India must tap into her own native ecological intelligence

An assumption is often made that India’s open defecation problem was rooted in a lack of hygiene that sprang from a general backwardness emanating from Hindu texts. Nothing can be more preposterous than this. Indians inferred the linkage between personal hygiene and health thousands of years ago, long before the Germ Theory began to be understood in Europe in the 18th century. A plethora of ancient Sanskrit treatises such as Sushruta Samhita, Charaka Samhita, Manusmriti, Vayu Purana, Vaastu Shastra, Kamasutra and Arthashastra emphasize the importance of personal hygiene and clean surroundings in order to keep diseases at bay. What’s more, the Sanskrit term Shaucha used for hygiene is a holistic one and implies not just external cleanliness but also internal purity in terms of thoughts and attitude. The Grihyasutra, an ancient Indian collection of aphorisms prescribed at least three baths a day. <a href="https://medium.com/@sahana.singh/india-must-tap-into-her-own-native-ecological-intelligence-a8eb2e66668">Read More</a>