The Gandhian Solution is The Only Surest Permanent Rational Solution Available to Us for Avoiding The Impending Catastrophic Consequences of The Present Very Grave Global Environmental Crises in General and The Crisis of Global Warming and Climate Change in Particular
Human beings have become the most dangerous species of our planet mother Earth due to the unethical use of the massive power of the science and technology of our age, mainly to satisfy their lust for pleasures and greed for wealth, although every human being has the potentially to become a divine person, i.e. a person of predominantly divine characteristics or a demon, i.e. a person of predominantly demoniacal characteristics, as discussed in the chapter 16 of 'the Bhagavad Gita' by exercising one's free will and reason within one's journey between birth and death in the present life itself. The present fundamentally spiritually as well as non-spiritually unethical, mainly lust for pleasures and greed for wealth based, extremely Eco-hostile, rural-hostile, agro-hostile, unsustainable and inherently self-destructive out-and-out consumerist culture of industrialization and urbanization of our modern civilization, has caused disappearance of tens of thousands of our animal and plant species and continues to cause greater and greater violence to our ecologically, aesthetically and religiously invaluable life-and-health sustaining natural Eco-systems of mother Earth, which has catastrophic consequences for our masses, future generations and our fellow lower forms of dumb-and-deaf life-world. It produces wealth in some ways, but it causes greater and greater harm to the life-and-health-sustaining natural Ecosystems of Mother Earth and consumes her limited natural resources far more than Mother Earth can regenerate. No great spiritual ethics teacher/seer of any great religion would approve this culture of development in modern civilization. They all explicitly or implicitly accept nonviolence to all life, human as well as non-human life, to be the foundation of ethics. Mahatma Gandhi rightly considers it to be fundamentally unethical, Satanic, suicidal, and a nine-day wonder only. According to a WHO report released on 11th October 2021, globally, about more than 18 thousand 5 hundred people die every day due to air pollution caused by fossil fuels. According to a UN report released on 9th December 2025, air pollution causes 9 million deaths globally each year, which means about 24,660 deaths occur every day. Based on a global analysis of Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD) data in 2023 by a Pune-based Pulmocare Research and Education Foundation, in 2026, about 67 lakh people(6.7 million) in Maharashtra were suffering from CRD, about 10 percent of India's Chronic Respiratory Disease population. According to the Living Planet Report 2022 of WWF, about 69 percent of monitored wildlife species have declined since 1970, and in the near future many more wildlife species will disappear if global warming continues to increase at the present rate. According to WWF's Living Planet Report 2024, about 73 percent of monitored wildlife species have declined since 1970, with a 4 percent increase within 2 years between 2022 and 2024. According to the latest report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service in January 2025, 2024 became the hottest year on record, with temperatures soaring 1.6C above the average pre-industrial level and, for the first time, crossing 1.5C above the average pre-industrial level (1850-1900). The scientists of IPCC of UNO claim that if the global warming continues to increase in the present rate then we are bound to face its irreversible catastrophic consequences such as deadly heat waves, wildfires, storms, erratic rains, floods, droughts, etc. the burring/submergence of costal villages, towns and cities due to the rise of sea-level caused by the melting of Antarctic and Arctic ice sheets and physical expansion of the ocean water, the Himalayan rivers turning seasonal rivers due to the melting of the Himalayan snow, reduction of farm yields, increase in some water-born, food-born and vector-born diseases such as malaria, dengue, etc. and vanishing of many more plant and animal species from mother Earth, etc., for example, vanishing of many wildlife species on land due to loss of their habitat and food and marine life species due to acidification of the oceans due to oceanic absorption of carbon dioxide, etc.
