 Since the beginning of recorded history, India and its people have known how to live in harmony with the environment. Here thrives a culture steeped in more than 5,000 years of continued traditions of worshiping nature. A civilization that shaped itself out of the ways the human animal interacts with its ecosystem. A system of faith which promotes conservation of nature through respect. Over thousands of years, India has devised ways and means to conserve forests, beneficial plants and animals by connecting them to faith. To this day, Gurukuls continue to impart traditional knowledge of ancient scriptures through songs, legends and folk tales. The human being is just a tiny speck in the divine scheme of creations. To be able to survive, he must be able to live in harmony with nature. A philosophy that teaches people to respect trees was a simple yet effective move by our forefathers to protect the environment. For the trees of people, it is said that they are Brahmins. And if you cut the trees of people, they will be killed. Why did you say that? Till the time no one has a sister, our situation will not be like that. If we want to save the environment, then how many people will be affected? Then our environment will be clean. People give the most oxygen. Our religion has told us that if there is nothing, then on the day of Sanwar, give water to the people and hug them. Then no matter how much suffering you have, it will be over. Why did you say that? There is a reason for this. We are unhealthy. We are not getting pure oxygen. Our forefathers told us that at least one day, we should go away. And if possible, then we should use the leaves of the tree. The leaves of the tree cannot walk. They will walk slowly. And if they walk slowly, then you will get benefits as much as you get. No work can be done without religion. In Indian philosophy, man has been advised not to tamper with nature and to preserve ecological balance. The bishnoys of Rajasthan do not just believe this, but live this faith. For centuries, they have put their lives at stake to protect their immediate environment. The bishnoys are bigger than them. They themselves are violent and eat non-veg. But they also do not let anyone die in their area. And they do not let the green trees die. For that, they sacrifice their lives. The biggest example of the bishnoys is the Khejadli village. Here, 300 people sacrificed their lives to save the Khejadli tree. At that time, the Rajasthan people could not fight with them. So they chose the path of self-sacrifice. All the villagers gathered in one place. And decided that they would cut their throat, but not the tree. The first woman, Amrita Devi, decided that she would go first and I would die. So Amrita Devi first cut her throat. In our bishnoi dharma, the main principle is to live, take care of, take care of, take care of. If you take care of each one of the animals, you will be saved. And by doing this, we are not doing any favors to those animals. We are not doing any favors to trees. Nature has a circle. And man is also a part of that circle. Reverence to the Ganga is a common phenomenon in India. Paying homage to the mighty river is an inherent practice that acquires special significance in Varanasi. Varanasi for ages has been the great melting pot of Indian culture. Every evening in Varanasi, scores of people gather at the river banks to witness a living tradition of nature worship. Paying homage to the river goddess. Devotees claim this to be a centuries-old tradition that celebrates mankind's togetherness with nature. The arati, which concludes by waving the fire at the devotees, is a symbolic worship of this holistic existence. Varanasi in many ways is a confluence of India's ingrained system of environmental consciousness. The entire city faces the east as a mark of respect to the rising sun. India worships the sun as the harbinger and protector of life on earth. The sun temple at Kosi is more than a thousand years old. People doing a surya namaskar to pay their gratitude to the rising sun is a common sight across the length and breadth of the country. The Gayatri mantra, one of the most sacred Hindu mantras, is dedicated to the sun. Indian philosophy is deep to the awareness that the great forces of nature, the earth, the sky, the air, the water and fire, are crucial to all life forms on earth. Understanding them and protecting their purity is crucial for protecting our own existence. The whole concept was that here was a part of the environment which was essential and critical for my being. In our modern interest of environmentalism, we don't understand that ethic and that culture which is so integral because without ethic and without that culture, you can't protect the environment. You can only introduce a technology but you can't protect the environment. And I think that really is the enormous wealth of wisdom that we've had in India. Even today, a nation and its people pay tribute to a system of thought that respects ecological balance above everything else because without their working together, life would not be possible. If we are to survive, we need to respect nature, not tamper with it. That's intelligence. That's prudence. And that is what being civilized is all about.