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Mother Power and Flourish Angelica Spearwoman Revere Mother Power and Flourish Angelica Spearwoman Introduction Sanskrit is a divine language, said to be the only language tapped into the essential nature of the universe. The Rgveda, the first available text of the entire human race, is written in Sanskrit (Vempaty Kutumba Sastry, Sanskrit and Development of World Thought. New Delhi, D.K. Printworld, 2014, vii) and today, many of the words we use have their roots in Sanskrit. It is a language with an infinite and endless amount of words, each word carrying with it its own meaning and context. Like many ancient languages, it is facing its own fear of extinction alongside many of the species living on our planet, including us humans. Now more than ever, it is vital that we look to this language to see what it is we can learn from it before it is too late. In many of the sacred Sanskrit texts, the highest accord is rendered to both women and Mother Earth, however, in today’s dominant culture, women and the earth are not as respected and revered as they once were. Given this background, the paper aims at investigating, through Sanskrit, how Mother Earth and women are depicted, interpreted, and revered. Further, an attempt is made to understand the gap between the Sanskrit perspective of Mother Earth and women and the social practices seen in contemporary India. Specifically, issues related to environmental destruction and the marital life and social security of women in India. This paper seeks to answer the following questions; What makes Sanskrit a divine language? How are Mother Earth and women are depicted, interpreted, and revered in Sanskrit? Can Sanskrit help to bring about a change in rethinking our perspective to Mother Earth and nature? Keeping these questions in mind, the papers tries to portray the power of Sanskrit as a language of higher consciousness, understand and describe how Mother Earth and women are depicted in Sanskrit, and lastly, to relate Sanskrit and the reverence of Mother Earth and women in contemporary Indian culture. For the purpose of this study, sacred texts including, the Rgveda, Atharvaveda, Brihadaranyaka Unpanished, Durga Saptashati, Manusmrti, and Smriti were analyzed. Language Sanskrit, and also all other languages, directly influence peoples patterns of thought and behavior. Language and culture develop simultaneously and we can understand the culture of a people through their language. Unlike other languages, Sanskrit is not only a spoken language but also serves the purpose of reaching the divine consciousness. Its objective is to attain the state of self-actualization and to be one with the supreme consciousness. It is a language that quite literally brings us to oneness. It encourages living meaningfully and co-existing. As a language, its rooted in the belief that harmony and peace in the world are attainable to all. More than anything, this sacred language offers up guidelines for how to live in this world. In India specifically, as language began to evolve and new languages were introduced, culture changed. Therefore, the culture of modern India changed as new ideas and beliefs were adopted. The following sections will give an overview of the depictions, interpretations, and reverence of Mother Earth and women in some of the most famous Sanskrit texts and will encourage a rethinking of how we view and relate to these two essential forces. Mother Earth in Sanskrit In the classic Sanskrit text called the Bhoomi (Nature) Sutra or Hymn to Mother Earth, derived from one of the oldest Hindu scriptures, the Atharva-Veda, the Earth is depicted as a Mother, possessing immense love, compassion, tolerance and patience for all beings. She is defined as a living entity, the “Queen of what was and what will be”1 and includes both living beings as well as the surrounding physical environment. Bhoomi is held by Cosmic Divine Laws and she witnesses all of the activities of living entities. Earth is seen as a “purifier”2 and the place where all human action is carried out. Bhoomi is essentially Divine, an incarnation of God nearest and most tangible to us. She is not under the control of human beings and is instead, upheld by divine forces and should be worshiped. It is said that the heart of Bhoomi lie in the highest spiritual sky (Vyoman) which is enveloped by Truth and Immortality3. In Verse 12.1.1, it is mentioned that the Earth is upheld, sustained by Truth (Satya), Eternal law, order, and righteousness (Ritam), Consecration and Initiation (Deeksha), Devotion (Brahma), and Sacrifice (Yajna)4. The way peoples of this time interpreted that specific text among many others, gave rise to the way in which she was revered. Further, through interpreting the texts, the manner in which the earth and the environment must be understood is clearly