The environment is God’s property. Everyone, be they simple farmers, corporate heads or government leaders, depends on the environment equally. To be conscious of enriching the environment and not polluting it is a spiritual principle, a social responsibility and a natural expression of compassion. The environment is sacred. Therefore our health, our intelligence and our wealth are sacred gifts. By understanding them in this way and engaging them accordingly, our very lifestyle of banking, business or politics can become yoga. It becomes a path of spiritual enlightenment.
Our planet can also be portrayed as mother earth. She nourishes us with all wealth, all fortune, and the environment. She is just like a mother who nourishes her children. In one section of the Bhagavata Purana she takes the shape of a cow and, claiming not to have been treated properly, stops yielding her resources to mankind. The lesson is that we need to treat the earth with respect, for we are dependent on her. There is also a proper method to utilise nature and not exploit nature. Today’s civilisation uncannily prefers the method of killing the cow over simply milking her, which is a much more humane way of extracting resources from her while treating her with love.
Our Greater Family
Today’s implementation of our land for agriculture has become very violent. We find many inorganic practices of killing bacteria and other germs and pests in the agricultural field unnecessarily. But actually all such species have a right to our agricultural produce as well. The birds have a right and so do the insects. Because actually the soil, the seed, the oxygen, the heat, the light, the environment as well as the technology within the seed that enables it to grow into a plant, are all essentially given to us. They are not manmade. So we have a debt to fulfil towards all these stake holders—not just consumers, customers, employees, the government and the environment, but everybody and everything in existence. This is what dharma or higher duty is all about.
Progressive businessmen see that they have an obligation to fulfil towards everything that exists and they utilise their business as a vehicle for everything that exists. This broad conception of life may be hard to digest for many people, but it is a very beautiful and sublime concept. Just imagine if everybody followed a paradigm like this!
In the Maha Upanishad (6.72) it is said:
ayam nijah paro veti ganana laghu chet asam
udara charitam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam
Only small men discriminate saying: one is a relative; the other is a stranger. For those who live magnanimously, the entire world constitutes but a family. (Shah & Ramamoorthy, 2014)
It is a famous verse, especially the phrase vasudhaiva kutumbakam. The word vasudha (vasu–“wealth”+dha– “one who holds”) is feminine in gender and refers to the earth which holds or bears all kinds of wealth. The whole verse shows how the earth is meant to be seen as a single family. But who thinks like that? One who is udara charitanam; one whose consciousness is very broad, who is large hearted, and whose consciousness has evolved beyond greed, power and prestige. On the other hand, those who are of a narrow mindset, think—this is mine and I must have more of this; that is yours and this is mine. They are called laghu chet asam, with very narrow consciousness. Therefore, business done with this idea can do the world a great favour.
Land Means Prosperity
Real value is established in society through the means of agriculture. This is something difficult to understand for a society running on smart phones and laptop screens, but in an advanced spiritual society it becomes more apparent. In such a society people require a pure and sattvic environment for support—clean air, fresh food and green space. Such materials come from the land and not from factories. Interestingly, there is a growing demand for green products even in today’s society where people’s lives are often hectic and misaligned with any spiritual purpose. But where there is a demand a businessman sees an opportunity. Indeed people’s need for a greener economy is an opportunity for our great corporates to drive a change for a simpler and more sustainable society.
The importance of land is described by Chanakya as follows:
“Wealth and power comes from the countryside, which is the source of all activities.” (7.14.19)
Therefore, we see many businesses moving to the countryside where land is cheaper and working conditions are cleaner. Going rural has two benefits. First, the countryside is the place where raw material is available in plenty. Minerals, food crops, labour all find their sources in the countryside. Second, it is also a ready market for high-volume business. (Pillai, 2012)
The author is the spiritual leader of ISKCON