Article | We need Vedic knowledge not western for water conservation - Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh

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Article 

We need Vedic knowledge not western for water conservation -  Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh

Writer, Author & Social Activist

Blogger - "Climate Diary Of Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh"

Why was there no water crisis in the Vedic period? Because at that time water was considered a deity. When we consider someone as our well-wisher, we also care about him and work in his favor. Whereas we have made water a means of earning money by imprisoning it in bottles. Marketism has become so effective in our lives that we have started looking at essential items of life as a salable product. We will once again have to look in the pages of the Vedas to see how we strengthen our relationship with water to conserve it.

Before the onset of summer season, the sound of water crisis starts to be heard. Has anyone ever thought that one day such a situation will come in the country that section 144 will be imposed for water or the sources of drinking water will be guarded round the clock with guns?  Nobody thought.  But this is what happened in the summer of 2016.  It is the result of not giving serious thought to the scarcity of water in the last decades that cities, villages and towns all seem to be facing water shortage.  The problem of water in many parts of the country was extremely dire.  Last year, in Maharashtra, there was scarcity of drinking water, far from water for agriculture.  The water sources had dried up.  Those who were there were under tremendous pressure from the population.  The most deplorable situation was in Latur.  There were so many incidents of violence and beatings for drinking water.  The collector had to impose Section 144 near 20 water tanks in Latur.

      In Madhya Pradesh too, there was a severe water crisis.  In Madhya Pradesh, 32 thousand hand pumps were closed.  More than 12 thousand tap-water schemes were directly closed.  About 200 Tehsils of the state were drought-hit and 82 urban bodies were also facing severe drinking water crisis.  The situation was even more strange in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh.  According to the chairman of the municipality there, farmers could not steal the water, so 10 guards with licensed weapons were deployed on behalf of the municipality.  On the other hand, the Supreme Court sought a response from the Center on the drought in the states.  The scariest truth of the future, if there is one today, is the lack of water.  Long queues and people fighting among them for water can be seen near water sources with sagging water levels in urban areas.  In rural areas the scenes are more frightening.  There, living water is available by making pits in mud and sand and risking lives by descending into deep trenches.  The sad thing is that we have forgotten about the mutual relation of water and drought, about which we have been reading, hearing and understanding since our childhood.  If there is no water then there will be drought and if there is drought then the question of availability of water does not arise.

 World Water Day is celebrated every year on 22 March by people all over the world.  In the year 1993, it was decided by the General Assembly of the United Nations to celebrate this day as an annual event.  In order to increase awareness about the importance, need and conservation of water, it was first officially included in Schedule 21 of the "United Nations Convention on Environment and Development" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and since 1993  Celebrations started.  The theme for the year 2022 is “Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible” (Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible). For it we need Vedic knowledge not western.

 With the arrival of the summer season, the scarcity of water starts speaking. Water is life. If there is no water then where is life?  Even after the construction of many dams in independent India, due to negligence, disorder and lack of awareness, the water crisis has increased continuously.  In rural areas where the sources of drinking water are less and the water level is depleting, women in those areas have to walk many kilometers to collect drinking water for their families.  From small girls to adults can be seen carrying water.  Many school-age girls carry several consignments of plastic 'kuppas' (cans used for filling water) on their bicycle carriers and handles from the water source to their homes.  In India, more than 1 lakh people die every year due to waterborne diseases.  According to the latest data, 77 percent of the total patients in India suffer from water-borne diseases like cholera, jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid.  Water pollution has increased so much that it affects 70 percent of the households in the country.  Lack of proper toilets and health facilities is a major reason for water pollution.  Uncleaned dirty water gets into the water sources, due to which diseases spread.  Diarrhea is the most serious disease among water borne diseases, which causes maximum death of children.  According to the World Health Organization data, every year 98,000 children lose their lives due to diarrhea in India.

So now is the time to turn the pages of our past on which the knowledge about the importance and conservation of water is preserved. Yes, our Vedic Knowledge is the storehouse of unlimited knowledge which shows us the way to identify with the environment. Vedic scriptures teach us to respect nature. When we respect someone, consider him close to us, then we do not think of harming him in any way. That is why there was no crisis for the environment and availability of water in the Vedic period, but in the blind race of materialism and selfishness, we kept breaking our relationship with nature, whose consequences are in front of us today in the form of water crisis. 

In the Rigveda, First Mandala, Sukta 23, Verse 19 state that-

"Apsu antah amrutam apsu bheshajam apam ut prashaye, devah bhavat vajinah."

 - That is, there is nectar in water, medicine in water. O sages, be quick in praising such elevated waters. Water is life; it is the basis of life. It is not possible to imagine life without water. Water is medicine in itself; this water expels  harmful elements of the body through urine. The sages, yagya-priests and humans should not delay in the praise of such water.

In the fourth chapter of Yajurveda, it is said that one should attain purity from the water which is the giver of all the pleasures, the sustainer of life and the nurturer like a mother, to purify the water.  Only after this, it should be used, so that the body can get a beautiful complexion, disease-free body, with continuous effort, while performing religious rituals, can get pleasure from one's effort.

In the Atharvaveda (Kand 19, Sukta 02) it is instructed that man should use rain, well and river water for his food, farming and crafts, etc. and make his life complete -

Shanta apo haimavatih shamu te santutsyaah.

Shan te sanishpada aapah shamu te santu varsyaah.

 

If we follow our Vedic knowledge carefully, then we can understand the importance of water very well. It is well known that whatever fact or element we find important, we are aware of it. Therefore, understanding the importance of water, we have to be ready about its conservation, only then we will be able to hand over pure water to our coming generation. We have to try to preserve and develop every component of nature and environment as God. Only then will the earth be happy and exist.                    

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 (20.03.2022)

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