KILLING AN ELEPHANT – THIS IS NOT OUR CULTURE

Edward. Morgan Forster, the famous English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist once wrote "Indians believe that birds, animals and human beings – as indeed everything else – are an integral part of divinity. This is the central belief of all Indian religious and cultural thought and thus, all forms of life must be respected equally. Thus human beings and elephants, horses, cattle and birds like the mynah, the peacock, the parrot and the koel are woven into many fables and religious treatises. Water creatures like the crocodile, the turtle and fish are considered sacred and are associated with sacred rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna. India’s belief that animals, birds and sea creatures are sacred is a dominant and beautiful aspect of Indian culture for millenniums. They are earthly and spiritual companions of human beings and thus equal sharers of the world and its resources” No one can sum up our relationship with environment and the flora and fauna which is ingrained in our culture! In the light of this knowledge when we read about the brutal killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala we are forced to cry out ‘this is not who we are!”

Since time immemorial we have believed that Nature is part of us, and we are an integral part of nature. We are not two distinct entities and we have never been so. Given this interconnected relationship between animals and humans, Indians have always been careful and respectful of the natural lifecycles of the animals they shared the Earth with - they made efforts to not over-fish, over-hunt or over-harvest. They hunted, fished and collected what was needed to sustain their families, tribes, or clans. Every part of the animal was used, and in many cultures there were accompanying celebrations and rituals of appreciation. There was no stock or species depletion due to over-harvesting - this came with the Europeans and a prime example is the sad fate of the buffalo.

Dr. Kumud Kanitkar, the famous archeologist offered a very interesting explanation of attitude of various cultures towards animals. Every civilization looks at animals, birds and sea creatures in its own special way. In India, generations over the millenniums have seen all species as their friends and partners with whom they share the earth. They have been presented in beautiful forms in paintings and sculptures as companions of deities, as symbols of power and beauty or simply as decorative embellishments…

“The Romans saw animals as fierce creatures which had to be killed or controlled for human survival. The Greeks saw them as symbols of power living in a separate world of their own. But ancient Indians saw them as they should be seen – friendly, loyal and graceful.

Mythological and Historical perspective

The first four incarnations of Vishnu, the Lord of creation Matsya (fish), Koorma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (semi human-semi lion) indicate the earliest thinking of process of evolution and are all from the animal kingdom.

Historically the elephant has been a well studied wild animal during the Vedic times (1500-500 BCE) and the capture, training and maintenance of elephants was documented in the 2000-year-old text Gajashastra written in the Pāli script.

The Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE) first recorded domestication of the elephant was in Harappan times and the animal ultimately went on to serve as a siege engine, mount in war, status symbol, work animal, and an elevated platform for hunting. 

Mithila painting

The protection of animals became serious business by the time of the Maurya dynasty in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. This was the first empire to provide a unified political entity in India, and security to its forests, its denizens and fauna in general. The Mauryas sought to preserve supplies of elephants since it was more cost and time-effective to catch, tame and train wild elephants than raise them. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka (304 – 232 BC), embraced Buddhism in the latter part of his reign and brought about significant changes in his style of governance. He provided protection to fauna and even relinquished the royal hunt. Kautilya's Arthshastra has extensive account of protection of Elephant forests.

The British period saw the first evidence of cruelty against animals on a large scale. During this era many Indian princes also took to large scale hunting and together with British hunters, many species of wildlife were hunted to near extinction

Batik printing

Elephants and other animals in Indian art and sculpture

The bird and animal motifs have been used in Indian Art in two different contexts. In Fine Arts, like painting, architecture and sculpture, etc. the birds and animals have deeper meanings. For example, the figures of birds and animals carved on the high spires of Hindu temples, which represent the lofty peaks of the holy mountain, Kailash, are the heavenly creatures. They are the mounts of Hindu gods and goddesses, endowed with divine qualities. Yet, the same birds and animals, when employed in decorative arts, reflect the worldly environment. They are purely decorative in character, devoid of any ideated meaning.

Hoysaleswara temple, Halebidu, Karnaataka

Various representations of fauna can be seen in different works of art, mythological story depictions, Buddhist and Jaina relics and rock shelters from prehistoric times. Mughal emperors (16th to 18th century ) have left behind hundreds of animal and bird depictions in miniature paintings for posterity. Emperor Akbar commissioned the painting of Persian and Indian epics. And paintings in Emperor Jahangir’s era had scenes mostly from his own life but included flowers, animals and birds too. 

Animal figures in Bhimbedka in MP and Amrawati in Andhra Pradesh are from 2nd century BC. Madhubani paintings, an age old folk art form of Mithila region and the Hoysaleswara temple, Halebidu, Karnataka of 12th and 13th century depict elephants very predominantly.

Elephants in Indian culture

Elephants play a vital role in Indian culture. Apart from being a part of Ganesha’s personality, the elephant is invariably seen as the companion of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and opulence. Buddhists venerate the elephant as a symbol of the Buddha and thus this concept spreads across many oriental countries where Buddhism is practiced. The elephants play a cultural role beyond religion too. Sculptures in Ajanta, Ellora and various schools of paintings including the Maithili, the Kantha, the Mughal miniature and even folk style Warli paintings feature elephants. Priceless textiles use the motif to celebrate good fortune. They are so omnipresent in Indian art that they have come to symbolize India as a nation.

The recent conflict with nature.

 Our forefathers were of the opinion that humans cannot “manage” wildlife populations. Animals manage themselves; they make their own decisions about when to reproduce, and where to go, decisions that are quite independent of any human desires. Wildlife management, according to them was not about managing animals; it is about managing people. If we gave them their space they will never bother us. Our ancestors had hearts as giving as Nature itself. Living in and off the forests was Second Nature to them; they had been co-existing in the wilds for centuries. However in the mad rush of modernization we are encroaching upon the animal habitats and so conflicts are bound to happen.

Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 made the forests state properties. Fences came up around these protected areas; people moved out, and the wildlife was hemmed in. A  lakshman rekha was drawn, and it demarcated the “inside” for wildlife and “outside” for people. However, this concept was alien for both the people and the wildlife. Animals drifted outside the artificial boundaries while people, who had no alternative state-sanctioned source of food or fuel, crossed into those same boundaries in search of their traditional resources. But now, their usage of forests was “illegal.” This created an increasing, intensifying animosity between the state and the people, and this has over the decades led to a reduced tolerance for wildlife. Nature does not know that it is supposed to exist only within a designated National Park or a Wildlife Reserve. Nature is everywhere; it surrounds us, it is amidst us, and it knows no borders.

The inhumanly brutal killing of the pregnant elephant in Kerala has truly jarred our sensibilities. The excuse that the cracker laced pineapple was for wild boars is neither here nor there. Animals should be given the respect they deserve. We are not doing them a favour by letting them survive, their right to this planet is no less than ours. The perpetrators should be given the same punishment which is given to a murderer who kills a person he is expected to protect. The law should be suitably amended and the killer should be treated as a rabid dog.