• Siddharth Rajak

As we all are well familiar with the environment, it is everything which surrounds us naturally. Ever since man has emerged on the earth, there had been persistent dependency on nature. Ancient Indian literature serves as vast reservoirs of knowledge related to everything about environment. The vedic, puranic, Jain and Bhuddhist traditions established the principles of ecological harmony centuries ago. The Vedas attach great importance to environment protection and purity. Initially the Rigvedic Gods like Indra, Agni, Varuna, Vayu, Surya and Goddess like Usha, Aditi, Saraswati are associated with different aspects of nature. Also, the people of Indus Valley Civilization had given emphasis in sanitation and environment protection. The IVC environmental tradition was conscious of the need to protect nature and to harness it within the prescribed limits. The vedic peoples are primarily nature worshippers and had great concern about environment and its management. The Vedas, Brahmanas, Upnishad are full of references to diversified range of flora and fauna. The main principles of two great reformers Lord Bhuddha and Vardhman Mahavir are closely related to environment and its protection .The celebrated Indian author Kautilya in his book Arthsastra had given importance on the protection and management of forest, gardens and orchards. He also prescribed fines related to cutting of different parts of the tree. During Ashoka Maurya times the full focus was on the clean environment and burning of farm chaff after harvest was banned. The Gupta period marked significant developments in the area of environment. Kalidas, Aryabhatta and Palakalpya of the Gupta period were greatly influenced by the environment. The tradition of sacred groves was also common in the ancient period and still practiced. These Groves can be considered the ancient sanctuaries. Protection of environment was prevalent in our ancient society. It was present in India from time immoral.

Environment, Vedic, Jain, Bhuddhist, Groves.

"ANCIENT INDIAN VISION: CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.134-140, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907D23.pdf

"ANCIENT INDIAN VISION: CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp134-140, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907D23.pdf