Water Pollution Vis-à-vis India’s Ancient Shastras

Reckless human pursuance of material development for the last two centuries has left natural
resources like Water, Air, Earth, etc. in ruins. This in turn has endangered the very existence
of human society. Being a natural resource, water has also fallen prey to human greed and
selfishness. Pollution in the Water bodies, especially in India, has been rising at an alarming
pace.

Innumerable studies, done on the pathetic condition of our sacred rivers, lakes, have revealed
the dangerous level and range of pollutants (industrial and human waste, chemicals, sewage,
corpses, etc.) present in every drop of their water. Industries, slaughter houses and tanneries
along both the banks of the rivers, are spewing thousands litres of hazardous waste into our
rivers.

The magnitude of pollution in the rivers of Odisha caused by urban settlement, industrial
waste and agricultural chemical run off from the fields is growing rapidly. According to a
2012 report of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), “at least four rivers in Odisha are
heavily polluted. They are: Kathjodi, Mahanadi, Brahmani and Kuakhai.” Besides the big
ones, the ponds, rivulets and wells in our villages are equally entrapped in the web of
widespread contamination. A sense of indifference towards the nature around us is leading us
to an impending disaster.

It’s pertinent here to ask ourselves some hard questions. How come the long cherished river
goddesses slipped into the current level of degradation? Who is responsible for this?
Historically, are we Hindus the habitual defilers of natural resources as the westerners are
accusing us of today? Let us peep into our vast array of Sanskrit literature to find out the
truth.

An honest perusal of our Sanskrit literary treasure and historical records will suffice to
establish the extensive knowledge of hydrology (ground water hydrology, water harvesting,
water quality, drainage basin, etc.) amassed by our forefathers, remains of which can still be
found scattered all over India.

Vedas explicitly uphold the utmost importance of the purity of water. In the Atharva Veda,
the housewife (gruhsvamini), was advised to bring home uncontaminated, pathogen-free and
healing water, for by drinking that clean water she would keep herself and her family away
from death.

Vedic Rshis in numerous suktas have compared water with ghee for its high nutritional value.
They extoll it as the provider of life, radiance, energy and immortality. Likewise, rivers as
sources of water have always been held in high esteem by Hindus over the ages. The Srutis,
the Smritis, the Puranas have adored Rivers as holy pilgrimages (Tirthas), the remover of sins
and the benefactor of Moksha. It is considered the gravest of the sins to pollute rivers, ponds
and various other water resources.

Sankhyayana Grihya sutra (Pg.126,IV,12:26) commands “He shall not (eject) phlegm into
water, nor in the neighbourhood (of water)”.Vashistha Dharmasutra enjoins upon the
Snataks(students about to enter household after studies) to not to release excrements or
urinate in water. Manusmriti ordained that “Urine, stool, sputum, any defiled or foul object,
blood and poison should not be thrown into the waters”.
The 4th century B.C Mauryan era statesman Chanakya wrote in his magnum opus,
Arthasastra, that the city superintendent would fine someone who defecates near the
highway(1 pana), holy places (2panas),water bodies like, rivers, dams, well, etc. (3 panas),
temples(4 panas) and royal buildings(5 panas) and in the case of urination the fine would be
half the amount.

Garuda and Padma Purana prescribe hell for any person who pollutes waters of ponds, wells
or lakes .Rishis instruct to defecate and urinate about 200 and 20 meters away from the rivers
and ponds respectively.

Medhatithi (9th/11th CE ) ,the famous commentator of Manu Smriti, wrote that during
Malpakarshana Snana (cleansing bath) one should rub himself down his dirt off the river,
ponds and other sources of water before taking a dip. Shastras have enjoined that one should
not discharge excrement ,wash up, rinse, throw Nirmalya (offerings to gods like, flower
garlands, fruits, coconuts, spices, honey and camphor),scrub out dirt from the skin , love play
, dump ones wet clothes ,bathe after oil massage and being dirty in the water of sacred Ganga.
This injunction is also equally true for other water bodies.

In addition to all these commandments, ancient Hindu texts like, Brihat Samhita of Varaha
Mihira,Charak Samhita, Astanga Hridaya of Bagbhatt have explained ways to naturally
purify polluted water and also advised to drink samskrita (purified and aromatic)
water. Absence of the history of catastrophic water borne epidemics like cholera in our
country had baffled alien administrators during the colonial rule.

According to an erudite blogger traditionally we Indians used copper and silver for the
storage of water for drinking and other daily practices. Both are proved by modern science as
infection proof against various harmful organisms like e.coli. Historical records and sacred
texts have proved beyond an iota of doubt of our judicious treatment of water resources.

Then what ails our sacred rivers? Firstly, the ever increasing urban population is making it
hard to treat the continuously soaring up of municipal waste. The massive scale of
urbanisation, our policy makers have adopted from the colonial masters, is wholly alien to us.
For millennia ours have been a village oriented and decentralised society and we are
struggling to find a way out.

Secondly, large scale dams for irrigation and power has dried up the perennial flow of water
from our rivers making them incapable of washing away dirt and filth. Above all, our River
goddesses are being seen only as inanimate objects which were earlier adored as the very
embodiments of the Supreme Being. When we lost the age old Sraddha towards the rivers we
started defiling them. We are throwing dirt, filth, blood and poisonous chemicals, even piles
of half-incinerated corpses in the rivers.

Moreover, On the ground of the high pollution level of water resources in India, it can be said
with great shame that we Hindus have turned our motherland into a veritable hell where our
filthy and dirty rivers resemble the mythical river Vaitarani filled with faeces, urine, hair,
sputum and blood.

From time immemorial it had been the bounden duty of the Hindu Kings to ensure
cleanliness and purity of the waters and forests. A worried King Raghu, in Mahakavya
Raghuvansham, raises query about the cleanliness of holy waters from the sage Kautsh in a
bid to know his untimely visit to the palace. Not only the alien rulers but successive
governments after independence, both at the centre and state, Municipalities and other local
bodies in India have failed in their duty to keep rivers clean and pure.

Gyan Ranjan Mohapatra

Mobile No. - 8908837801