Part One
I saw one art work in which there were so many dead insects like a puzzle. When I saw that it was very disturbed as when it was displayed as an art work. I don’t want to even share that for this article as I cannot endorse such experiments in the name of Art.
Before sharing my view further I would like to add one more point. Killing insects for food is common around the world. Mahabharata also says clearly that ‘one life is food for another life’ [jivo jivasya jivanam]. So I am not against killing animals or insects for food and never consider it as ahimsa. Then we cannot consume any food as we kill so many bacteria invisible in food.
Next is that I am also not against using animals in the lab to gain more ‘KNOWLEDGE’ about their nature and behavior, particularly those that spread dangerous viruses. However I have my own reservation about it. Because several animals, particularly birds and other insects have the inherent capacity to spread dangerous viruses. But nature also has its own inherent antidote to prevent the spread of those viruses. And when those animals were taken away from their natural inhabitants and environment and used for testing in labs to gain more ‘KNOWLEDGE’ to invent vaccines to prevent, then any small accidental leak from the lab would create havoc. The recent Wuhan virus is the best example. So even in the name of ‘gaining knowledge’ using animals is a kind of cruelty. And if we allow nature to cure its own viruses, we need not face a pandemic like Covid. Instead of catching the animals separating from their environment to do research in labs, why not scientists invent a method of studying them in their natural settings. When we can send rockets to distant planets, this won’t be a ‘rock science’ to do. When we use nature for our selfishness, then our own mistakes will cause us to pay a heavy price for it.
Recently I listed one interesting incident [in Tamil]. One time several elephants entered a banana plantation and almost destroyed all the standing trees. When the former went to check the damage, to his surprise one banana tree was still standing intact. To know the reason for this he went close to see that. On that tree there was a nest with a few chicks in it. When he approached the mother bird flew away and sat on the branch of a tree. [This incident was narrated by a young man in a video in Tamil. But I cannot verify this incident through other sources. Even if it is a fiction, then it is a worthy fiction] Even animals living with their instinct do not want to disturb another animal. Imagine what we would have done in that place. Suppose if we have to clear a forest or a grove for some construction, would we mind to keep one tree just because there is a bird’s nest in it. Recently I visited one home in Haryana [Ambala]. When my host took me to his office on the first floor he showed me the beautiful bogon villa which had outgrown it on the way to his room. Then he told me, ‘my wife strictly instructed not to cut the overgrown branches as there are few birds nest on it. My heart moved thinking about the compassion of that woman, who always remains a mother to every living being. But only few scientists and specialists disturb animals separating from their environment in the name of research to gain more knowledge.
There is no point in saying that once we gain enough or ultimate ‘KNOWLEDGE’ about a particular disease then we will stop the testing. For me knowledge is relative and when we gain one kind of knowledge it will open up ten more new questions for which we have to further do more research to gain more ‘knowledge’ at the cost of other lives. And they end up paying the price for our INTELLECTUAL ENTERTAINMENT in the name of gaining more or correct knowledge.
I am immensely benefited by so much pain taking research done in the past few centuries that made our life better. At the same time I have my own reservation about them. The more we invent, our life becomes more complicated. While adding some comforts to our life, all these modern inventions added more new problems in our personal life and in the environment. Personally I feel that our comforts have increased but human values are lost. These inventions made us become more selfish, forgetting the noble principle: Vasudevaka Kudumbakam, we all are one God’s family, including nature.
Now coming to the subject of displaying those beautiful insects as a piece of art work. For Indians art is not just a HOBBY but a sadhana, a Tapasya. For many it is even their breath and soul which gives meaning to their life. Any real art in any form should raise the aesthetic sense within us. They also should help as a kind of sadhana to soar high in our atman. But when I watch the display of this kind of art work with dead insects it looks cruel and creates a sense of violence and I become angry. When scientists use animals in the lab for testing, would they take a video and present it to the public as a piece of artwork? Can they display the way animals are killed or tortured for testing? Can an ordinary human watch it with a sense of artistic temperament?
Already we have enough of a violated environment with noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution [remember all the plastics that are floating in the entire ocean around the world will be more than the measure of our earth] and we are reaping the consequences already. Only the arctic poles were left so far, but both Russia and China claim exclusive rights to exploit the natural resources in the Arctic and Antarctica continents. So some predict that the next world war would be to occupy them. After polluting the earth now we don’t want to leave even space and in the name of gaining more ‘KNOWLEDGE’ about the origin of creation and life in other plants we are piling up debris in outer space. Leaving all the present crisis that we face in everyday life, rich countries [and even the developing economy like India and China] are wasting their source to send satellites to distant planets like Mars and Venus in the name of research to gain more knowledge. Where is this going to end? Even God does not know. They want to know whether other forms of life exist on another planet or not. Even if they found, by accident, if they bring back those lives to the earth, who knows what would happen to our planet? That might be the end not only for us but also for them. Allow them to live in peace, not disturbing or destroying them. Even if they manage to find water and other resources in other planets to make them inhabitable, then what would happen to them. We will do the same thing we have already done to the earth. Wherever humans step, death and decay begins. Forgetting the demand for food and basic needs in so many parts of earth, we try to create a future Utopia in some other planets.
So when we want to hide our selfishness in the name of gaining ‘KNOWLEDGE’ violating nature [I want to use a more strong word, but modesty prevents me to do so], then it will take its revenge in its own way. But when such knowledge is displayed as a piece of art, then it disturbs my mind and atman. I don’t think that this is a private issue to be shared within a close circle but a public issue to be ‘CONFRONTED’ as we all have a stake in it.
DB, Gurukulam, 29-04-2023.
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