Under the spell of the glamour of the present culture of development of the Modern civilization, leaders world over are showing great apathy to take any major step in the right direction to avoid the impending catastrophic consequences of global warming and climate change, although the scientists of the IPCC of the UN are unanimously claiming that their warnings about the impending catastrophic consequences are essentially true. It is important to note that Stephen Hawking rightly claims that 'Life on planet Earth is at risk from a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, global warming and climate change and some other dangers humans have not thought of yet' and that 'modern civilization doesn't know how to avoid the unethical use of science and technology based on selfishness or stupidity based on base passions like lust for pleasure and greed for wealth, etc.' He also rightly claims that we must prevent the unethical or careless use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), for it could lead to the destruction of humanity. "The development of full Artificial Intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
The Gandhian Solution to The Present Very Grave Global Environmental Crises: Part-1
The fundamentally spiritually as well as non-spiritually ethically enlightened/rational and ethics-based, Eco-friendly, village-and-agro centric-&-friendly, sustainable, equitable / just, decentralized industrialization and urbanization of the Gandhian loving and caring non-violent culture of development, which is based on the fundamental ethical values of various great religions as well as of our great living ancient civilization in the context of our present technological age, is the surest and perhaps the only surest permanent rational solution available to us for avoiding the impending catastrophic consequences of the present man-made very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of the global warming and climate change in particular, along with the present all-pervasive, deep-rooted global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises. Village Swaraj is its core, and natural/organic farming is the core of Village Swaraj. The thoughts and actions of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of Truth and non-violence of our age, show us the right way / the true way about how to create such a non-violent culture of development. (For a deep critical/rational discussion on this issue, please visit our websites: savegangamovement.org and 4gashram.org.)
The failure of COP-30 to agree to take any substantial step in the right direction to keep global warming at a safe level shows that the Gandhian solution for avoiding the impending catastrophic consequences of the present very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular is perhaps the only surest permanent rational solution available to us for avoiding the impending catastrophic consequences.
Unfortunately, the culture of development of the Modern civilization which Mahatma Gandhi rightly considered to be fundamentally unethical, Satanic, suicidal and a nine days wonder only, continues to flourish in our country without any hindrance. Our leaders, under the spell of the glamour of the present culture of development of our modern civilization, are pursuing and promoting it, and our intellectual leaders are pursuing and promoting the culture of education of the Western developed countries. Critical/rational character-building ethics education, with spiritual ethics as its core and the problem of the ultimate meaning/goal of life as its central problem, has hardly any place in our education system/systems. Are not the following claims of Mahatma Gandhi essentially true? "..... Our ancient school system is enough. Character-building ethics education has the first place in it, and that is primary education. A building erected on that foundation will last. ... Religious education, that is ethical, will occupy the first place." (M.K.Gandhi, 'Hind Swaraj Or Indian Home Rule', Navjeevan Publishing House) " It will not be denied that a child before it begins to write its alphabet and to gain worldly knowledge should know what soul is, what truth is, what love is.... A child should learn that in the struggle of life, it has to conquer hate by love, untruth by truth and violence by self-suffering." (N.K.Bose, ed. ' Selections from Mahatma Gandhi ', Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad-14, 2005, p.220) " I feel, and I have felt during the whole of my public life that we need, but we perhaps of all the nations of the world need just now, nothing else and nothing less than character-building. And this is the view propounded by that great patriot Mr Gokhale. As you know, in many of his speeches, he used to say that we would get nothing, we would deserve nothing unless we had the character to back what we wished for. Hence his funding of the great body the Servants of India Society. And you know, in the prospectus that has been issued in connection with the Society, Mr Gokhale has deliberately stated that it was necessary to spiritualize the political life of the country." ( Mahatma Gandhi -16th February 1916- Speech on Ashram Vows)
It is Important to Note The Following Points:
(1) Village Swaraj is not possible without the rejuvenation and preservation of our great river mothers and their sources, our great mountains and forests, which is essential for ensuring permanent food, water, air, and health security to our masses, future generations, and our fellow lower forms of dumb-and-deaf life-world. Rejuvenation and preservation of our National River mother Ganga, the lifeline of about 40 percent of our population and which is considered to be a divine mother by crores of our people, and her source, the Himalayas, will certainly be a major step in the right direction for the rejuvenation and preservation of our other great river mothers and their sources, which are all in the process of slow death.
