River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods and Data
3. Juristic Persons, Deity’s Rights, and Rights of Nature
“When these complexities met British laws it usually ended up in Court. And as British judges dealt with increasing disputes over temple property, they hit on the idea of treating the deity as a legal person in whom ownership could rest. At one stroke this avoided having to sift through all the claims of tradition, while also neatly appearing to respect Indian sentiments by treating the idols as living persons. In 1869 the Privy Council, the judges who made up the highest court of appeal in the British Empire decided the case of Maharani Shibessouree v. Mothooranath Acharjo by declaring that the shebait, the manager of the deity, could only act as a trustee on behalf of the deity. In 1875, in another case, the Privy Council articulated that the shebait had to act “as the manager of an infant heir.” And in 1887, in what is called the Dakor Temple case, the Bombay High Court finally stated explicitly that the “Hindu idol is a juridical subject and the pious idea that it embodies is given the status of a legal person.” As Birla notes, the time was ripe, since this was just a year after the Indian Income Tax Act was passed which allowed exemptions for religious or public charitable purposes.”
4. Ganga and Yamuna as Persons
“The gist of the judgement, the main judgement….forget about the status of the Goddess, etc. The whole concern of the court is to maintain the free flowing of the river, irrespective of the community needs, etc. This is the main concern of the Court. Yes anybody can interpret it in their own fashion. But the main concern is to maintain the piousness as well as the free flowing of the Ganga and its tributaries.”18
All the Hindus have deep Astha in rivers Ganga and Yamuna and they collectively connect with these rivers. Rivers Ganga and Yamuna are central to the existence of half of Indian population and their health and well being. The rivers have provided both physical and spiritual sustenance to all of us from time immemorial. Rivers Ganga and Yamuna have spiritual and physical sustenance. They support and assist both the life and natural resources and health and well-being of the entire community. Rivers Ganga and Yamuna are breathing, living and sustaining the communities from mountains to sea.21
5. Benefits for Devotees
- Researchers:
- Do you see Ganga as a person?
- Respondent:
- No I see Ganga as a Goddess. No Person. She is no person. Nobody sees her as a person. She is a pure Mama. It is all about your feeling, your understanding and trust. I have been connected with people from all over the world. Since 6 years I am living with the tourism life. I have seen many changes but nothing good is happening. The government has wasted a lot of money but no good is going on.
- Respondent:
- We do not agree that she is a person. She is a Devi…Not an ordinary lady. She is a God lady.
- Researcher:
- So being a lady is only her form?
- Respondent:
- Yes, like there is Kali, Durga, Parvati, Ganga. They are Devis….Ganga is amrit (nectar), she is not a river… After a person does a lot of karm (good work), he can become a God…There is a path, a link road. For us Hindus, Ganga is amrit. Ganga is mokshadani (giver of liberation). Big people come bringing dead bodies and the ashes to immerse in her waters. Why do they come? In this way if we immerse the ashes of our ancestors, fathers, grandfathers, or for the death of anyone, we bring the body to Ganga for moksha. So Ganga is amrit. The Gita and our pandits say whatever dharm-karm a person does, they do it on the riverbank of Ganga, like in Hardwar.
- Researcher:
- So why did Parvati curse Ganga to be a river? Why was it a curse? If she is such a good form, etc., why is she created by a curse? What is the meaning?
- Respondent:
- The curse occurred because thousands and thousands of people come to see her, come to take her water (jal). This is for humanity. It is for kalyan, humanity. It is good.
- Researcher:
- So the curse means it is for the good of humanity. But to me a curse means it is related to something bad.
- Respondent:
- Well this is like the branches of government. There are branches such as raksha mantralaya, videsh mantralaya, rajya mantralaya. Everyone is in the meeting. So if one man does a bad work they take him out, no? In this way the history of Ganga occurred. At that meetings occurred and the rishis looked and when there was a bad action, then they were opposed to that. If there is any wrong work like in an office, then the person is disciplined. In the meeting a bad matter comes up so the rishis are noticing it. So in this way a curse was made and they said, go in the form of a river! You will work for humanity, for liberation. This is for kalyan (well-being), for moksha (liberation), for shraddha (offering for deceased), for service (seva).
- Researcher:
- So she came for seva.
- Respondent:
- Yes she came for seva and will do so as long as she is alive. Up until her death she will remain and do so. Until she becomes lupt (invisible). Thousands of years from now Ganga will not be here. After thousands and thousands of years, she will be gone. There will be rivers but not Ganga. Like the Saraswati river in Allahabad is finished. Yamuna river will also go like this.
