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Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures 12 Meera Baindur Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures Volume 12 Series editors Editor-in-Chief: Purushottama Bilimoria The University of Melbourne, Australia; University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Co-Editor: Andrew Irvine Maryville College, Maryville, TN, USA Assistant to Editor Amy Rayner (Australia) Editorial Board Balbinder Bhogal (Hofstra University) Sheerah Bloor (University of Melbourne) Christopher Chapple (Loyola Marymount University) Vrinda Dalmia (University of Hawaii at Honolulu) Gavin Flood (Oxford University) Jessica Frazier (Kent University) Kathleen Higgins (University of Texas at Austin) Morny Joy (Calgary University) Parimal Patil (Harvard University) Joseph Prabhu (Cal State LA) Carool Kersten (King’s College, London) Richard King (University of Glasgow) Arvind-Pal Mandair (University of Michigan) Rekha Nath (University of Alabama) Stephen Phillips (University of Texas at Austin) Anupama Rao (Columbia University) The Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures fosters critical and constructive engagement of the intellectual and philosophical dimen- sions—broadly construed—of religious and cultural traditions around the globe. The series invites innovative scholarship, including feminist, postmodern, and postcolonial approaches. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8880 Meera Baindur Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions 123 Meera Baindur Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities Manipal University Manipal, Karnataka India ISSN 2211-1107 ISSN 2211-1115 (electronic) Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures ISBN 978-81-322-2357-3 ISBN 978-81-322-2358-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2358-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934684 Springer New Delhi Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer India 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer (India) Pvt. Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) To Vinay Preface This book is as much about Indian philosophical traditions as it is about nature. The interweaving of both these themes is inevitable, not only because they are con- ceptually related but also because as a researcher I am profoundly related to both. The beginnings of this project are based on my interest in nature and in Indian philosophy. I spent a few years of my life living in the Himalayas, studying phi- losophy in a traditional way. During those years I experienced a deep relationship with the environment around me. A strong sense of commitment to a vision of an ethical human–nature relationship became a guiding value in my life. My struggle to find newer ways of thinking and articulating my experience led me to study psychology first and then move on to philosophy. For my Ph.D., I wanted to study the relationship between origins of Indian philosophical thought and nature. In the very first conversation I had with my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Sundar Sarukkai about nature in Indian thought, I poured out a torrent of ideas about conserving nature, eco-ethics and people’s attitude to nature. He listened patiently and then stopped me with a simple question. He asked “What is this nature you are referring to? What is nature in the Indian traditions?” What was supposed to be a short answer to this question, turned out to be the background question for my doctoral thesis. This book is a later version of my thesis that contributes to this question, “What is nature in Indian philosophy and culture and what do we do after we find that out?” When I started out, my study was unorthodox and there was no clear disciplinary boundary. This was both a challenge and an advantage. The challenge was to keep the work descriptive and conceptual and yet not devolve into a discourse of pre- scriptive culturalism. The advantage was that I had an opportunity to produce a work on Indian philosophical thought and relate it to something contemporary like ecological ethics. The book reflects this struggle and balance in its various sections. In the course of my work I found that cultural geography as a discipline, in a way links the contemporary ideas to the pre-modern philosophical concepts of nature. It was also evident that certain ideas around Indian Ethics would also have to be examined and recast into the ecological ethics problematic. vii viii Preface Though I worked with Sanskrit texts, my approach was not that of a Sanskritist. I was familiar with traditional methods of reading Indian philosophical texts and had a working knowledge of Sanskrit. I was thus able to access the texts, using a conceptual approach. To create conceptual categories from Indian texts is to engage in an act of translation. In this method, I am deeply influenced by the work of my supervisor Dr. Sundar Sarukkai. On the other hand, I must confess working with only some philosophical texts felt incomplete and so I included some cultural traditions such as medicine and literature to my study. I felt that this enriched the philosophical themes. A part of the pragmatic approach to my topic comes from the tradition of environmental science and wildlife conservation, which were my earlier career paths. My co-supervisor, Dr. Anindya Sinha, regularly challenged my ethical claims and helped me make those crucial links between philosophy and conser- vation biology. The final two chapters of this book are a reflection of the attempt to make this work conceptually relevant to the discourses of nature conservation and place the themes within the larger context of today’s ecological crisis. Many references and earlier work from Western philosophical traditions were available on the subject. Kate Soper’s What is Nature? was an important influence on the way I structured this book around themes. For sources from Eastern tradi- tions, I relied on many smaller yet relevant papers by eminent philosophers working on Indian philosophy such as J.N. Mohanty, B.K. Matilal, Purushottama Bilimoria, Vasudha Narayan and others. Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought, an edited volume of essays by J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames, gave my research a legitimate ground in the discipline of environmental philosophy. The book also includes some chapters that were not a part of my original thesis. These chapters have been extensions of the same work undertaken in part during the spring courses on environmental philosophy that I teach my Master’s students at the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University. The questions and discussions on this subject have led to extensive work on aspects of cultural geography and literature in this book. While writing this book, I made a deliberate choice about not using gender neutral terms, particularly when I refer to earlier work by authors on nature. The choice of the word ‘man’ as against ‘human’ is a point to be deliberated on, particularly since a substantial part of this work focuses on eco-feminist issues. Karen Warren, whom I briefly met at a conference in the US, spoke to me about the importance of not neutralising these references which have engendered our understanding of nature and culture. Acknowledgements I acknowledge the unconditional love and support of my husband Vinay Baindur in my life. He has contributed in many ways by being an unshakable stand for my work. He continues to inspire me. I am deeply indebted to my associates, friends and colleagues at Manipal University—Dr. Sundar Sarukkai, Dr. George Varghese, Dr. Nikhil Govind and Dr. Gayathri Prabhu. I thank them especially for the endless discussions and philosophical debates that crystallised my concepts and helped to make connections in my research. They bravely encountered and responded to my random philo- sophical thoughts at all times. I am deeply grateful to my students, Ivan, Asim and Kalpita, with whom I had many conversations that inspired questions and ideas for the book. Madhava and Tapaswi have been my Sanskrit companions and provided valuable time to discuss texts and translations. Heartfelt thanks are also due to Dhanwanti Nayak, who was always available with her advice and support. I thank Sharmada, who untiringly went through the chapters and proofread the final copy. I specially thank the staff at MCPH, Ms. Swathi and Ms. Jayanthi, for their support. I thank Dr. Sundar Sarukkai, my guide and Dr. Anindya Sinha, my co-guide, whose intervention changed the course of my life and turned it towards a lifelong passion for research. They have been a source of intellectual stimulation and inspiration as I went through the ups and downs of a doctoral programme. As teachers and my toughest critics, their sense of humour and rational dissidence has created rigour and fresh perspectives in my study.

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