Cruelty to Animals: Sin in Hinduism
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry ?
These opening lines from the poem “The Tyger” by the legendary poet William Blake capture the fearsome and mesmerizing beauty of tiger referred to as “tyger” by Blake. Be it the stories of Ruskin Bond- “A Tiger in the Cage”, “The Last Tiger”, “When the Tiger was King” and “Tigers Forever” or Rudyard Kipling’s short story “Tiger! Tiger”, the fascination of English writers for tiger – the heart of an Indian jungle- should never be a matter of surprise, given the magnificence of this animal!
Yes, the tiger is nothing less than a God ! It is the national animal of India and occupies a prominent place in Hinduism. The tiger is vehicle of Goddess Durga- the destroyer of evil, the mount on which Lord Ayyappan of Sabarimala rides. Lord Ayyappan is the son of Shiva and Vishnu in female form of Mohini.
Tiger is worshipped as deity called “ Huliraya” (tiger king) and Hulidevaruvana (tiger god of forest) in Karnataka (Huli- tiger, raya-lord,
devaru- god, vana- language forest, in kannada language).
The tiger is also a forest deity of worship- Waghoba- in Maharashtra, named so after the Marathi word “Wagh” for tiger.
The tiger dance is performed in south India: as puliyattam in Tamil, as puli vesham in Andhra Pradesh, puli kali in Kerala, bagh nritya in Orissa and huli vesha in Karnataka in honour of Goddess Durga and tiger worship is an integral part of Bengal.
It may come as surprise to many that tiger conservation has been highlighted even in Mahabharata, the great epic of Bharatvarsha. In a
shloka (verse) taken from Vidura Niti of Udyog Parva in Mahabharata, a sagely counsel is given:
In the advice cited in the said verse, the kingdom that has been snatched from the virtuous and brave Pandavas by cheat and deceit is
compared to a forest. The Pandavas, who have a right over their kingdom, are the tigers left homeless by the greed of their cousins, the Kauravas
Read about Vulture and Hinduism here
Vidura is the spiritual advisor to blind king of Hastinapur, Dhritrashtra – blind by sight and also blinded by selfish love for his son Duryodhana, the eldest among Kauravas! Vyasa Muni, the sage who has composed the great epic of Mahabharata has woven the ecological interdependence of forests and tigers so subtly and so wonderfully that it blends seamlessly with the main text of the epic. All our sages who lived a forest life in contemplation of divine, in their hermitages, knew the sacredness of the wild.
Despite the great significance given by Hinduism to the conservation of wilderness, the tiger has reached the status of an “endangered” species. Due to human greed for tiger skin, bones etc, poaching and the associated animal trade overrides every sane advice and tiger count in India decreased alarmingly in the 19th and 20th centuries.
From a population of 50,000 to 100000(1 lakh) in 19 th century (era of 1800-1900), hunting by Indian Maharajas and British brought down the count to around 40,000 by turn of 20 th century (early 1900s). The tiger census of 1972 revealed the count to be then barely 1827 tigers !!
Project Tiger was started by the then PM of India, Indira Gandhi. Decades of tireless efforts by forest departments, forest officials,
environmentalists and those working at ground level for decades have begun to bear fruits. Recent tiger census reveals an increase in tiger population from 1,827 in 1972 – when Project Tiger was initiated, to a tiger count of 3,682 tigers in 2022.
On a positive note, India accounts for 75% of world’s population of tigers and her efforts at conservation have been lauded globally.
However, we cannot afford to turn complacent ; it would reverse whatever success has been achieved. If India were to lose out on the tiger, her loss would be a colossal one in every aspect, more so from point of ecology and biodiversity of India which are unique and virtually unrivalled in the world!
About Author Manoj Naik
Manoj Shankar Naik is in the coaching profession teaching Mathematics for school and junior college as well as competitive entrance exams for admission to engineering courses. Apart from his profession, he has a deep interest in the history of the colonial era and is fairly well-versed in the writings of most national leaders.
Manoj has also written books on Savarkar. You can buy his book from here.
Photo Credits – Namaha Naik
Thank you, Namaha for the wonderful photos.
The present serialization of articles is for bringing out two things. Firstly, care and concern for the environment driven by a love for birds, animals and trees is visibly imprinted in Hinduism as can be seen in the importance given to every living creature: if this love for the environment is deeply internalized, then the global menace of man-nature conflict can certainly be averted.
Secondly, environmental rejuvenation calls for reconnecting with the core message of Hinduism: stay in harmony with nature on the principle of cooperation and compassion. These are vital lessons to sensitize the human mind to respect and protect nature and not exploit it for greed.
(Photo Credits: Namaha Manoj Naik, the daughter of writer of this article. These photographs are taken from tour to Tadoba and Pench forest reserves in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh)
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