- Respondent:
- There is no change from the Ganga Cleanup program (Ganga safai). There should be cleaning but there is no change over the last 3–4 years.
- Researcher:
- Should Ganga have rights? And if the Court gives the order and Ganga gets rights who should oversee them?
- Respondent:
- If the drains (nalas) that are running into the river are not stopped then how can Ganga cleaning happen? They are running (chaalu). Some are closed but others are not. There is one there, one here. There is dirtiness (gandagi) remaining. Modi has said they will be stopped and that there will be change but there is no change.
- Researcher:
- Do you see Ganga as a person, as in an ordinary woman or as a God (Bhagwan)?
- Respondent:
- We see her in the form of Ma Ganga, as Bhagwan.
- Researcher:
- So should she be given rights or not?
- Respondent:
- Why not? She should be given them.
- Researcher:
- Who should argue for her [to exercise those rights]? People or the government?
- Respondent:
- People should argue for her otherwise who can? What will the Government do? They will just eat the money. People in a movement can argue but government will just get the money from above (uper se) and eat it. What goes to Ganga safai will be eaten by them. It’s true isn’t it?25
6. Government Motivations
“The order had put the state government in a quandary. Since the rivers flow through several states, only the Centre could frame rules for their management. The ruling also raised questions like whether the victim of a flood in the rivers can sue the state for damages and also about whether the state and its officers will be liable in case of pollution in the rivers in another state through which it flows.”29
7. Rights of Nature and Hindutva Lite
8. Conclusions: Rights of Nature and Spiritual Ecological Activism
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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1 | I have made this assessment after interviews with High Court and Supreme Court petitioners and advocates and a friendly meeting with the Judge in these cases in October 2018. |
2 | See the order dated 20 September 2018 in Original Application No. 673/2018 In The Matter of: News Item Published in ‘The Hindu’ authored by Shri Jacob Koshy Titled “More river stretches are now critically polluted: CPCB for a summary of cases focusing on these rivers. See also (Alley 2008). |
3 | Pillalamarri (2018) takes a more benign definition of Hindutva lite: “Most Indians are neither Hindu nationalists nor secular liberals, but somewhere in between, as evidenced by the fact that the Congress Party’s president, Rahul Gandhi, seems to have picked up with his newfound interest in Hinduism, derided by some on the right as ‘Hindu-lite,’ or ‘Hindutva-lite.’ But Hindu-lite is actually a good term to describe the beliefs of the middle class, the urban youth, and the emerging upwardly mobile lower-middle class. These groups are at once proud of and interested in India’s past and culture, but also willing to apply these customs selectively at a personal and familial level, while being open to new ideas and cultural influences from around the world. Moreover, these groups remain skeptical of Hinduism as a political movement, and aren’t interested in anti-Muslim rhetoric, instead seeing Hinduism more as a mascot for their identity.” |
4 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. pp. 5–6. |
5 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. p. 7. |
6 | For example, social science theory and interpretations of human–nonhuman relations have accounted for relations between human and nonhuman animals and entities (e.g., Gagne 2018; Govindrajan 2018), human engagements with material agencies (Latour 2004), and spiritual ecology (Vaughan-Lee et al. 2016; Sponsel 2012, 2019), to name a few. |
7 | All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by Auburn University IRB number 16-229 EP 1606. |
8 | Endowments were held to: (1) remove assets from the commercial sphere according to the intentions of private individuals, (2) transform assets into the private property of deities, and (3) leave assets in the management of individuals who existed in private contractual relationships with the deity (Birla 2009). Das Acevedo (2016, p. 858) adds, “Lack of differentiation between beneficiaries of the temple (that is, of the very existence of an institution in which one may worship and participate in a religious community) and beneficiaries of the temple’s assets is responsible for much mischief (see, for instance, Michael C. Baltutis, ‘Recognition and Legislation of Private Religious Endowments in Indian Law’, in Baird, Religion and Law in Independent India, p. 449 in which this distinction is not maintained).” |
9 | Das Acevedo (2016, p. 858 note 44) says: “this ruling redefines public and private, keeping the temple and its wealth both public in the sense of open to all people, yet private in the sense that the deity owns the space and wealth. It is explicitly not private property for any other commercial or political entity however”. |
10 | |
11 | While the mentioned countries created frameworks that were upheld by citizen vote, in Bolivia, some citizens objected to the 2012 Framework Law of Mother Earth and Integral Development for Living Well, which constituted and operationalized the Earth as a juridical subject and gave it seven rights. They objected on the grounds that it usurped the traditional rights to preserve their land and customs (Calzadilla and Kotzé 2018). |
