In March 1973 in Gopeshwar, Uttar Pradesh, a
sports equipment factory marked trees near the vil-
lage for harvesting. The villagers encircles the trees,
as had the Bishnois before them, and provided a
human shield against deforestation. The strategy
was repeated in several villages in the Himalayas,
creating the Chipko movement, which exists today
as a grassroots ecodevelopment movement.
Both the Bishnoi and the Chipko movements
demonstrate how environmental conservation is
aligned with Hindu religion and culture. Hindu
scriptures contain implicit environmental ethics
that encourage respect for and stewardship of a
sacred universe. The central concepts of DHARMA
(right conduct) and KARMA (action in the world)
have been used to support initiatives for environ-
mental protection. Ecological writers call for a
partnership between Hindu religious leaders and
ecological activists to join the insight and devotion
of traditional Hindu thought in collaboration with
scientific strategies of sustainable development.
A series of 10 conferences on the world’s reli-
gions and ecology was held at the Harvard Divinity
School Center for the Study of World Religions from
1996 to 1998. Subsequently, the Forum on Religion
and Ecology and its Web site were announced
by the founders, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John
Grim, during a report to the United Nations and
subsequent press conference in 1998. In both the
initial conferences and the continuing activities
of the forum, scholars and practitioners promote
a dialogue on the global environmental crisis and
efforts to create public policy in alignment with the
teachings of the world’s religions. The relationship
of Hinduism and ecology has become one focus of
the Forum on Religion and Ecology.
Scholars and religious leaders have made pre-
sentations about Asian religious traditions and
ecology at the Parliament of World Religions.
The Green Yoga Association, founded by Laura
Cornell in Oakland, California, in 2004, seeks
to promote an ecological ethic in its practice of
traditional yogic techniques and to interpret yogic
texts, such as PATANJALI’S YOGA SUTRAS, in terms of
environmental ethics.
Further reading: David Landis Barnhall and Roger S.
Gottlieb, eds., Deep Ecology and World Religions: New
Essays on Sacred Ground (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 2001); J. Baird Callicott and Roger T.
Ames, eds., Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays
in Environmental Philosophy (Albany: State University
of New York Press, 1989); Christopher Key Chapple,
Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Tradi-
tions (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993);
Christopher Key Chapple and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds.,
Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and
Water (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2000); David L. Gosling, Religion and Ecology in India
and Southeast Asia (London: Routledge, 2001); Lance E.
Nelson, ed., Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion
and Ecology in Hindu India (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1998); Helaine Selin, ed., Nature across
Cultures: Views of Nature and the Environment in Non-
Western Cultures (Lancaster, England: Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 2003); Mary Evelyn Tucker, Worldly Wonder:
Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase (La Salle, Ill.: Open
Court, 2003).ekadashi
Ekadashi (11th) denotes the 11th day of both the
waxing and the waning lunar cycles. It is observed
as a fast day by many Hindus and is an obligatory
day of fasting for Vaishnavites, worshippers of
VISHNU, as it is associated with his worship. When
one observes ekadashi as a result of a vow, one
must stay awake that night and worship Vishnu
(as is done with SHIVA during MAHASHIVARATRI), as
well as fast. The ekadashi in the bright half of the
month of Margashirsha (November–December) is
known as “heaven ekadashi,” in reference to the
heavenly abode of Vishnu. It is a very important
temple day, as those who go through the temple
doors on this day are believed to go to heaven.Further reading: Abbe J. A. Dubois, Hindu Manners,
Customs and Ceremonies. Translated from the French by
Henry K. Beauchamp (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959);
Swami Harshananda, Hindu Festivals and Sacred Days
(Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math, 1994).ekadashi 147 J