Poorvaj - Embracing the wisdom of our eco friendly ancestors

In the month of May2022, a play with the name “Poorvaj”, directed by Hemant and Vaishali Panwar was presented at Vedic Cultural Centre to celebrate their 22nd South Asian Heritage Program. Play highlighted the view point of our eco-friendly ancestors who always considered that “ Nature is God”. The most famous sentence from Atharveda - Earth is my Mother and I am her child - explains the Vedic view on ecology. One of the oldest Sanskrit Literatures, Matsaya Purana, has a beautiful perspective on the environment that says, “Ten wells equal a pond, ten such ponds equal a lake, ten lakes equal an offspring and ten such children equal one tree”.
Through a gradual progression of sacred Mantras and subtle moves, play was depicted by dance to convey the fact that Nature was in harmony and seasons were kind until the Humans attacked on the vitals of Earth, Polluted the Sky and turned water into acid. The fire inside the entire ecosystem is over stimulated and air in the atmosphere is getting warmer and warmer as a sign of the anguished cry of Mother Earth. The play gave a strong message to pay attention to purify the five elements of existence - “panchtatva” that are the basis of all cosmic creations - Aakash (Space/ Sky), Agni (Fire), Jal (Water), Vaayu (Air) and Prithvi (Earth).
After all, we all depend on Mother Nature that is engaged constantly in performing a divine Yagya since the beginning of creation and is the witness of the actions of the past, present and future. The Prasad, holy offering of her mahayagya is the growth of plants and trees that gives food we eat and air we breathe.
Here we share an insight of the play that implores us to embrace the wisdom of our nature friendly ancestors who believed in a lifestyle that was better for the environment