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Penguin Books Ltd - Nanditha Krishna

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180 pages

English

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Animals are worshipped in India in many ways: as deities the elephant-god Ganesha and the monkey-god Hanuman; as avatars like Vishnu s fish, tortoise and boar forms; and as vahanas the swan, bull, lion and tiger were all vehicles of major deities and are thus sacred by association. Some animals, like the snake, are worshipped out of fear. Birds such as the crow are associated with the abode of the dead, or the souls of ancestors, while the cow s sanctity may derive from its economic value. There are also hero-animals, such as the vanaras, and animals which were totemic symbols of tribes that were assimilated into Vedic Hinduism. Sacred Animals of India draws on the ancient religious traditions of India Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism to explore the customs and practices that engendered the veneration of animals in India. This book also examines the traditions that gave animals in India protection, and is a reminder of the role of animal species in the earth s biodiversity.

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Philosophie et théologie

Earth science

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Publié par	Penguin Books Ltd
Date de parution	01 mai 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184751826
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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NANDITHA KRISHNA
Sacred Animals of India
Contents
About the Author
Praise for the Book
Dedication
Preface
Sacred Animals
Introduction
Ant
Antelope
Blackbuck
Blue bull
Bear
Bee
Bumblebee
Honeybee
Boar
Buffalo
Bull
Butterfly
Cat
Cow
Crane
Crocodile
Crow
Cuckoo
Deer
Dog
Donkey
Dove
Eagle
Elephant
Fish
Flying Fox
Frog
Goat
Hare
Horse
Jackal
Kite
Lion
Lizard
Mite
Mongoose
Monkey
Mouse
Owl
Parakeet/Parrot
Peacock
Pheasant
Porcupine
Praying Mantis
Rat
Rhinoceros
Rooster
Sheep
Snake
Snow Leopard
Spider
Squirrel
Swan
Tiger
Tortoise/Turtle
Vulture
Yak
Conclusion
Appendix: Sacred Animals and Animal Divinities of Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
Bibliography
Follow Penguin
Copyright Page
PENGUIN BOOKS
SACRED ANIMALS OF INDIA
Nanditha Krishna is a historian, environmentalist, and writer based in Chennai. A PhD in ancient Indian culture, she is the director of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre. She has pioneered the documentation of the ecological traditions of India, restored over fifty sacred groves, and established schools, a research institution, and a museum of folk art. Her published works include Sacred Animals of India, Book of Demons, Book of Vishnu, Madras Then Chennai Now, Balaji-Venkateshwara, Ganesha, Painted Manuscripts of the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Arts and Crafts of Tamilnadu, and Art and Iconography of Vishnu Narayana, besides numerous research papers and newspaper articles. She is a professor and research guide for the PhD programme of the University of Madras and has received several prestigious national and international awards.
Praise for the Book
‘Sacred Animals … is not a coffee-table book. It requires that you read, not just glance through it. The book evokes the vision of an ancient civilisation—ours. From Vedic to historic times, it chronicles the dynamics of man–animal interaction in India down the centuries’— The Hindu Business Line
‘A good read at a time when the world as we know it is in the throes of an increasingly contentious debate on the future of our environment’— Mail Today
‘The book, written in simple, straightforward language, treats the complex subject with the confidence that is born out of meticulous and thorough research and strong convictions. Tribal lore, folklore, ancient scriptures, traditional tales, history, scriptural texts, cave paintings—no source seems to have been left uncombed in the effort to chronicle the history and progress of the Indian’s attitude towards animals’—Book Review Literary Trust
A LSO BY THE AUTHOR
The Book of Vishnu The Book of Demons
For the many animals who are part of our everyday world and bring us joy, and for those that suffer needlessly as a result of human cruelty.
vidy vinayasampanne br hmane gavi hastini uni caiva vap ke ca pa dit samadar ina
(Those who are wise and humble treat equally, the Brahmin, cow, elephant, dog and dog-eater)
Bhagavat Gita, 5.19
Preface
Sacred Animals of India was planned for the Asia for Animals Conference held in January 2007 at Chennai. However, when I began researching the subject, I discovered a wealth of material that was impossible to ignore. So I decided to cover the subject in greater depth.
This book was first published as a limited edition by C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC), for release during the National Conference on the Environment and Indian History held at Chennai in January 2008. It has been expanded to include many more myths and legends involving animals, and rewritten for a more general readership.
My love for animals was instilled in me by my late father, A.R. Jagannathan, a wildlife enthusiast who took me to so many national parks and sanctuaries that I became an avid environmentalist. He was an ardent Hanuman devotee, while my late Ganesha-worshipping mother Shakunthala Jaganathan and I jointly wrote a book Ganesha-The Auspicious The Beginning (Vakils, Feffer and Simons Ltd) in 1992. The seed for this book was probably sown long ago by my parents.
None of this would have been possible without the interest and involvement of Ravi Singh and Udayan Mitra of Penguin, who encouraged me to complete the book quickly, and Archana Shankar, my editor. Thank you, Ravi, Udayan and Archana.
