VRIKSHAM - The Vedantic metaphor

लक्ष्मीनाथ समारम्भां नाथयामुनमध्यमाम् 

अस्मदाचार्यपर्यन्तां वन्दे गुरुपरंपराम्

Vedanta, which literally means 'End(or objective) of Vedas' is known from time immemorial for its metaphors to describe the state of affairs of this world, i.e., samsara (the cycle of birth and death) and the physical body of living beings, the mystery of which still captures our imaginations. The evanescence of this material existence is an important theme.

When we analyse the cause and effects of a phenomenon/problem , we naturally tend to talk in terms of the 'root cause' or the 'seed' of the problem and the 'fruit' as the result. This suits vedanta very well and hence we find the metaphor of the tree used creatively in similar contexts but with varying interpretations in different texts. The similes and metaphors of sanskrit literature are timeless. Deviating a little from the topic, let us look at one subhashitam to illustrate this point.

दीपो भक्षयते ध्वान्तं कज्जलं च प्रसूयते 

यादृशं भक्षयेदन्नं जायते तादृशी प्रजा      ||

[The lamp consumes darkness and generates soot/smoke. (Similarly) The type of food you

eat has a corresponding influence on the offspring.]

This is really an elegant comparison. At least I have never thought of darkness and soot as raw material and finished product, and that too relating them because of their black colour. The fact that a black input produces a black output is capitalized here to assert the importance of saatvik food. (Another variation of the subhashita ends as 'तादृशी मति: ' which means that the food you eat produces the quality of thinking that emanates from you).

Coming back to our metaphor, the tree**, the first example(and a famous one too) is from the Mundakopanishad (3.1):

द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते |

तयोरन्य: पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यनश्नानन्यो  अभिचाकशीति ||

[Two birds living together, each the friend of the other, perch upon the same tree. Of these two, one eats the sweet fruit of the tree, but the other simply looks on without eating]

The two birds are the Jivatma(individual soul) and paramatma (Supreme soul). The tree is nothing but the human body while the fruit is the results of past karma. Here the onlooker, the paramatma, is not touched by karma whereas the jiva is bound to the cycle of rebirth. Observe how the flow of meaning occurs with this metaphor. An occurrence of the  natural world is transformed into profound metaphysics.

** The tree is often used as a metaphor to describe the Vedic literature. The four vedas including the various shakhas, six vedangas, Itihasas, puranas, dharmashastras, agamas, sutra granthas, bhashyams and acharya sri sooktis are all different parts of the tree of veda.

In the Bhagavatha puranam(11.12.21-23), Lord Krishna, responding to Uddhava's question uses the tree as a metaphor with even more detailed correlations between its parts and the worldly existence. 

य एष संसारतरु: पुराण: कर्मात्मक: पुष्पफले प्रसूते  ||

द्वे अस्य बीजे शतमूलस्त्रिनाल: पञ्चस्कन्ध: पञ्चरसप्रसूति: 

दशैकशाखो द्विसुपर्ण   नीडस्त्रिवल्कलो  द्विफलोर्कं प्रविष्ट:   ||

अदन्ति चैकं फलमस्य गृध्रा ग्रामेचरा एकमरण्यवासा: 

हंसा य एकं बहुरूपमिज्यैर्मायामयं वेद स वेद वेदम्   ||

[This tree of mundane existence has no beginning, is characterized by activity and puts forth flowers and fruits. Two are its seeds, innumerable are its roots, three are its lower trunks, five are its upper trunks; it yields five kinds of sap, eleven are its branches; it bears the nest of two birds; three are the layers of its bark; it bears two fruits and spreads as far as the realm of the sun. Full of carnal desires, men of the world partake of its one fruit while the swan-like men of wisdom dwelling in the forest eat the other. He alone knows the Vedas, who through spiritual preceptors comes to realize the one God appearing as many forms through his Maya]

Here the objects indicated are:

Two seeds - Paapam and punyam
innumerable roots - Innumerable cravings
three lower trunks - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas
Five upper trunks -  Panchabhutams(the five elements)
Five kind of saps -  Objects of five senses(five tanmatras - touch, taste etc.)
Eleven branches -  Mind, five karmendriyas, five jnyanendriyas
two birds - Paramatma and Jivatma
three layers of bark - the three humours (vatam, pittham and kapham)
Two fruits - happiness and sorrow

Thus the metaphor ties together all the important concepts of Vedanta in a coherent manner.

Lord Krishna uses the tree metaphor with a variation in Bhagavad Gita(15.1-3). 

ऊर्ध्व मूलमध:शाखमश्वत्थं  प्राहुरव्ययम्   |

छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्  ||

अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवाला:|

अधश्च मूलान्यनुसंततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ||

न रूपमस्येह ततोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा |

अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलमसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा   ||

[The wise speak of the imperishable banyan tree, which has its roots above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedas and he who knows this is the knower of the vedas. Its branches extend all about; nourished by the three gunas, the sensory objects are its shoots and below, in the world of men, its secondary roots stretch forth, binding them in Karma. Its real form is not perceived here, nor its end nor beginning nor its foundation but with determination one must cut down this strongly rooted tree with the weapon of detachment]

The inverted nature of the tree is important. Since Brahmam or the Supreme soul is the substratum for all activities and existence itself, it is the root of all worlds and hence this tree is rooted in Brahmam. However, during every creation cycle, After samashti srishti (i.e., creation of raw materials like the 5 elements and their admixture, Sriman Narayana, the eternal Supreme soul creates Brahma, who then creates with his knowledge of vedas, the rest of the material universe that he is in-charge of. Hence the tree has its trunk as Brahma, who then goes on to create the inhabitants of all the fourteen lokas including bhoo lokam. Hence the tree's branches extends all over this material realm. 

The comparison of leaves of the tree to Vedas are is very clear to my level of understanding. However, I have an interpretation. The leaves are the receptors of sun's energy and nourish the plant because of this property. They lead to all further growth, production of flower and fruits in the tree. Similarly the Vedas are the source of any kind of prosperity, be it monetary or spiritual. Hence they are the leaves of the samsaric tree.

We find in the foregoing discussion that the tree is used as a metaphor for both the physical body of organisms as well as the whole world of samsara and this is an interesting fact in itself. There is school of belief which sees an organism's body as a microcosm. Every physical body is a universe in itself and undergoes the cycle of birth, growth and decay very similar to the universe. Thus the universe is the largest reflection of this microcosm.

Now what does this have to do with the tree?

'Hunting the hidden dimension'- a NOVA documentary on fractals has an interesting fact on the relationship between a tree and its parent forest. The distribution of sizes of the individual  trees within a forest appears to exactly match the distribution of sizes of different branches within a single tree. The forest has a fractal structure with the tree as an element and of course the tree itself has a fractal structure. Similarly, the whole world of existence could be thought of as a fractal of the innumerable jivas who undergo the cycle of their own.

The tree occurs in many other texts like Kathopanishad, AnuGita and other parts of Mahabharata, Vivekachoodamani of Adi Shankaracharya and also alluded to in devotional hymns, from which we can be quite sure that our ancestors wanted to get this message across to us down the ages. At least the spiritually inclined people, instead of trying  accumulate more wealth and/or power and fame, must strive to cut down this tree.

The solution to this 'tree' problem is given by the Lord himself in the Bhagavad Gita(15.4)

तत: पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूय: |

तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यत: प्रवृत्ति: प्रसृता पुराणी                ||

Thereafter, one must seek that place from which, having gone, one never returns and surrender to that Supreme Purusha (i.e., Lord Sriman Narayana) from whom has streamed forth everything, from time immemorial.

Jai Sriman Narayana. 

Prithvi - Part II - More on Gaia and interconnectedness

Only after the last tree has been cut down,

only after the last river has been poisoned,

only after the last fish has been caught,

only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

                            ---Cree native American prophesy

The more we learn about the earth and its ecosystem, the more we know that we are heading towards doom. The mechanistic materialistic view of earth as a dead source of material that can be exploited to the maximum has cost us our planet as well as the biodiversity.  It is said that when Descartes heard the screaming of a dog on whom his students performed vivisection, he exclaimed "do not mind that. It is just the sound of a machine being taken apart" . I was terribly shocked to hear this anecdote because the image I had of descartes was that of an advanced thinker. In contrast, Native american views of nature displays harmonious thinking. Compare the above incident with a saying from the blackfoot native Indian tribe.

