Hindu Traditions and Nature: Survey Article

Author: Van Horn, Gavin

Source: Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 10, Number 1, 2006 , pp. 5-39(35)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is a relatively recent endeavor, having arisen in the wake of similar projects seeking to identify the intersections between religion, culture, and nature. Partly a response to present and looming environmental threats, this effort has resulted in a wide range of material, from a more general "environmental assessment" of the tradition(s) in question to specific inquiries about the social, economic, and demographic factors that impinge upon contemporary Indians' understandings of nature. This literature review provides an overview of these materials and should offer readers a sense of the topics that have received the most attention from scholars to date.

Keywords: HINDU TRADITIONS; HINDUISM; NATURE; ENVIRONMENT; INDIA; GANDHI; ANIMALS

Document Type: Regular paper

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853506776114474

Publication date: 2006-03-01