Bishnoi's Contribution

There is no doubt that the Bishnoi thought has made one of the greatest contributions to ecoregeneration; and in future, it will be extremely significant for inspiring people to care for their habitat, their bio-diversity. Eco-care and eco-heal are the kernels of Bishnoi dharma. Even those who have cursorily looked at Bishnoi habitations have found them bubbling with vegetation and animal life. Well known to every Bishnoi is the sacrifice of 363 Bishnoi women and men in 1730 A.D. (Samvat 1787) serving the auspicious trees of Khejri (Prosopis).4 Since then there have been several cases of Bishnois giving up their lives for the safety and endurance of deer, peacocks, Khejri, and other living beings, and these cases have been recorded in detail in Jambhadesh and Jambhajyoti, the periodicals of the community of Bishnois published from Jodhpur. The impact of Bishnois is tremendous on other communities. As they happen to constitute a dominant caste in the villages they inhabit, they are always in a position to lead an ideological revolution, to spread the values of vegetarianism, ecological regeneration, benevolence, and sustainable development.5 Gradually, the state is also recognizing the micro-level efforts of Bishnois in ecoregeneration and eco-preservation: it may be inferred from the award that has been instituted in the name

of Bishnois to be given to an individual or institution that has done commendable work in the field of environmental development. The Government of India has also released stamps honouring the tree of Khejri, for which Bishnois have paramount love. Incidentally, in many parts of Rajasthan, Khejri is almost equated with the sacred plant of Tulsi (Basil). Through their practices many religions, sects and cults have indirectly contributed to environmental preservation. The axiom of thrifty living, utilizing only those resources and only to that extent they are imperative for a bare survival is found in many religious systems and this assists in a judicious use of the habitat. But quintessential to Bishnoi thought is that it makes the practices, which would lead to eco-preservation, explicit, and attribute them with religious sanctity. People do not cut green trees because they have been advised against it by their faith. They know that flouting it will be a sacrilegious act, for which they may earn the displeasure of their fellow members and also, fine from their community council, apart from

