Traditional View Point on Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere in Indian Traditional Texts

The word “Hydrosphere” can be translated into Sanskrit as “Jalavaranam”.

Manifestation of the Water:

We have a clue about the manifestation of the water in Taittiriyopanishad: “AkasadVayuh – Vayoragnih – Agnerapah…” etc.  It means –

“Air is manifested from the Space.

Fire is manifested from the Air.

Water is manifested from the Fire.”…

It explains that, the Water was manifested with the mixture of few of the heated contents of the Air.  (H2O)

Various properties of the Water:

Various Sanskrit names of the Water explain its various properties. 

	Name	Property
1	Ap Sarvatomukha	The water spreads in all the directions.
2	Salila	The water flows.
3	Jala	The water can become “Jada”. (Snow)
4	Paniya Payas	The water can be drunk by the living creatures.
5	Kilala	The water can extinguish the Fire.
6	Kabandha Amrita	The water helps the living creatures in surviving.
7	Pushkara	The water nourishes the living creatures.
8	Nira	The water flows downwards.
9	Ghanasara	The water is present in the clouds. The water can be present in both solid and liquid forms.
10	Meghapushpa	The water becomes vapour and forms clouds.
11	Sitasparsavati	The water is cool by nature.

In this way, these various Indian traditional names of the water give us the clue for the keen observation of the great ancient Indian scientists and linguists as well.

The Water-cycle:

Ancient Indians knew the Water cycle –

The Sanskrit Text explains this cycle as – “Syadavarto-mbhasam”.

The word “AmbhasamAvarta” does also mean “A whirl-pool”.  Yet, it means even the water cycle.  The words that followed the above statement in Sanskrit text are sufficient in backing this fact.They are –

“Prishanti-Bindu-Prishatah-Viprushah”

Prishanti Prishatah	The Water makes the Air wet. The Water becomes Vapourand increases the humidity in the Air. Gradually the Vapour is condensed and forms the clouds.
Bindu	Gradually, the Vapour in the clouds is formed as the Water drops.
Viprushah	The water decreases the heat of the atmosphere/thirst of the living creatures. It is implied that this happens only when it rains.

Then, there is another sentence – “Chakraniputabhedahsyuh”.

This sentence points towards the emergence of the water-springs.  It is very natural that the water springs occurafter the rain and gradually develop into streams and rivers.

As mentioned earlier, the water can spread in all the directions.  Yet, the water flow is controlled by the banks of those streams and rivers on both the sides and directed into the Sea.  The Sanskrit text describes the banks in many words as – “KulamRodhaschaTiram cha Pratiram cha Tatam”.  Moreover, the Sea is described as the “Paravaram”.  It means the place where the journey of the water comes to an end.  As it is well-known, all the Rivers terminate themselves in the Sea.  It is a famous quotation in the Sanskrit texts – “NadinamSagarogatih”. 

The chief cause of this Water-cycle is the Sun.It was well understood by the Indian ancestors.  In his RaghuvamsaMahakavya, Kalidasa described one of the duties of the Kings like this –“A King is supposed to collect the tax from the people but should spend it back for the progress of those people only, just as the Sun takes the water (in the form of the vapour) and gives it back (in the form of rain).  “SahasragunamutsrashtumAdatte hi rasamRavih”.

Thus, it is very clear that the Indians knew the water cycle very well, even before it was understood by the western scientists.

Various sources of the Water

The following are few sources of the Water:

Abdhi Jalanidhi Udadhi	The Sea/Ocean.  It is the largest reserve of the Water.
Vapi Kupa Tataka	A Well/Pond.  Indians were well aware of the underground water, and they used to dig wells and ponds for their domestic uses.  The Kings used to dig these for the benefit of their subjects.  Digging these was considered to be a requirement for the attainment of the Heaven.
Kasara Saras	A Lake of fresh water.  ManasaSaras and Pampa Saras were well-described in the Ramayana.
Nadi Sravanti	A River.  Generally, the Rivers emerge on high Hills and Mountains and flow down on to the plains.  India is known as the land of the holy Rivers.  Ganga, Yamuna, Sindhu, Reva, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri are some of such Rivers.
Himalaya	Almost all of the Rivers in the northern India are perennial and the source of their water is Himalayan Mountains.  The snow on these mountains melts throughout the year and comes to the plains,always making those areas free from drought.

In the ancient texts, various varieties of the sources of the water were described according to the taste salinity etc., of the water in them:

“KshirodoLavanodastathapare”.