12 | See (Amirante 2012) and (Shrotria 2015). Environmental Clearances, required for 39 types of projects, are supposed to assess and, thereby, avoid or minimize environmental impacts. |
13 | I am thinking here of prototypes in the sense developed from Wittgenstein, as provoking graded categorizations extending from a best example. These emerging categories can be traced out using an ethnoscience methodology. |
14 | Interestingly, the judge did not say “human person” in the ruling. The media has incorrectly termed it that way. The Judge said, “juristic person”. |
15 | The direct inspiration from the transnational discourse on rights of nature and this ruling are not explicit in the judgment but were communicated during interviews. The advocate cited the New Zealand case in the hearing, and one Judge followed up by exploring the literature and cases on rights of nature from around the world. |
16 | Interview taken in October 2018. |
17 | “The extraordinary situation has arisen since rivers Ganga and Yamuna are losing their very existence. This situation requires extraordinary measures to be taken to preserve and conserve rivers Ganga and Yamuna,” says the order by Justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh. Http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/57818653.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst. |
18 | Interview with a senior advocate dated October 2018. |
19 | Original Application No. 200 of 2014. (C.Writ Petition No. 3727/1985), (M.A. No. 594/2017 & 598/2017) Judgement dated 13 July 2017. |
20 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. p. 4. |
21 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. p. 11. |
22 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. pp. 11–12. |
23 | W.P.PIL No. 140 of 2015, Lalit Miglani v. State of Uttarakhand declared glaciers, including Gangotri and Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs, and waterfalls as legal persons (Shivshankar 2017; Studley 2017); The Sad State Of These Persons Called Ganga & Yamuna—Can State Protect Them? South Asian Network for Dams, Rivers and People, 11 April 2017 https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/the-sad-state-of-these-persons-called-ganga-yamuna-can-state-protect-them/. |
24 | Interview by Alley in October 2018. |
25 | Interview by Kelly Alley, October 2018. |
26 | |
27 | Order dated 20 March 2017 in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014 Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and others. p. 11. |
28 | Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 016879/2017 The State of Uttarakhand and Ors. Versus Mohd. Salim and Ors., Order dated 7 July 2017, stayed the ruling in the Salim case. Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No(s). 34250/2017 Union of India vs Lalit Miglani, order dated 27 November, 2017 stayed the ruling in the Miglani case. The copy of the original pleading is difficult to obtain because the case is still sub-judice (in progress). Thus, in the absence of the original document, we can only quote The Times of India as it reported the stay: “The state government contended that the two holy rivers played a very important role in supporting the life and well-being of people in the country but that could [was] not a ground to declared them as living entities. “Only to protect the faith of the society river Ganga and Yamuna cannot be declared as legal person,” state government said in its petition. “If there arises any dispute in respect any kind of different illegalities being committed in other states, then how can the Chief Secretary pass any instruction against any other states or Centre,” it said. The government said that Centre had been given the right under the constitution to frame rules for efficacious management of all the interstate rivers and the HC did not examine the provision while passing the order. “The High Court has gravely erred in declaring Ganga and Yamuna as legal person/living entity. Hence, in case of coming of flood vis-a-vis someone dying in these rivers due to such flood, therefore, the effective party can file suit for damages against the Chief Secretary of the State and then in that case State Government will be liable to bear such financial burden,” the petition said.” (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-stays-uttrakhand-hc-order-declaring-ganga-yamuna-as-living-entities/articleshow/59494002.cms). |
29 | |
30 | |
31 | These were the phrases I reported on in the 1990s. Corruption and eating the money meant for Ganga rejuvenation remain prominent themes in local discourse. |
32 | “Mother Ganga: A Juristic Person”, Kanooni Patrika, August 2017. https://www.parmarth.org/mother-ganga-a-juristic-person-kanooni-patrika-august-2017/. |
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Alley, K.D. River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology. Religions 2019, 10, 502. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090502
Alley KD. River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology. Religions. 2019; 10(9):502. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090502
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlley, Kelly D. 2019. "River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology" Religions 10, no. 9: 502. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090502
APA StyleAlley, K. D. (2019). River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology. Religions, 10(9), 502. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090502