РОЛЬ ДХАРМИЧЕСКИХ ВОЗЗРЕНИЙ В СТАНОВЛЕНИИ ЮЖНОАЗИАТСКОЙ МОДЕЛИ ПРИРОДОПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ

Abstract

South Asia is the place where Dharmic religious and philosophical views (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism) originated and flourished. In ethnic ecology they are classified as ecophilic (friendly to the natural environment). The understanding of nature as a ‘living being’, in contrast to the Abrahamic religions, even at the early historical stages determined the originality of nature management systems in India and their relative social and environmental sustainability. Since the Painted Grey Ware culture, when the role of cattle breeding decreased, agriculture got a predominantly crop orientation. Under agrarian overpopulation, in order to avoid crises, it was necessary to somehow limit the consumption of natural resources, especially land. The social and cultural institutions that originated in the depths of dharmic views were the best way to reduce the load on natural life supporting systems. The class hierarchy of varnas, the laws of Manu with the rule ‘the hand of the artisan is always pure’, the development of a hierarchical caste structure, a rural community with a system of mutual exchange, and other institutions can be interpreted as a response to the socio-ecological crisis in a densely populated society under a relative shortage of natural resources in the main agricultural areas of South Asia. The article focuses on the formation and influence of traditional Hindu-Buddhist views on the economic and cultural patterns of South Asia, considers the ecological functions of culture, including the sacralization of natural objects. Many of the considered cultural phenomena are confirmed from the positions of present-day ecology.