accumulating the demerits (pap) of their acts for which they would be treated punitively in this and the subsequent births. Similarly, they completely abstain from non-vegetarian food, which is one of their principles as we saw previously. All the twentynine Bishnoi principles enjoy an equal measure of sacrosanctity. For being a true Bishnoi, one must adhere to them as punctiliously as possible, even when the conditions may be adverse to the actual practice of a principle. For instance, when one is traveling long distance, it may be difficult for him to subscribe to the practice of bathing everyday, but the point is that one must endeavour one’s best to follow the dharma as conscientiously as possible. In normal times, one should not be lax about compliance with the twentynine principles. It is the positive mental attitude towards these principles that counts more than any other thing. Thus, when you are in an alien land, first of all, explore the possibility of cooking your own meal; if it is not feasible, look for an eatingplace run and managed by a Bishnoi. If such a place is not available, then visit a vegetarian restaurant (shudh shakahari bhojnalaya) run by any other vegetarian caste; and if none of the above possibilities work out, subsist on raw foods, fruits and vegetables, or even remain empty-stomach. What one has to avoid is eating vegetarian food at a non vegetarian restaurant. In my fieldwork in Rajasthan, I have met Bishnois who prefer hunger to any compromise with forbidden food, or a place where such food is prepared. If you are a Bishnoi, you cannot even look at non-vegetarian food or the shops that sell meat and fish. None of the twenty-nine principles states that one should stop others from cutting green trees or eating non-vegetarian food. What they essentially do is to advise the individual to live truthfully according to the principles that are divinely ordained. The emphasis is on the purification of the individual. If the individual is purified, he will be in a position to purify others, his or her community. In this way would result a ‘community of pure people’, who stick to a set of principles, correct and infallible. Bishnoi religion recognizes the value of the individual, who internalizes the twenty-nine principles and passes them on to posterity. However, Bishnoi dharma does not say anything about what one should do when others fell trees or kill animals for food or fun. Bishnois are least bothered if others remain hygienically in a sullied state or their women distance themselves from birth or menstrual pollution. The Bishnoi response to these people would be of complete avoidance. Similarly with people who tell lies or nurse addictions, Bishnoi will rarely have any dealings. They would consciously refrain from their company in order to maintain their individual purity and also, of their community. But when it is a matter of trees being axed in their area or animals slaughtered and hunted, they would not leave a stone unturned in saving the lives of trees and animals, whether or not an explicit principle exists to that effect. At this moment, we shall recall the most famous Bishnoi sacrifice of the eighteenth century alluded to earlier. When the axe-men working for the Prince of Jodhpur arrived in Jalnadi (now known as Khejarla), a village in the district of Jodhpur, to cut trees for wood to be used in building the imperial palace, a Bishnoi woman tried to stop them by submitting that for the members of her faith trees were extremely dear, almost like their children. She argued that as her faith prohibited the axing of green trees, she would save them from being chopped off even if it meant laying her own life. Her earnest pleas fell on the deaf ears of the chief axe-man, known as Bhandari, who ordered his labour force to begin cutting trees notwithstanding the robust resistance. At that point, the Bishnoi woman hugged the Khejri, as if she was trying to protect her own children from predators, challenging the axe-men to behead her first before slashing any trees. The imperial order paid no heed to the Bishnoi faith as well as the submission of the woman. Before the trees could be razed to the ground, the axe-men mercilessly slaughtered 363 people who hugged the trees with intent to guard them against the cutters. The human slaughter eventually halted when the news of heartless killings reached the Prince who immediately called Bhandari and his men back, forsaking the mission forever. For many environmentalists, this is the first case of ‘saving trees by hugging them’. Many regard the Bishnoi sacrifice as a precursor to the famous Himalayan movement for saving the environment known as Chipko Andolan This famous Bishnoi sacrifice offers a paradigm for environmental protection. First, one should See Weber (1989) for a balanced treatment of various opinions on it. cultivate in oneself affection for all living beings, religiously abstaining from cutting green trees or slaying animals for food. Second, if some miscreant attempts to harm the living objects, one should stop him from doing that. If the villain of life is powerful, one should unhesitatingly sacrifice one’s life for the life of plants and animals, the mute bearers of human violence. It seems to us that while practicing the twenty-nine principles, Bishnois chanced upon the idea of martyrdom (shahid hona) for the wellbeing of others. This would also explain several cases of martyrdom that Bishnoi history has recorded since the eighteenth century. Furthermore, martyrdom reinforces the Bishnoi commitment to their principles and the conviction they arouse in people. Thus, in our opinion, although sacrificing one’s life for the sake of plants and animals may not be an explicitly formulated Bishnoi principle, the actual practice of the principles of non-harming, compassion for others, vegetarianism, and love for green trees, and the others that support them directly or indirectly, has inculcated in them the spirit of self-sacrifice. It is not only their duty to subscribe to the principle of non-cutting of green trees and observing prohibition from meat eating, but also to save the environment and keep alive its sustainability by protecting the life of plants and animals. Bishnoi dharma knows that imbalance is created when floral and/or faunal life is depleted. It is, therefore, necessary that all beings have an equal chance to survive in a synergistic relationship. Sustainable development will result from a harmonious relationship between different species and it is the foremost duty of human beings to guarantee the survival of all. Why human beings are the most important partner in this relationship because being at the apex of technological development, they can rocket a reign of dread, killing the bio-diversity, and at the same time, they can direct their technology to the healthy development of the other species. In addition to martyrdom, Bishnois also think in terms of political agendas for environmental conservation and development. This explains their protest against the ‘selling of fish openly in the market’.7 A strict compliance with the twenty-nine principles, the concept of martyrdom, and political agendas and vigils for environmental works, make Bishnois an ecologically aware and committed community of India. They constitute a community whose‘value preferences’, to borrow Madan’s words (2001: 24), should be studied in greater detail, for their religion sets an ideal example of the ways in which the tasks of eco-protection may be carried out.