I must confess working with only some philosophical texts felt incomplete and so I included some cultural traditions such as medicine and literature to my study. I felt that this enriched the philosophical themes. A part of the pragmatic approach to my topic comes from the tradition of environmental science and wildlife conservation, which were my earlier career paths. My co-supervisor, Dr. Anindya Sinha, regularly challenged my ethical claims and helped me make those crucial links between philosophy and conser- vationbiology.Thefinaltwochaptersofthisbookareareflectionoftheattemptto make this work conceptually relevant to the discourses of nature conservation and place the themes within the larger context of today’s ecological crisis. Many references and earlier work from Western philosophical traditions were availableonthesubject.KateSoper’sWhatisNature? wasanimportantinfluence on the way I structured this book around themes. For sources from Eastern tradi- tions,Ireliedonmanysmalleryetrelevantpapersbyeminentphilosophersworking onIndianphilosophysuchasJ.N.Mohanty,B.K.Matilal,PurushottamaBilimoria, Vasudha Narayan and others. Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought, an edited volume of essays by J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames, gave my research a legitimate ground in the discipline of environmental philosophy. Thebookalsoincludessomechaptersthatwerenotapartofmyoriginalthesis. These chapters have been extensions of the same work undertaken in part during thespringcoursesonenvironmentalphilosophythatIteachmyMaster’sstudentsat the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University. The questions and discussions on this subject have led to extensive work on aspects of cultural geography and literature in this book. While writing this book, I made a deliberate choice about not using gender neutral terms, particularly when I refer to earlier work by authors on nature. The choice of the word ‘man’ as against ‘human’ is a point to be deliberated on, particularly since a substantial part of this work focuses on eco-feminist issues. KarenWarren,whomIbrieflymetataconferenceintheUS,spoketomeaboutthe importance of not neutralising these references which have engendered our understanding of nature and culture. Acknowledgements IacknowledgetheunconditionalloveandsupportofmyhusbandVinayBaindurin my life. He has contributed in many ways by being an unshakable stand for my work. He continues to inspire me. I am deeply indebted to my associates, friends and colleagues at Manipal University—Dr. Sundar Sarukkai, Dr. George Varghese, Dr. Nikhil Govind and Dr. Gayathri Prabhu. I thank them especially for the endless discussions and philosophicaldebatesthatcrystallisedmyconceptsandhelpedtomakeconnections in my research. They bravely encountered and responded to my random philo- sophicalthoughtsatalltimes.Iamdeeplygratefultomystudents,Ivan,Asimand Kalpita,withwhomIhadmanyconversationsthatinspiredquestionsandideasfor thebook.MadhavaandTapaswihavebeenmySanskrit companionsandprovided valuable time to discuss texts and translations. Heartfelt thanks are also due to Dhanwanti Nayak, who was always available with her advice and support. I thank Sharmada,whountiringlywentthroughthechaptersandproofreadthefinalcopy.I specially thank thestaffat MCPH, Ms.Swathiand Ms.Jayanthi,for theirsupport. I thank Dr. Sundar Sarukkai, my guide and Dr. Anindya Sinha, my co-guide, whose intervention changed the course of my life and turned it towards a lifelong passion for research. They have been a source of intellectual stimulation and inspiration as I went through the ups and downs of a doctoral programme. As teachersandmytoughestcritics,theirsenseofhumourandrationaldissidencehas createdrigourandfreshperspectivesinmystudy.IdeeplyacknowledgeDr.Sundar Sarukkai’s contribution in particular for the various discussions we had on phi- losophy.Ithank himforintroducingmetotheworldofphilosophy ofscienceand thepracticeofthinking,writingandforencouragingmetoexpressmyself.Icould not have had a better mentor or teacher. I thank Dr. Anindya Sinha for being available and for responding patiently to my endless questions and arguments. By challenging me to critically examine so many of my typical assumptions about conservation and ecology, he rekindled my interest in the biological sciences. Among the faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Dr. Carol Upadhya and Dr. Rajesh Kasturirangan, the additional members on my doctoral committee, have always been available for substantive advice and for ix x Acknowledgements guidance in the interdisciplinary areas of my research and I am deeply grateful to them. Dr. Carol Upadhya introduced me to the fundamentals of anthropology and sociology that have influenced my work deeply. Dr. M.G. Narasimhan was a constantsourceofsupportandpointedmetomanyofthebooksthatgreatlyhelped me with my work. I am grateful to Dr. Purushottama Bilimoria for his encour- agement and guidance on important aspects of my work. Dr. Raghuramaraju, one of the external examiners of my thesis, was insistent that my work should be publishedasabook.Hiscommentsonmythesishelpedmetogreatlyimprovemy ideaswhileconvertingmythesisintoabook.Dr.GopalGuruwhosharedhisviews on the issues of social justice and environment inspired me to take on speculating about some applications of my research in the real world. My colleagues Sowjanya Peddi and Sreeja K.G. collaborated with me on a projectonurbanlakesthatcontributedtothelaterchaptersofthisbook.Iamdeeply grateful for the interdisciplinary skills I learnt while working with them. Alargepartofmyphilosophicaltrainingwasgainedfromlearningthescriptures from my mother Narayana Lakshmi, who being a translator and a philosopher herself was able to tide me over many difficult passages. My brothers, Naren and Vivek were my philosophical companions and also help in editing earlier versions of my thesis. As an inheritor of the oral traditions of studying philosophical texts, Imustconfessthattheinsightsfromalonglineageofteachersandpreceptorshave also contributed to this work. This tradition endures within a particular notion of knowledge that does not lend itself to modern ways of author–date citations. Instead, what can be acknowledged on my part is a deep sense of gratitude, a humility and acceptance of receiving the priceless gift of knowledge. I take this opportunity to thank theline of philosophers and teachersin Indian traditionswho have contributed to my thinking and reflections in very many ways.
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