"What is life? It is the flash of the firefly at night

It is the breath of the buffalo in the wintertime

It is the little shadow that runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset"

The present widespread worldview has been heavily impressed upon our psyche on the lines of the materialist thinkers. Hence we don't even realise and recognise that there is a problem. Is there a way out? I would like to present and discuss alternative healthy views of Mother earth that are very much needed in today's world if we want to survive. These views come from various periods of time and various parts of the globe. (This is a continuation of ideas presented in the earlier post on Prithvi- our mother).

Before getting into the details of gaia, we take a short tour of the broad lens that is used to view the earth as a superorganism. The word 'Superorganism' represents an intriguing phenomenon in nature. This creates controversy among scientists and the general masses but is in general defined as 

" any complex thing or system having properties and functions determined not only by the properties and relations of its individual parts, but by the character of the whole that they compose and by the relations of the parts to the whole."

There are many levels of superorganisms that come to my mind from my studies in fields such as biology, philosophy, science fiction. Example of first level of superorganism are beehives, anthills, corals. Individual organisms work together to achieve a goal that is far beyond their imagination. The next thing that I can think of is a human. Humans are finest examples of superorganisms as there are billions of microbes in our body that help in regulating so many different functions in our body. Hence this body is such a congregation. The third is on a planetary level. Isaac Asimov in his foundation novel series talks about a whole planet that acts as a storehouse of information where the least important information is stored on rocks and similar components whereas that which is required immediately are with more sentient beings. The whole system acts like an organism.* The fourth level is also found in Asimov's work and is given a title "galaxia" a superorganism that consists of a whole galaxy. The fifth level(assuming one universe for the moment) is the whole universe as a superorganism. The ideas at the fouth and  fifth levels are next to impossible to be tested anywhere in the near future but is worthwhile to think about. 

* The gaia nature of the earth can also be viewed as a comparison between the human superorganism and the earth as done here.

The whole universe as a superorganism comes from the scriptures of sanathana dharma that talk about the universe being constituted of three things, namely paramatma(god), jeevatma(individual souls) and achit (all insentient matter). The Paramatma is the soul whereas the other two constitute his body. Hence the whole universe, in short is the God-organism. This is something that science will never even think about because of its inherent limitations of not seeing anything beyond five senses.

Gaia in modern times and ancient cultures

The Gaia hypothesis is the first comprehensive scientific expression of the profoundly ancient belief that the planet Earth is a living creature.Formulated by British atmospheric scientist James Lovelock and American Microbiologist Lynn Margulis, the Gaia hypothesis states that the Earth's climate and surface environment are controlled by the plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit it. That taken as a whole, the planet behaves not as an inanimate sphere of rock and soil, sustained by the automatic and accidental processes of geology, as traditional earth science has long maintained, but more as a biological superorganism-a planetary body-that adjusts and regulates itself.

Geophysiologists warn that if the planet does function like a body, the Earth may have the equivalent of vital organs and vulnerable points. Regions of intense biological activity such as the tropical rain forests and coastal seas, are seen as vital not only to their geographic regions but to the entire global environment, much as the liver or spleen is necessary to the survival of the body as a whole. Once destroyed, these planetary organs can debilitate the entire system, much as an injury to the spine can cripple one's body up through the neck and down to the toes.

Many of us would remember the experience of trying to cram nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, sulphur cycles for our high school examinations. All of these cycles are excellent examples of earth regulation systems. Food chains and food web is another component of this great regulating organism. 

There are a lot of controversies in the scientific community as to how the gaia metaphor affects mainstream social theory and ethics and whether the hypothesis can be satisfactorily 'scientifically' verified. That the Earth does not reproduce is cited as a reason for not accepting it as a living organism in the true sense of the word. However what still remains out of reach for this science  is the definition of a living thing.To save some time here, we can borrow the ancient knowledge of the presence of 'atma' to classify a being as living. Instead of a detailed physical sciences perspective of gaia theory, we see some salient bird's eye view of this theory and some of its philosophical implications.

Lovelock once exclaimed " I think of the Earth as a living organism. The rocks, the air, the oceans and all life are an inseparable system that functions to keep the planet livable. In fact I now believe that life can exist only on a planetary scale. Can't have a planet with sparse life any more than you can have half a cat".

Many individual cultures have this thought in some form or the other. The Ufaina Indians in the columbian Amazon believe in a vital force called fufuka which is present in all living things. The source of this vital force is the sun. From the sun, it reaches the earth and is constantly recycled among plants, animals and human beings. Each group of beings requires a minimum of the vital force in order to live and is seen to be borrowing the energy from the total energy stock. When any being dies, the energy is released and goes back to the stock. Similarly when a living being consumes another, the consumer acquires the energy of the consumed. What is of importance to the Ufaina is that the vital force continues to be recycled from one species to another in such a way that not too much accumulates in any one of them, since this could deprive another of its vital force and upset the natural balance.

We can see that the above idea in principle the same as that veiled by modern science in a cobweb of jargons. The only difference here is that the Ufaina live by their wisdom whereas we, the others are insensitive as a race.

In the Vedic culture 

The vedic hymns are the most ancient and sublime words that present a worldview of essential interconnectedness of the whole cosmos. What to speak of the earth. The whole of Rig veda creates an atmosphere where appreciation of nature and her bounties are part and parcel of the experience. These should not be taken to be hymns glorifying personified natural elements as maliciously done by the western Indologists. The hymns act at several different planes of consciousness. They represent the subtle elements and also the gross elements at various levels of realisations. The Prithvi suktam in Atharva veda is a fine example of imagery, poetry, nature worship, environmental consciousness, cooperation among living beings and above all a sense of oneness- a cosmic web in which each of us is a part.

The entire hymn of 63 verses is exceedingly important. Persons who are conversant with the modern tenets of ecology can fully appreciate this hymn. It does not view earth as a lifeless inanimate object as the modern physical scientist does. It begins with the idea that earth is supported by not mere gravitational forces, but by Truth, consecration  and askesis (tapas).Earth can be made a happy abode for humans only when they live by satya and rita, Truth and Right. Earth spreads out for us and makes us prosperous. (12.1.12)refers to the self-cleansing nature of earth.(12.1.8)states that Earth in the beginning was sea salila upon the ocean arņava; then the supreme intelligence manishi created the subtle structures mayāĥ characterising the human beings and other beings, and inanimate matter. The rişhi thinks of himself as the son of earth and parjanya as his father (12.1.12).Each living being from the blue lotus to the human being on earth is uniquely supported by a gandha, odour of earth.

Mother earth appeared in her personal form in various periods of Indian history running for millions of years. We all know about the Varaha avataram of Lord Sriman Narayana where he saved Bhudevi from Hiranyaksha. However, the point to be noted here is that Bhudevi is not a personification of the visible globe alone but also of all the regions of the earth that are beyond our perception(ie, the 8 khandas other than bharatha khanda and 6 dweepams included)

Once, She was annoyed by the tyrannic, adharmic reign of King Vena and withdrew her resources thus resulting in a severe drought. Later on, his son Prithu ascended the throne and ruled as a just king. Still, She did not restore the earlier fertility. This annoyed King Prithu who chased Bhuma devi who had assumed the form of a cow. Later after some persuasion, She recognized the virtues of the current ruler and gave away her wealth to all the people. (In Greek Mythology, Demeter was the goddess of the harvest, who also controlled the seasons and hence was capable of destroying all life on earth . Life came to a standstill as the depressed Demeter once searched for her daughter who had been taken to the underworld. This story also echoes the idea of Mother Earth reacting to the happenings in the society).

Bhuma devi is considered by some to be an iconic, metonymic personification of earth in Hinduism. I think the word 'personification' itself invokes the idea of an artificial imagination of a non-existing personality. However, this kind of artificial force is not found in ancient Indian works. Bhudevi is just one among us. She is as real as any one of us. Sita Devi calls out to her to take her away from this manushya lokam so that she could end all her sufferings. Bhumadevi also responds to the yearning and takes her to nagalokam.

