The Good Earth: Dharti Ma

To the Hindus, the earth has long been known as Dharti Ma. Dhar comes from the Sanskrit root dhr which means to support/to sustain, and from which the term dharma is also derived, and refers to ‘that which sustains or upholds.’

Dharti Ma is therefore the Earth Mother who supports our collective physical weight: multiply 7.5 billion by, say, an average of 40 kg and that will give an approximation of the weight pressing down on Dharti Ma, which weight is continuously increasing as the population grows; add to that the weight of all the other animals and plants and the total is mind-boggling. There is a little fallacy in this reasoning, but we’ll leave it at that for the time being. Grosso modo the idea is sound.

But Dharti Ma not only supports our weight, and our burdens, She also sustains us – all of us living things, because She produces all the food that we consume. Our food is either of plant or animal origin, so we are fed directly (the plants that we eat) and indirectly: the animal flesh, which is itself built up from either plants or other animals consumed by the predator animals. When we eat animal flesh we are also predators, however gastronomically smart the dishes may be that we prepare.

Just like mother’s milk that initially nourishes us, so does Mother Earth nourish us until we die – and return to Her. And here again, one moment’s thought will make us realise how magnanimous a Mother She is indeed: for after some hours when the flesh starts to rot, we can no longer be endured by our near and dear ones, and no other human being can ‘take us in’ either, so we go back to: Dharti Ma, to Her ample womb and bosom. And are ‘accepted’ without any reluctance or repugnance whatsoever.

Why? Because we are made of the same material as Her, in fact of the same stuff that all that exists is made of. These are the five elements – NB: not as defined in chemistry, which is a too limited a perspective from the cosmic point of view – and they are fire, air, space, earth and water. In Hinduism these five fundamental constituent elements are know as agni, vayu, akash, prtithvi and jal. By earth in this terminology is meant all the minerals. And for that matter anywhere in the universe it is these same elements that go into the composition of whatever objects exist.

It is a bit of a paradox that we have to proclaim an International Earth Day, celebrated on 22 April, to create awareness about how precious the Earth is to us and to sensitize us about the now critical need to protect it from our depredations. Ecological salvage and environmental protection and preservation have now become an imperative if we are to survive. This has to be drummed into us by the UN from a global platform because we have let go of our simple commonsense, which would have made us realise for ourselves how important it is to protect the Mother that sustains us from birth – why, even before birth as we lie in our mother’s womb! – to death. And also how intimately we are connected, through the five elements, to the universe as a whole.

This organic connection with the earth has been the theme of many works, and one of the most well-known novels on this topic is that of the American writer Pearl Buck. It was ‘The Good Earth’, and was published in 1931, winning her the Pulitzer Prize. I read it long years ago, but still remember how it had touched me. It was a novel set in China, and was the story of a farmer, Wang Lung, who toils at his land with his wife and prospers. But then there’s family troubles and difficulties which lead to decadence, but finally ‘Wang Lung returns to the earthen house of his land to die. Material prosperity has brought him superficial social satisfaction, but only his land can provide peace and security. Even his final days are troubled, when he overhears his two older sons planning to sell the land as soon as he dies.’

The land that provides peace and prosperity – too often we forget this simple truism. And yet, when we come to think of it, what do we cherish the most? To sit in a little corner that we can call our own, and contemplate the beauty and the vastness that nature has graced us with, and say a little prayer in silence.

Many years ago, when visiting the Grand Canyon, I bought a little book there titled ‘Earth Prayers From Around the World’, a collection of ‘365 prayers, poems, and invocations for honoring the earth.’ On the dedication page we read: ‘May the Earth always speak to your spirit.’

The contents are spread over eleven parts starting with ‘The Ecological Self ‘ and ending with ‘Meditations.’ In their introduction ‘A call to Earth prayer’ the authors write: ‘We wanted to link our personal spiritual life with that of the entire biosphere. Perhaps everything prays – not only humans.’ They go on to say that the voices represented in the book unfold a ‘collective story’ of women and men throughout history and prehistory who share a ‘common spiritual heritage we choose to call Earth Prayer. And it is based on one single recognition: we are, body and spirit, one with the Earth and with all of creation.’

But of course we are: since we are made of the same five elements, as the sages thousands of years ago understood, experienced, and proclaimed as a universal truth. Just listen to these healing words that the authors offer for our delight:

The beauty of the trees

the softness of the air

the fragrance of the grass

speaks to me

The summit of the mountain

the thunder of the sky

the rhythm of the sea

speaks to me

And my heart soars.

Blessed be our Dharti Ma, for ever and ever…

* Published in print edition on 24 April  2015