The chapter explores motifs concerning the pervasive value and utility of water from the microcosm to the macrocosm, cosmology to fertility, cleansing and purificatory rites, streams to oceans and nutritional needs to agricultural growth.
Authors
Purushottama Bilimoria, Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India; Ashoka University Delhi-NCR, India; University of Melbourne, Australia; Oxford Center for Hindu Studies, United Kingdom; Cal State University, San Francisco, Long Beach, CA, United States; University of California, United States; University of San Francisco, United States; University of Melbourne, Australia.
M. K. Sridhar, SVYASA Yoga University, India; SVYASA Online University, India.
Summary
The chapter examines the predominant role played by water in the lives of people in the Indic world from Vedic times to the present day. A number of ceremonies, both holy and secular, have been associated with water.
Hymns from the Vedas, Brāhmaṇas, Mahābhārata, Āgamic and Purāṇic texts are drawn upon – with references also to Jain teachings – to bring out the legends and myths and genuine beliefs connected with water that underscore the sacred and profane, purificatory, healing and resuscitating dimensions of water.
The chapter explores motifs concerning the pervasive value and utility of water from the microcosm to the macrocosm, cosmology to fertility, cleansing and purificatory rites, streams to oceans and nutritional needs to agricultural growth. Attention is also drawn to the ecology of water resources, the economy of water scarcity, ‘water wars’ and water justice across the socio–political-arenas in a rapidly liberalising and globalizing world.
The practical ethical applications of this knowledge base are explored through the work of non-governmental organizations and water swamis in the subcontinent.
Published in: The Routledge Companion to Indian Ethics
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