nagpur 1st feb 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Environnement Engineering
in Ancient India
Presentation By
Dr.A.S.Nene
Professor of Civil Engineering, (Retd.)
VNIT Nagpur
Email: [email protected]
The word "Paryavaranam" is combination of
four words , "Pari+ang+vru+lyut"
A Sanskrit word "Paryavaranam" was prevalent in
ancient India Thousand years prior to advent of
modern Environmental sciences
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Paryavaranam
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Western Definition: The environment is
defined as the physical, non-living and
living surrounding of a society, with
which it has a reciprocal relationship.
Ancient Indian Definition: The
environment means neighborhood of six
factors i.e. Site, People, Animals, Birds,
Trees and Water.
Environment means neighborhood of
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1) Earth – Prithwi
2) Water – Aap
3) Air – Vayu
4) Sky – Aakash
5) Light- Tej
Aitariya Upanishad gave the concept of
Panchmahabhotas
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1- Prithwi-Earth
‘Earth is my mother, I am her son.'
Earth is not for the different races of men alone but for other creatures two or four legged also.
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O Prithivi! thy centre, thy navel, all forces that haveissued from thy body, Set us amid those forces;breathe upon us.’
38 Names of mother Earth
Prayer of Motherland
Ideal Environment : Land, which contains oceans, rivers
and canals; Whose farmers produce food grains and live
together; Where each living persons works with vigor;
Such our motherland may nurture us with her juices.
Atharvaveda chapter 12
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2- Aapah- Water
Water occurs in five forms: Rain water, Natural spring,
Wells and canals, Lakes and Rivers
Waters are nectars
The only three precious things on the earth are
water, food and pleasing words. 10
Water is nectar. It is source of allplants and gives of good health.
From ocean waters reach to sky and from sky come back to earth. –Water cycle
Jala Shastra = Water Resources Engineering
• Sanchetan = Water Supply
• Samharan = Drainage
• Stambhan = Storage of water
Three Vidyas (Techniques)
Related to Water
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3-Vayu - Air
Yadya is best sacrifice
Air is nectar, it gives us long life. The pureair which we inhale enriches good health.Rigved 10-1-86
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O Air! You are our father, the protector.
Rigveda 10-186-2
Air has medicinal values.Rigved 1-37-2
Prana, Vrana, Apana, Udana andSamano ,Air resides in the body as life.
Two types of ether i.e.- one insidethe body and the other outside thebody.
Do not destroy anything of the skyand do not pollute the sky Do notdestroy anything of Space.
Worship trees which gives us medicines
16Plants came to existence on earth first. Rigveda 10-97-1
Forbidden Trees
• Milky Trees: (with poisonous juices): milk bush .
• Thorny Trees: Babul or Prickly pear.
• Trees having hard through out: Tamarind or
Bunyan tree.
• Bushes: Which give shelter to small animals and
consequently serpents frequent them.
• Fruit bearing Trees: Mango, Guava etc. People are
tempted to throw stones.
• Other Trees (Trees without hard core).
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Tree Recommended near Habitat
High trees or fruit bearing trees may be
allowed, provided they cast no shadow at noon
or overtop the building. The distance of tree
from house should be twice the height of
tree.
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Trees permitted to grow near Habitat
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Confinement of trees (Vratabandha)
Some holy trees may be allowed to grow nearbuildings, but they should be confined to acertain area within a circular wall. Treestransgressing this boundary by breakingthrough it, should be pruned to avoid damageto the building.
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Forests should not be destroyed.
Rigveda 8-1-13
Chlorophyll is the cause of greenness in trees
Plants are live.
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Trees save those, who saves trees
One tree is equal to ten sons.
Kills the germs of T.B., measles, smallpox andcow-pox.
Lessens the effect of atomic radiation to agreat extent.
Controls the air-supply and temperaturevariation due to sacrificed substances offirewood
• Creates a pure, hygienic, nutritional and healing atmosphere
It has been proved that Yadnya
Ghee and different types of wood and grasses wereoffered to gods through Yadnya.
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Yadyna
Yadya is considered as the noblest action.
Yajna cleans atmosphere through itsmedicinal smoke, and provideslongevity, breath, vision etc.
Peace should remain everywhere. peace ofsky, peace of mid-region, peace of earth,peace of waters, peace of plants, peace oftrees, peace of all-gods, peace ofBrahman, peace of universe, peace ofpeace; May that peace come to me!
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The Arthshashtra contains provisions meant to
regulate a number of aspects related to the
environment.
Kautilya (350 B.C - 283 B.C)
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The fifth pillar edict of Emperor Ashoka contains
such regulations for environment protection.
