Lessons on Environment and the Soul of Nature
Dr. Tanu Jain
Chief executive officer Bareilly cantonment board Ministry of defence
It was one fine morning when I met Gopalji Arya, a man of deep thought and deeper conviction, in the quiet courtyard of his karyalaya. The sun had just begun to rise, spreading its soft golden hue over the neem trees, and a faint breeze carried the fragrance of the earth after dawn dew. I had gone to seek answers—not about life in general, but about one of its most silent teachers: Nature.
“What, according to you, is most important for the environment today?” I asked him.
He smiled—not with words, but with the calm of someone who has long ago understood that the Earth speaks only to those who listen.
“Nature doesn’t need saving” he said softly, “it needs understanding.”
Those words stayed with me. He then began to speak about the five ways through which human life could reconnect with the natural world—what he called the ‘Panch Parivartan’ or the Five Transformations of Living.
1. Paryavaran – Sensitivity to Nature
“Planting trees is not enough,” Gopalji said. “You must plant awareness in your mind too.”
He explained that environmental consciousness is not an activity but a lifestyle.
To live in harmony with nature means to live with restraint—consuming less, wasting less, and feeling more. He urged me to see water not as a utility but as life itself, and every tree as a living scripture of patience and giving.
“If you drink water mindfully and walk barefoot on the earth with gratitude,” he said, “you will realize that the Divine lives in the soil, not just in temples.”
2. Nagarik Kartavya – Civic Dharma
He often reminded that environmental protection begins with discipline and civic responsibility.
To keep one’s surroundings clean is an act of worship.
To act with awareness of others’ comfort is ecological behaviour at the social level.
He smiled as he said, “Cleanliness is not Swachh Bharat’s campaign—it is Bharat’s character.”
The more orderly and responsible we become as citizens, the less we burden nature.
3. Kutumb Prabodhan – Nurturing Families with Values
“Every family must become a small forest of virtues,” he said.
He believed that ecological values are inherited, not instructed. When families gather daily for conversation and reflection, they not only strengthen emotional bonds but also cultivate intergenerational sensitivity toward nature and society.
He advised—let children grow up planting trees, observing birds, and sitting in silence under the stars; such experiences shape character better than any lecture.
4. Swadeshi Aacharan – Living the Swadeshi Spirit
“If we cannot honour what is made by our own soil,” he said, “how can we protect the soil itself?”
Supporting local crafts, using indigenous products, and avoiding imported luxuries are not economic acts—they are ethical acts.
Every rupee spent on local produce strengthens the roots of India’s self-reliance and reduces the ecological cost of industrial excess.
5. Samajik Samrasta – Harmony Beyond Boundaries
Nature never discriminates. The same rain falls on the rich and the poor, the same sunlight touches every leaf.
“When man divides, nature declines,” Gopalji said gravely.
He urged me to see environmental conservation not as a class issue, but as a collective moral duty—beyond caste, creed, or geography.
“We are all trustees of the same planet,” he said. “The Earth belongs not to humans, but to humanity.”
The Geeta’s Whisper
Before we parted, Gopalji recited softly from the Bhagavad Geeta (3.14):
“Annad bhavanti bhutani, parjanyad anna sambhavah.
Yajnad bhavati parjanyo, yajnah karma samudbhavah.”
He explained, “All beings are sustained by food; food is produced by rain; rain comes through harmony between man and nature—through Yajna, through sacred action.”
Thus, living sustainably is the truest form of Yajna.
As I walked away, the morning sun was brighter, yet gentler. I felt that the real transformation—the Panch Parivartan—is not outside us, but within.
To protect the environment is not a duty—it is a devotion.
To live in harmony with nature is not an ideal—it is our original nature