SACRED GROVES AS COMMONS: THE SACRED AND SECULAR IN PEOPLE’S DOMAIN

SACRED GROVES AS COMMONS: THE SACRED AND

SECULAR IN PEOPLE’S DOMAIN

Kishore Saint

I wish to explore the reality of sacred groves from a stance of
multiplicity of meaning and interpretation. Every concrete
natural-social feature on earth’s surface is an embodiment and
expression of a great multitude of natural and human impulses,
energies, relations and creeds. Without this holisitic
understanding there is a serious danger of reductionism through
which dimensions and categories of meaning distinct and
autonomous get reduced into one-dimensional rationality. From
this restriction of perception there is only a short step to
theological, legal and technological definition, appropriation and
incorporation in to the dominant systems of church, state and
market management. This results in a permanent rupture and
undermining of the human-nature relationship at the local
community level, usually with adverse implications for both
nature and people. In trying to describe and interpret the
significance and regenerative potential of sacred groves we have
to take cognizance of the whole range of natural, social and
spiritual factors which have ensured their survival, relevance
and importance.

Let us begin by recognizing that in Indian popular perception
and practice there is no rigid division between the sacred and
secular aspects of sacred groves. In Rajasthan there is usually
an overlap between ‘gochar’ or common pasture and ‘oran’, the
sacred woodlot around a temple. This is analogous to the
sacred-secular attitudes and usages related to the cow. Shubhu
Patwa*1, a journalist-activist in Bikaner, has done an extensive
study of gochar-orans in western Rajasthan. He has shown that
the existence of these pastures-groves is a part of an ancient
traditional with built-in sense of the sacred and benefit to all.
This tradition has played a vital role in the continuance and
flourishing of animal husbandry based culture and economy of
the communities in the Thar desert region. Both the ruler and
the well-to-do traders used to take initiative in ensuring the
protection of gochars. According to a 1937 state order a fine of

Rs.25/was levied for grazing sheep in the gochar and Rs.11 for
doing cultivation there. Earlier in 1733 a pasture of 500 hectares
was set aside at the request of a trader named Nathu Shah. It is
named after him as ‘Sada Nathania’. Similarly, there is a record
of a nearly 200 hectare oran around the famous Karnimata
temple renowned as a refuge for rodents. No standing tree is
allowed to be cut here and there is no commercial exploitation
of the wood. When some trees had to be cute to put a railway
line through this oran, the ruler prayed for the deity’s permission
and deposited Rs.100 per tree as compensation into the temple
account.
In Udaipur area the sacred grove around Ubeshwar Mahadev (a
Shiva temple) is surrounded by village pastures. This is close to
the source of the local stream and is a watering and resting place
for the cattle. By custom no cowdung is removed from this area.
It is allowed to decay or dry. The dried dung-cakes are used for
making baati (local bread) by villagers and other pilgrims who
visit the temple at various festivals. In this arrangement the
sanctity of the domain ensures the ready and plentiful
availability of an important energy source for the benefit of all.
These examples suggest that the sacred groves are repositories
not only of biotic and genetic diversity but are also foci of
cultural and ethical practices and codes critical to the livelihood
of the community based on land, water and vegetation, livestock
and wildlife in its specific econiche. There is need for much
more detailed site and locality-wise study of this matrix of usage
and belief related to sacred groves. We all know about the
Bishnois of Rajasthan and their 29 point sacral ecological ethic
for the protection of Khejri tree (prosopis cineraria) and wildlife
in their habitat. There are sufficient indications that similar
codes of self and social regulation have evolved amongst other
communities and have been sanctified and reinforced through
association with sacred sites. These need to be re-discovered on
a wide-ranging basis.
I now turn to a broader and more hoary aspect of the ‘sacred’ in
the sacred groves, viz. the whole sense and concept of Vridavan,
the actual and mythical playgrove of Krishna, Radha and their
companions. Let me invoke it vide a ‘pad’, or stanza, of the
Hindi poet Ratnakar

‘Naval Vrndavan Sobha dham

Naval vasant naval malyanil taruvar naval lalam
Naval kusum makrand naval ras lolup naval milind
Naval Kisor naval lilarat naval kisori sang
Naval prem anand naval ati murchhit naval anang’
This is an ode to Vrndavan in spring. Here is an, inevitably
inadequate, translation: -

