Bishnoi aka Vishnoi is a Hindu religious sect living mostly in Rajasthan, also in Punjab,Haryana and other northern states of India.
These Bishnois are famously associated with environment conservation and wildlife protection from centuries.For eg. in 1730 A.D. 363 Bishnois lead by Amrita Devi Bishnoi sacrificed their life for protection of Khejari tree(Prosopis Ceneraria). Because of Bishnois some species of the Plants and Animals are safe and protected.. They treat animals like their own children.
The Bishnoi women have deep maternal affection for the rescued orphaned calves. It is not uncommon for a
Bishnoi woman to breastfeed a newly born, orphaned calf of a black buck.
Bishnoi sect was founded by Guru Jambheshwar(Jambhoji) in 1485 A.D. and laid 29 principles for the followers.
He was a great visionary and it was his scientific vision to protect our
environment in the 15th century. A simple peasant, saint, and seer, Jambhoji knew the importance of bio-diversity preservation and ill–effects of
environmental pollution, deforestation, wildlife preservation and ecological balance, etc. He not
only learnt it himself, but also had fruit of knowledge to influence the posterity to preserve the
environment and ecology through religion. Undoubtedly, he was one of the greatest
environmentalist and ecologist of the 15th and 16th century.
He in his Shabadwani he told
“Jeev daya palani, rookh leela nahi ghave”
Meaning Be compassionate to all living beings and Not to cut green trees
The eight principles out of the twenty nine are strict guidelines for the preservation of the
environment, bio-diversity, ecology as well as these also motivates good animal husbandry and
compassion for living things. These eight principles also strictly prohibit killing of animals,
sterilization of bulls, felling green tree and motivates preservation of all life forms. His followers
were also directed to use the firewood without small insects protecting them. Guru Jambheshwar
urged his followers not to wear clothes dyed by using ‘Neel’ as the dye for colouring is obtained
by cutting shrubs.
The Bishnoi Sect is based on principles of conservation, including compassion and
preservation of wildlife, deforestation as well as prohibits on idol worship whose basic concept is
to treat all living things with dignity as we depend on our environment to sustain life. They
sacrificed their lives to conserve and protect the flora and fauna since the origin of the sect.
Preservation of the environment, wildlife and Nature is a part and parcel of these natures-loving
people’s traditions. The principles of this community are rays of light for eco-friendly,
environment, for health, peace, harmony, love and ecological balanced Nature which are very
beneficial for human being irrespective of religion.
There are some activities and practices which are unique in the Bishnoi Sect that are
complemented with Nature and their eco-consciousness in life style. The Bishnoi’s abode is full
of flora and fauna where they live in a complete harmony with Nature in the oasis. The Bishnoi
Sect preaches love and peace with harmony among human beings, plants, animals and the
biosphere, etc. Many Bishnoi tenets inspire harmony and peace in Nature, prohibiting the eating
of meat and felling of trees and direct us “be compassionate toward all living beings.” They
have developed their farming and animal husbandry scientifically so that they have their own self
sustained economy. The Bishnoi people are very religious as they may be hungry and thirsty, but
they will never allow an animal or bird to die due to deficiency of fodder, food or water. This
eco-conscious community has a strong bond with nature and is in complete harmony for more
than 500 years following their Guru Jambheshwar’s principles. The Bishnois are true devotees of
their Guru Jambheshwar who can sacrifice their life and become violent and aggressive to guard
Nature i.e. flora and fauna.
The Bishnois bury their dead, unlike Hindus to avoid
cutting of trees following their Guru Jambheshwar’s instructions. The Bishnoi carpenters never
cut trees, but they would wait for trees to fall down due to storms or natural calamity. The
Bishnois do not chop green trees, but they use dried cow dung cake as fuel. Though the Bishnoi
were mainly depended on agriculture, yet they also carve wood when they are not busy with
agricultural practices. The Bishnois protect the black buck from poachers and allow to graze
them freely on their farms as they are sacred to their religion who believe that the black bucks,
nilgais and chinkaras have their first right to the crop and whatever is left belongs to them. To
provide water for animals, especially black bucks, they construct tanks in their fields and grow
trees in groves to provide habitat and food for birds and animals. A Bishnoi temple in Jajiwal
village, Dhora, Jodhpur, is an instance of the rarest dedication to the environment and Nature in
the world.
Bishnois are not only the first environmentalists and ecologists of
India, but also probably in the world as they have been following environmental and wildlife
protection tenets since 1485 propounded their religious environmentalist Guru Jambheshwarji
who made these principles compulsory for his followers: “Not to cut green trees” and “Be
compassionate to all living beings.” The ecological ethics of Bishnois has a significant role in
modern context where forests are fast disappearing due to commercialzation and greed as a result
air as well as land and rivers are being badly polluted. And eco-balance is not maintained by
preserving flora and fauna, then natural disasters would occur in the form of floods, soil erosion,
land sliding and moreover the dangers of global warming in the 21st century. Thus, our mother
earth the beautiful planet would not become a bad place to live on. Protection and preservation of
flora and fauna would be more effective if we consider the Earth as a living, breathing entity and
struggle for its survival as well as its conservation.
Site Title 