ABSTRACT
The current worldwide ecological crisis has only emerged during the past four decades and its effects have been felt within southern Asia more recently. The beginning of environmental ethics as a new discipline of philosophy began in the early 1970s. It challenged the anthropocentric or human centred view which assumed moral superiority of human beings to members of other species on earth. This chapter examines how the traditional Hindu concept of nature contains words of wisdom to conserve and protect nature and explores the dynamics of M. K. Gandhi's philosophy towards environment ethics. The Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas contain messages encouraging the protection of the environment and inspire a sense of respect for nature. Sacred texts emphasizes that nature is not to be conquered. There were many people in the past who could foresee the future and visualize the price mankind will have to pay while competing in the mad race of industrialization and urbanization.