Some embedded notions of Ecology are found in the Indian culture. The 'Kolam' is often thought of as a decoration in front of a house but on deeper inquiry we come to know that it is a way to exercise the memory of the debt felt to the Earth goddess for her forbearance towards us despite all sorts of pain-inflicting activities by us like digging, spitting etc. We can observe that a Bharatanaatyam dancer touches the ground and pays respect to Mother Earth before beginning her performance. This is once again to plead her to be patient when the dancer stamps on her all along.

In Bhu Stuti(A hymn to Mother Earth) by Swami Vedanta Desika, we find that Bhudevi is not only Goddess Earth but the one who gives us all natural wealth. She is in charge of life anywhere in any universe. Above all, She is the spiritual instructor who teaches Prapatti to aspiring mumukshus(those desiring liberation from the birth cycle).

There is a vedic verse which is repeated often without knowledge of the meaning. This is a good example of the all pervasiveness and oneness of  vedic thought

tacchamyo-rAvrNeemahe | gAtum yagnyAya |
gAtum yagnyapataye | daivee: svastirastu na: |
svasti mAnushebhya: | oordhvam jigAtu bheSHajam |
sham no astu dvipade | sham chatushpade |
om shAnti: shAnti: shAnti: ||

We seek that which gives us peace from sorrows, present and future. We seek growth for the rite of sacrifice and growth for patron of the rite, the yajamAna.The grace of the Gods be unto us.Well being to all mankind. May plants, like medicinal herbs flourish and grow upwards. Good come unto us from creatures that go on two feet and good from those that go on four feet.

Om! Peace!Peace!Peace

Some Native american quotes on mother earth and nature

"...all things share the same breath- the beast, the tree, the man....the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports "  -- Chief Seatlle

" I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings are but rather how well its people relate to their environment and their fellow man"-  Sun bear of Chippewa tribe

A Ojibwa (native American) prayer to the soul of nature

Oh great spirit , whose voice i hear in the winds,

and whose breath gives life to all the world,

Hear me, for I am small and weak,

I need your strength and wisdom

Let me walk in beauty and my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made

and my ears sharp to hear your voice,

Make me wise, so that I may understand the things that you have taught my people

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and every rock

I seek strength not to be stronger than my brother

but to fight my greatest enemy - myself

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes

So, when life fades, as the fading sunset,

my Spirit may come to you without shame.

When studying the views of ancient and some modern cultures regarding earth and nature in general, we can feel the sharp contrast in the basic ideals. An Earth that is alive versus the one that is devoid of life has underscored the lifestyle of the masses according to the vicissitudes of time.

The West's heliocentric revolution in scientific understanding displaced humans from their fancied central position in the eyes of god(Note that most of the eastern philosophies never subscribed to such self-centered views) and the structure of the universe. The Gaian revolution(ie, the modern resurgence of the idea) will displace us from our fancied position as the superior species, uniquely in charge of the planet. Will our powerful egos resist the Gaian conception for this reason? Or are we sufficiently mature as a species to accept our position and responsibility as one part of a larger organism?

It is crucial to the question of whether or not we adopt this revolutionary concept to keep in mind that scientific concepts and the theories generated from them are no longer judged in terms of chimeral 'truth' but of usefulness. By usefulness, we mean conducive to human survival. In fact , as stated before, our self-centered views and practices threaten our very survival as a species. In that respect, a concept of ourselves as part of the life of earth, coupled with scientific knowledge of its geophysiology might prove useful in bringing about a reorganizing of our social structures and conduct, so that we rediscover our balance within Gaia and thereby insure our survival.

Scientists often cringe at any attempt to answer questions through alternative methods. They are narrow-minded enough to exclude interesting intuitive ideas like intelligent design. Hence, it is no surprise that there were many oppositions to Gaia theory for fear of the rebirth of the 'Goddess' in popular imagination.

Any amount of rational discourse will be insufficient to prove that the more-than-human world has atleast an equal status to that of human beings and to the works of the best human creative genius. Each of us need to spend time with the 'animate earth ' out there to realise that 'every speck of matter is sacred simply because it exists'.