“Behold the new Vrndavan, the glorious place of pilgrimage,
The new spring with fresh south breeze, and crimson saplings
And new buds with new fragrance and young bees greedy for nectar
The new peacocks and the new nightingales singing new melodies

The new youth dancing with young maidens, stricken by cupid
With new love and ecstasy beyond consciousness”.
There is no need to elaborate here the many splendid hues and
nuances, sensibilities and inspiration that the theme and motifs
of Vrandavan have bequeathed to the folk and classical arts and
to India’s religiosity and spiritual quest. We are all familiar with
Vrndavan as the abode of peace and harmony, as the venue of
Radha’s yearning for and meeting with Krishna, and k, above
all, “as the earthly counterpart of goloka which comes into being
with the avatar or incarnation of Krishna with all His playful
abandon, ecstasy and bliss. 

My purpose is drawing attention to this expansive aspect of the
sacred in sacred groves is two-fold. First, I wish to suggest that
together with the eco-sociology there is an aesthetic religious
aspect of these groves that await discovery. Its expressions are
in the folklore, songs, rituals and festivals performed around
these places. Second, there is a need to recognize the
connectioins and parallels between the local and specific
manifestations and traditions and the overarching, universal
concepts like Vrndavan. There is ample evidence that the larger
currents of Bhakti movement and local traditions are informed
by the same cultural and civilizational bodh and samvedna.
And, as the literary spiritual creativity of Kabir, Nanak, Mira,
Dadu, Farid, Amit Khusro, Raskhan, Rahim and Tagore testifies,
these sensibilities and inspiration transcend sectarian
boundaries.
Finally, let me look at sacred groves as examples of commons.
This extends the meaning of commons beyond common
property resources. For this I shall take the concept of commons
enunciated by the well-known thinker Ivan Illich*4. According
to him ‘Commons are a cultural space that lies beyond my
threshold and this side of wilderness. Custom defines the
different usefulness of commons for each one. The commons
are porous. The same spot for different purposes can be used by
different people. And, above all, custom protects the commons.
The commons are not community resources, the commons
become a resource only when the lord or community encloses
them. Enclosure transmogrifies commons into a resource for the
extraction, production or circulation of commodities. Commons
are as vernacular as vernacular speech’. This depiction of
commons has even greater validity in the case of sacred groves
with their multiplicity of purposes, customary protection, lack of
enclosure, non-commodity character and location ‘this side of
wilderness’ as an expression of the divine.

In the foregoing discussion, I have tried to recognize sacred groves as:

- refugia for bio-genetic diversity
- repositories of ethno-social codes of relation and regulation via a vis nature
- Venues of local and universal manifestation of aesthetic traditions and religiosity.
- community resources
- commons or cultural space between private domain and the rest of cosmos.

In all these characteristics sacred groves have undergone decline
and shrinkage with the growth of contemporary systems of
natural resource management dominated by global elitist
privatization, statization, energy intensive technology and
commodity markets. Today all these arrangements are
themselves in a state of crisis and faced with unsustainability in
the future. This has led to the search for new patterns and
sources of insight for human-nature relationship, natural

resource management, maintenance of biodiversity and recovery
of commons. Study of sacred groves in all their manifold
meaning offers a rich field for this exploration.

References:

 I gratefully acknowledge the help of Shri Prahlad
Narain Vajpayee of Sahitya Sansthan, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth
regarding references to Vrindavan.


*1 Patwa, Shubhu ‘Paryavarana Ki Sanskriti’ (Hindi) Vagdevi
Prakashan 1989, Bikaner.
*2 Padratnakar (Hindi) by Ratnakar
*3 Parashar, Dr. Santosh ‘Hindi Krishna Kavaya Mein Bhaki
Evam Vedanta’
*4 Illich, Ivan ‘The Recovery of Commons’ Resurgence No. 106
Worthyvale Manor Farm. Sept – Oct. 1984, Camelford
Cornwall PL329TT, U.K.
*5 Gadgil, Madhav ‘Social Restraints on Exploiting Nature’
PPST Bulletin, Madras Vol. 3 No.1, 1983.

************