defined. People understood on the deepest of levels that everyone is sustained by Bhoomi and if Bhoomi is in danger, the life of everyone is in danger5. It was written that she must be protected with vigilance because Bhoomi is our living Mother, and you protect your mother6. In one line of the Bhoomi Sutra, it is written that the “Earth is the mother and humans are her children7.” Further, she is “mistress of four quarters in whom food and cornfields have come to be, who bears in many forms the breathing and moving life; in which beings of old have performed many tasks; where the gods have defeated demons, which is the home of cattle, horses and birds; which is all sustaining, treasure bearing, firm staying place, gold breasted home of all creatures, who supports the Universal 1 https://www.newsgram.com/bhoomi-suktam-understanding-the-tender-maternal-nature-of-planet-earth 2 Ibid 3 http://greenmesg.org/nature/bhoomi.php 4 https://www.newsgram.com/bhoomi-suktam-understanding-the-tender-maternal-nature-of-planet-earth 5 http://greenmesg.org/nature/bhoomi.php 6 https://www.newsgram.com/bhoomi-suktam-understanding-the-tender-maternal-nature-of-planet-earth 7 Ibid Fire8.” Basically, she is the basis, the foundation that holds together all actions and it is on her where we exist. The Sanskrit language emphasizes how our lives are sustained by Bhoomi. Her food is our medicine and her body is where we go for sustenance and spiritual growth9. She also fills our lives with diversity which we as humans need to flourish. These ideas become the qualities a human is expected to implement in life. The belief becomes, in order to understand Earth and ourselves in a deeper, spiritual, and more meaningful way, one must practice the qualities of truth, righteousness, austerity etc. in everyday life, seeing that any action against the Earth goes against cosmic truth. As offspring of Mother Earth, our duty is to help her sustain herself and protect and enrich her. This developed attitude of devotion and sacrifice regarding every object and every entity present in the surrounding environment leads to what in Sanskrit is called ahimsa (non-violence)10, driven by a devotion and sense of sacrifice. If every person cultivated these attitudes towards the surroundings, it would automatically result in the protection, preservation, and enrichment of all. Seeing the earth as a nourisher, understanding our dependence on the Earth for survival, and realizing that we as humans derive our very existence from the Earth and at death will merge back into it will radically change the way we interact with her. Women in Sanskrit In Sanskrit, women are spoken about with deep admiration. It is believed by some that the status of womanhood in India reached its pinnacle during Vedic times and the Sanskrit language is evidence of that11. Women were attributed the highest position in Hindu scriptures, and understanding their essential role as divine entity, mother and wife during this time will help give a sense of the values of Indian society then and also today. It is important to note that the reverence to women in this language comes mainly from glorifying their role as mother and wife, which is problematic since that should not be the only reason why women are given reverence. However, their individual importance was highlighted as well as their central role in maintaining harmony within human relations and with Mother Earth. Indian scriptures instructed not only to respect women as equal to men but also see the same divinity in all creatures, since, the “indwelling eternal self is one and the same in all living beings12.” It is important to point out also that the glorification of women did not arise in spite of the glorification of men. In fact, the masculine and feminine were given equal importance in the scriptures. Both women and men took part in every aspect of society. Women were discussed as the soil and men the seeds. It is 8 Ibid 9 http://greenmesg.org/nature/bhoomi.php 10 https://www.newsgram.com/bhoomi-suktam-understanding-the-tender-maternal-nature-of-planet-earth 11 https://www.scribd.com/doc/48898097/The-Place-of-Women-in-Sanskrit-Literature 12 Ibid believed that all individuals inherently possessed male and female attributes, otherwise, the belief was that there will be no balance in the society. The union of Prakrti, feminine energy and Purusha, masculine form a single absolute entity13. For the purposes of this paper though, the focus will be on the way in which women and the feminine are described and revered. In Hindu cosmology, it is said that all beings emerged from Brahman, “the universal substratum which is invincible, indescribable, though the creative tension of cohesion (Vishnu) and disintegration (Siva) that defines Sakthi"14. Sakthi underlines both creation and divinity and is female.
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