Kshiroda	It is the water source where the taste of the water resembles that of the milk.
Lavanoda	It is the water source where the taste of the water resembles that of the salt.
Dadhyuda	It is the water source where the taste of the water resembles that of the curd.
Ikshuda	It is the water source where the taste of the water resembles that of the sugar-cane.
Ghritoda	It is the water source where the taste of the water resembles that of the ghee.

Life in the Water:

Indians pronounce that the first incarnation of MahaVishnu was “Matsya” (Fish).  It is a marine being.  The modern science also opines that the thing called “life” occurred first in the water.  We cannot consider this to be mere coincidental agreement between the Indian Tradition and modern science.

Indians used to call the sea “Yadasampati”.It does mean that the Sea is the King (shelter) of the aquatic animals.  Many water animals were described in the ancient texts of Indians.  Few of them were:Matsya,Gadaka, Sahasradamshtra, Ulupi, Nadamina, Saphari, Timi, Makara, Karkataka, Kurma, Mahilata, Kumbhira, Jaluka, Sukti, Sankha, Manduka etc.  In the Ramayana, Hanuman had to face a terrible water animal called “Simhika” which could grasp even the birds etc., flying over the sea, by dragging their shadow.

Water-plants such as Padma, Saugandhika, Utpala, Saivala were also mentioned in various texts.

Accessibility:

India is a peninsular and so, the realm of water is not a strange thing at all to the Indians.  

Even in the ancient days, Indians were well aware of various marine techniques and many of them were adapted to life with and on the water.  Many spirited Indian merchants were indomitable enough to do the overseas business from the times unknown.  They were called as “Samyatrikas or Potavaniks”. 

The various crew in aship were called as “Karnadharas and Potavahas” etc.

Various sizes of boats and ships were being built by the naval-craft architects of Indian origin with prodigious expertise.  They were called as “Pota, Nauka, TaraniandUdupa” etc.  Indians could easily cross the rivers and seas with the help of them. 

There is description of various instruments that were used to move, turn or stop the naval craft.  Few of them were - Kupaka, Naukadanda, Aritra and Sekapatra etc. 

In the History, names of few kings who maintained naval-army were mentioned.

The sea was called as “Ratnakara”.  There were great swimmers in the ancient India who could dive to great fathoms of the sea (without any oxygen cylinders on their back) and bring precious pearls from those depths.  The description of atool called “Kuddala” which was used to dig the salt mines etc.,is found.

“Dhivaras”were the Indian fisher-men.  They were the fearless risk-takers.  Thus, Indians were traditionally well-acquainted with the life related to the water.

Long back in the History, Indians learned to build dams across the rivers in order to facilitate their lands with good irrigation.  Such lands were called as “Nadimatrikas” and the lands which were dependent on rains were called as “Devamatrikas”.

The water-weapon (Varunastra) was described in Dhanurveda; the Science of Traditional Warfare.  It was used to control the fire accidents and the enemies who were experts in using fire-weapons (Agneyastra).

Sanctity of the Water in India:

Indian civilization flourished on the banks of the rivers such as Ganga, Sindhu and Sarasvati etc.

Water is treated as “Devata” by the Indians.  The Devata is called as “Varuna”.  Indians give much importance to “Saucha” (cleanliness).   Saucha is not possible without the water.  Snanavidhi, Sandhyavandanavidhi and pachanakriya cannot be done without the consumption of the water.  Indians use to bathe in the Rivers on the days of festivals and other special occasions.  The water reservoirs in the vicinity of the temples were called as Pushkarinis.  Japa, Tapas and Dana on the banks of holy rivers were considered to be the stepping stones for the human objective called Dharma.

Indian scriptures proposed severe punishment to those who deliberately try to contaminate the water sources.

Indian mythology described the water as the shelter for Narayana.  They even describe the ocean as the father of Lakshmi Devi, the Goddess of the prosperity.  The ocean became the father-in-law of Lord Narayana by offering Lakshmi Devi to him in marriage! The scriptures portrayed Lord Siva who allowed Ganga (water) to stay on his head!

Once, a great sage called Agastya made the entire sea dry up without water at once.  Later, a great king named Bhagirathadeveloped the sea filled with water again.   These may be the symbolic indications or records of the unusual changes that took place in the hydrosphere in ancient India.

The modern science says that the pure water has no colour.   But, the Indian tradition says that the colour of the pure water is un-glowing white colour.  (AbhasvaraSukla).

Thus, the Indians knew much about hydrosphere and they never tried to disturb its composition and structure but adored it as a Deity!