Several people helped me in so many ways: M. Amirthalingam assisted me right through my research, especially in finding the correct names for each animal in various languages. Dr T. Sundaramurthi and P. Sudhakar of C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, and Dr A. Raman of Orange University, Australia, gave the zoological information and ecological role of each animal. G. Balaji searched for illustrations in the private collection of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and H. Manikandan kept track of all the materials. My husband Dr S. Chinny Krishna, who is also the chairman of the Blue Cross of India, updated me on animal welfare issues in India. He also read, re-read, questioned and edited the book. My sincere thanks to all of them.
Once we decided to illustrate this book with drawings, Y. Venkatesh went through the ardous task of sketching each figure. It was a difficult task to make elaborate pictures of Ganesha and Gajalakshmi into simple sketches, but he did it, I believe, very successfully.
Every animal is introduced with the myths and legends that establish its religious status, followed by a short note on the ecological or social role of the animal, which made it important in people s lives. The problems of its survival and treatment in today s world have also been covered.
I have tried to provide the Hindi, Tamil and Sanskrit names for each animal and/or the local name in the state where it is specially revered, for many animals are restricted to specific geographic areas.
An appendix on Sacred Animals and Animal Divinities of Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt has been included. While all ancient civilizations revered animals, the similarities between these neighbours and India require special emphasis. Further, although they may be of greater antiquity than the Indian examples, they have been restricted to an appendix so that they do not divert attention from the main topic of the book.
This book is dedicated to the many dogs and one cat who gave me so much love and companionship over the years, and to the many animals who have suffered and continue to suffer at human hands-bullocks pulling overloaded carts, cattle and goats trucked or walked for days without food or water, animals fattened and killed agonizingly to provide man with a plate of rich food, wildlife hunted from fast-moving vehicles with technically sophisticated weapons the list is endless. May they find peace in their future lives.
This book does not whitewash the problems faced by animals. Rather, it is a timely reminder of traditions that once gave animals protection from human inhumanity. India had a rich heritage of respect for all life forms. This respect has been destroyed, without being replaced by anything similar or better. Unless we protect our wildlife from hunting and extinction, and our domestic animals from cruelty, we are not fit to call ourselves educated, or even a people who inherited the great legacy of ahimsa or non-violence.
Nanditha Krishna Chennai
Introduction
The ancient religions of India-Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism-have never differentiated between the soul of a human being and the soul of an animal. All life forms are subject to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The liberation of the soul depends on one s karmas or actions, and one goes through several births till the soul realizes the truth. Thus a person, an animal and an insect are equally part of the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Finally, when good karmas lead to self-realization, the soul is liberated from the cycle of samsara. This is moksha or nirvana, the ultimate liberation of the individual soul, leading it to oneness with the Supreme Being or Brahman. Everything has been created by the Supreme Being, comes from the Supreme Being and returns to the Supreme Being. Animals are sacred because people identify with them, an identity born of the belief in karma and the transmigration of souls.
Ancient civilizations revered nature in all its aspects. In Indian traditions, the proper balance of the pancha bhuta (five elements)-prithvi (earth), vayu (wind), akasha (sky or space), apa (water) and agni (fire or energy)-is essential for the harmony and balance of life on earth. All life forms contribute equally to the balance of these five elements.
The worship of animals probably began very early in human history, when human beings were struggling to survive in a hostile environment. Man and animal have coexisted since the beginning of creation, sometimes in harmony and at other times in hostility, as they fought over limited resources. The carnivores with their strength, speed and physical prowess were feared and had to be overcome. The human brain created tools to achieve superiority over animals and this led to the development of cultures and civilizations. The respect for a powerful adversary made him into a god, worshipped out of fear.
This was a time when people were still food gatherers. Many Indian tribes believe that eating a portion of the flesh or wearing a part of the animal s body (like the claw or teeth of the tiger) will transfer the qualities of that animal to the person. Animals were revered for specific qualities that the devotee hoped to attain. A tribal shaman may go into a trance and enter the soul of an animal, in which state he can see things denied to a human being, thus giving the animal an omniscient quality.
The Lepchas, hunter-gatherers of Sikkim, believe that everything in the environment is of spiritual significance, that animals and birds share a symbiotic relationship of mutual obligation and trust w