Man enjoys no pristine position though a whole lot of privileges get accrued to man through his intellect. Actually man’s place in nature/ environment is twofold – physical, and the spiritual. The physical relationship entails interaction with all the other living things and non-living objects that are part of the environmental surroundings.
The spiritual relationship, on the other hand, requires a set of the rules of conduct to be followed by man. These rules of conduct specify the duties and obligations towards other living species. The guiding principle in both relationships is that the environment should not be endangered due to the activities of man. There is an element of ethics involved in this and man’s place in environment/nature is located within the realm of this ethics.
The treatment given to the issue man’s place in nature in Indian philosophical traditions too distinguishes between the physical and the spiritual or psychical, as suggested in some treatises. Since the physical relationship is principally determined by those requirements that sustain existence, such as food and living environment, it is a relationship of providing for the material needs.
Image Source: static1.1.sqspcdn.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
However, material needs and material wealth are two separate notions and these are clearly demarcated in the treatment of man’s physical relationship with environment. Unlike the techno-modern objective of mastering environment for extracting the maximum of material resources, the Indian tradition lays great emphasis on inculcating environmental ethics encouraging preservation, protection and conservation of nature. The psychical or spiritual relationship transcends the material world.
In a beautiful verse from Kathopnishad the idea is clearly described: ‘Higher than the senses (and their objects) is the mind, more excellent than the mind (manas) is intellect (sattvam); above the intellect soars the great soul (mahatma) and more excellent than the great one is the unmainfested (avyakta). And higher than the unmanifested is the soul (purusa here) which is all-pervading and without sense’.
Evidently man is conceived in Indian tradition as representing a microcosm of the larger universe which is the macrocosm. Interestingly the two micro and macrocosm constantly exchange their forms.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Thus fire of the nature becomes speech as it enters the mouth; the sun becomes sight as it enters the eyes; wind becomes breath by entering the nostrils; the annual herbs and regents of the forest become hairs as they enter the skin; the moon enters the heart and becomes mind. It also indicates man’s and nature’s interdependence as also the reality that the two can be comprehended completely only in a state of union.