Prayers to Mother Earth and their significance

Salutations to Mother Earth who has given birth to all that is found in her bosom. She is nurturing every creature by her abundant supply of food and other resources that have helped humanity to achieve the apex of material progress. But alas, how much harm we have done to her by polluting, destroying, killing and causing innumerable imbalances!

There is a hypothesis in science that says that the earth could be a living creature. They call it the Gaia hypothesis. The Indian philosophy says that not only the earth is a living being, but the whole of the universe is a person, the Cosmic Person or Viraat Purush, as they call it. This knowledge originates from the Purush Sukta, which is part of the Vedas. Since the universe is a living being, the planets, stars and satellites are its cells. Like our cells, which are complex living organisms and have their own working systems, the planets and stars, too, are similar. Amongst all the units of this mighty universe, the earth is the most wonderful one so far as our knowledge of the cosmos goes. In India, it is worshiped as a mother and is called Dharti Mata. Dharti means that which upholds and mata means mother. Indeed, the earth is our mother, she gives us birth and provides everything for our living.

The sky is our father, the earth our mother. It is the sky that fertilizes our Mother Earth. Rain, lightning, sunlight and other particles come from space to impregnate the earth. She, being the womb, receives anything that may contribute to our well-being. But our Mother Earth does not only give birth and nurture us, she also endures our attacks on her forests, oceans, rivers and other living creatures. The bosom of Mother Earth is the university of life from where we can learn the secret of this wonderful and mysterious universe. It is a place of rendez-vous between the individual soul and Supreme Soul. Nowhere else in this universe is it possible to facilitate such a meeting. Here, all ingredients that can be used for the ultimate alchemy are present. My realization is that the earth is a unique place in the cosmos. I will even go so far as saying that it is the heart of the universe. As our real heart is in our navel, similarly, the heart of the universe is the earth.

Since the earth is a laboratory where we are to experiment for the ultimate alchemy, it is our bounden duty to do everything within our power so that it does not suffer from our wrong way of living. Even if we do not want to benefit from its spiritual value, we are obliged to live in harmony with it because we depend on it for a proper living. Let us pay respects to Mother Earth as our own mother.