(269 BC to 231 BC)
King Piyadarsi (Ashoka), speaks thus:Animals are declared to be protected ……..
Germination property, temperature & humidity ,
oxygen present, Smell and and taste of soil.
A site is selected on the basis of
These tests indicate the level of ground pollution.
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Germination Test
In this test certain types of seeds are sown at the
proposed site. Depending upon the time taken for
germination (three, five or seven days) the site is
considered as good, average or bad respectively.
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Flower Test
In this test flowers of four colors namely white, red,
yellow and blue are placed in leaf cones at the four
corners of a pit in the evening and the condition of
the flowers is observed at the next day morning. The
freshness of flowers indicates the suitability of site.
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Lamp Test
In this test four oil lamps are lit in the four directions
(east, north, west and south) in the foundation pit. Out
of this the lamp which lasts for longest period indicates
the suitability of site.
Nitisutras of Chanakya predicts;
God Vishnu and River Ganges would abandon this
earth after ten and five thousand years
(respectively), but only after twenty-five
hundred years the earth would be a barren land.
(Prediction of Global warming?)33
Ants coming out from their caves usually
excavating or storing food.
Frogs croak near swampy areas
Lesser coucal makes mournful sounds
Dogs defecate in the middle of the road or at higher
elevation.
Ancient text “Kadambini" describes forecasting
of rains based on traditional methods.
Dragonflies fly low.
Ring around the moon or sun (Lunar / Solar corona).
Feathery clouds.
Fruits of trees ripen early or shed early.
Rock outcrop, Types of trees and their foliage, Presence of anthill, Presence of hibernating animals.
Brihat Samhita of Varahmihir
The prediction of depth, quality andquantity of water on the basis of surfacefeatures.
Chapter 54 - Water divining
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One who destroys wells, tanks or temples is a
wicked person.
The person who pollutes waters of ponds, wells or
lakes goes to hell.
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One who renovates wells, tanks, temples gets eight times results than that of constructingnew structures.
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If ground is waterlogged, then the water should be
drained out by digging drains parallel to north east
and refilling the trenches by brickbats and stones
so that excess water drains out.
Waste Disposal -Bhrugusamhita
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Water drains should be below ground, The bottom
surface should be smooth and sloping, If such drain is
not provided then the owner should be fined (54 coins).
Bhrugusamhita
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Waste disposal sites should be on north east side and
far away from residential areas.
Rivers, roads, agricultural fields, greenlands, sunshades and public places shouldnot be polluted (by urination or excreta).
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One should not excrete or urinate in water,one should not spit or take bath without anycloths on the body .
Taittiriyaranyaka
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Waste Disposal
Kautilya fixed Fines for social offences
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Noise pollution- Aapstamb Gruhyasutra
Students should observe silence from evening tillthe stars appear in the sky.
The vow of silence (Mauna) is prescribed invarious rites and rituals.
Speech is restrained after the performance ofprincipal rites.
The consequences of sound pollution wereforeseen by Vedic Seers .
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Pollution of Space
Effect of wireless communication on birds.
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Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from mobile
communication towers is largely responsible for the
bird's declining numbers. 50 eggs of house sparrows
were exposed to EMR for 5-10 minutes. It was found
that all the 50 embryos were damaged.
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Effect of mobiles on human health.
A Danish group's study report of 2006 indicates
a close connection between mobile phone use and
cancer.
The INTERPHONE study group from Japan
published the results of a study of brain tumour
risk and mobile phone use.
• Sage Parashar developed astronomical
methods to predict rain fall.
• Brihatsamhita contains a chapter on
Earthquakes.( 5th- 6th Century)
• Ballal Sen in his book AdbhutSagar describes
four main and six sub types of earthquakes
and their zones in India. ( 10th- 11th Century).
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•Nighantu" mentions one hundredmeaningful names of water.
•Sage Vashishtha and Sage Bhrugu werethe first to describe properties offlowing and steady water. (Much beforeArchimedes).
•Kautilya gave guidelines for constructionof dams, canal, wells, pollution preventionetc. 49
Conclusions
1. The term Environment was first well defined in
ancient Indian texts.
2. The residential sites were selected on the basis of
environmental factors such as land, trees and water
etc.
3. Methods for pollution prevention were described in
these texts.
4. The ancient knowledge is consistent with modern
environmental engineering.
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Ancient References
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Visit
Late G.G.Joshi Shilpa Sanshodhan TrustLibrary, 53 Ramkrishna Nagar, Nagpur.
This presentation is based on texts available inAncient Indian Shilpashastra libraryestablished by Late Shri G.G.Joshi of Nagpur.