"This is an article about the lives of the Swadhyayis, Swadhyaya practitioners, in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Swadhyaya movement arose in the mid-twentieth century in Gujarat as a new religious movement led by its founder, the late Pandurang Shastri Athavale. In my research, I discovered that there is no category of "environmentalism" in the "way of life" of Swadhyayis living in the villages. Following Weightman and Pandey (1978), I argue that the concept of dharma can be successfully applied as an overarching term for the sustainability of the ecology, environmental ethics, and the religious lives of Swadhyayis. Dharma synthesizes their way of life with environmental ethics based on its multidimensional interpretations. This is an article about the lives of the Swadhyayis, Swadhyaya practitioners, in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Swadhyaya movement arose in the mid-twentieth century in Gujarat as a new religious movement led by its founder, the late Pandurang Shastri Athavale. In my research, I discovered that there is no category of "environmentalism" in the "way of life" of Swadhyayis living in the villages. Following Weightman and Pandey (1978), I argue that the concept of dharma can be successfully applied as an overarching term for the sustainability of the ecology, environmental ethics, and the religious lives of Swadhyayis. Dharma synthesizes their way of life with environmental ethics based on its multidimensional interpretations."
SET
Date of Publication
2009
Physical description
305-320
Title
Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology