‘TAPOVANAM’ AND ECO-SURROUNDINGS
A Study on Kālidāsa’s Abhijñāna-Śākuntalam
Keywords:
Tapovanam, Kālidāsa, Abhijñāna-ŚākuntalamAbstract
Bankim Chatterji’s “Vande mathāram” echoes the echo-centeredness of Indian heritage: Vande Mātaram Sujalām, suphalām, malayaja śitalām Sasyaśyāmalām mātaram.1 The earth is adored and idealized as a mother and from ancient time onwards, India has shown such respect and repute towards her. From time immemorial, India has preserved the interconnectedness and interdependence of the human kind with the cosmos. The maharṣis and saptarṣis are representatives of our heritage who attained this cosmic harmony. They transcended the world of created variety into a higher form and perceived life in its totality and perfection. But today we are going far away from nature and live completely in our own artificial worlds. More than that due to the over exploitation of the natural resources our planet earth is getting worse and is almost facing a natural catastrophe. Hence, it is high time to return to our echo-heritage and re-capture those age-old eco-friendly cultural paradigms and traditions for renewing the earth as a bio-spiritual planet. In this context, here is an attempt to envisage the eco-surroundings of our Indian Tapovanam, with the help of Kālidāsa’s Abhijñāna-Śākuntalam.
References
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