do not pollute

नाप्सु मूत्रं कुर्यात्
चाणक्यसूत्रम् ४०६
न मूत्रं पथि कुर्वीत न भस्मनि न गोव्रजे
न फालकृष्टे न जले न चित्याम् न च पर्वते
न जीर्णदेवायतने न वल्मीके कदाचन
मनुस्मृत्याम्
nāpsu mūtraṁ kuryāt
cāṇakyasootram 406
na mūtraṁ pathi kurvīta na bhasmani na govraje
na phālakṛṣṭe na jale na cityām na ca parvate
na jīrṇadevāyatane na valmīke kadācana
manusmṛtyām

The great Chanakya, while giving rules for human conduct, has stated.."One should not urinate in water."
Manu has also opined " One should not pass urine in a thoroughfare, not on the ashes, not in the shed where the cow is kept, not in the arable land which is ploughed and kept ready for sowing, not in water, not on the remnants of a funeral pyre and not on the pristine natural environs like a mountain.

It would indeed look funny why such masters advice us where not to unrinate.. We have to remember that our excretory fluids can cause very damaging pollution and where other people also move, contact with such excreta can affect their health. The sages were aware of the ill effects millenia ago, when many people elsewere were just leading the life of a half-animal. Water, especially in public reservoirs are the common community property and any attempt to pollute it cannot be tolerated. Similary the public roads. One of the most revered and prized possessions of ancient Indian was his cow and it is essential that the cow is housed in the most hygienic environs. The land ready for cultivation also is of similar importance. Nobody should attempt to pass urine over ashes. Now we now that the reaction between the bio contents of urine and the alkali in the ashes can generate effluent gases like ammonia and some cases even more toxic gases like carbon monoxide or even phosgene. No man with any sense will ever try to desecrate the memory of a departed soul by urinating on the pyre. The tall mountains are havens of purity of nature. If the people who visit the mountain contaminate the atmosphere with dirty things, even the last hope of pollution free life is lost. Manu has also decreed that one should not urinate in the precincts of even an abandoned temple, and also on anthill. Of course, a person trying to urinate over a colony of ants or termites will learn his lesson for life even without these rules.
The sages were conscious of proper upkeep of environment. We claim ourselves civilized today but almost anywhere in the world we can find people depositing their waste in any or all of the above places.. If there is any doubt about this it will be
enough to clear it if one takes a round in the streets or places of public importance around any town or village.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|