(2) The great spiritual ethics teachers and seers of our traditional Indian civilization explicitly accept that the ethical pursuit of wealth and pleasures, i.e., Artha and Kama Purusharthas, is necessary not only for the pursuit of the Truth, i.e., the true ultimate goal/meaning of life (Moksha Purushartha), but also for the lasting sustainable development, prosperity, peace and happiness in society; and they explicitly accept universal non-violence, i.e., non-violence to both human and non-human life, to be the foundation of ethics.
They also explicitly accept that healthy life is necessary for the pursuit of all four goals of life/purusharthas, i.e., Dharma purushartha (ethical life), Artha purushartha (ethical pursuit of wealth), Kama purushartha (ethical pursuit of pleasures), and Moksha Purushartha (liberation), and a healthy life is not possible without pure air, pure water, pure food, sunlight, etc., which Mother Nature provides us free of cost or which we can get from Mother Nature free of cost through some Eco-friendly work without using any fossil fuels.
(3) We must create a Gandhian Mass Satyagraha for the rejuvenation and preservation of our great river mothers and their sources, our great mountains and forests, and also for the transformation of our rural India into a heaven for leading a spiritually as well as non-spiritually ethically enlightened/rational ethical life of simple living and high thinking with loving care of the invaluable life-and-health sustaining natural eco-systems of Mother Earth. It would certainly be a major step in the right direction to save India and, through it, show the true way / the right way how to save the world at large from the impending catastrophic consequences of the present very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular, along with the present all-pervasive and deep-rooted global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises.
(4) We must know that without introducing critical/rational character-building ethics education with spiritual ethics as its core and the problem of the ultimate goal/meaning of life as its central problem from the beginning of our education system/systems, giving it the due importance it deserves in the education system/systems, it is not possible for us to avoid the unethical use of science and technology based on selfishness or base passions like lust for pleasure, greed for wealth, etc. which are our internal enemies and which are our greater enemies than our external enemies in the sense that they are more dangerous than our external enemies and more difficult to defeat than our external enemies. Without such a character-building ethics education, it is not possible to build an ethically enlightened / rational ethical character, and without such an ethical character, it is not possible to defeat our internal enemies. The internal enemies are also known as internal impurities, and without removing them from our mind / inner world, it is not possible for us to remove the impurities from the external world, such as the impurities/pollutions of food, water, air, etc., based on selfishness or base passions like lust for pleasure, greed for wealth, etc.
The Gandhian Solution to The Present Very Grave Global Environmental Crises: Part-2
Our traditional Indian civilization rightly considers the science of spirituality / spiritual ethics, i.e. of selfless/desireless / renounced ethical love, to be higher science (Para Science) in the sense that only it can provide the knowledge about the true ultimate goal/meaning of life (Truth / Moksha / Nirvana) and the way for its realization, and that without it, the unethical use of sciences based on selfishness or base passions like lust for pleasure, greed for wealth, etc. can't be avoided, and that it promotes their ethical use. For this reason, 'The Bhagavad Gita', the supreme scripture of Yoga, considers it to be the King of Sciences ('The Bhagavad Gita' 9.2, 10.32) It also rightly considers the science of spirituality / spiritual ethics to be the most secret science among the sciences in the sense that it is most difficult to acquire perfect direct spiritual ethical knowledge / perfect spiritual ethical wisdom / perfect Atmagyana which brings directly realization of Truth/liberation / Moksha / Nirvana, although any person of any gender and social class serving the society in the best possible way making constant efforts by exercising one's free will and reason to grow spiritually ethically higher and higher towards perfection can realize it in the present life itself.( Ibid, 4.36-3 8, 9.1-2, 9.30-33, 18.63, 18.68)
Let us not be under the spell of the glamour of the present culture of development of the Modern Civilization which Mahatma Gandhi rightly considers to be fundamentally unethical, Satanic, suicidal and a nine-day wonder only. Mahatma Gandhi rightly claims: "That you can't serve God and Mammon is an economic truth of the highest value. We have to make the choice. Western nations are today groaning under the heel of the Monster-god of materialism. Their moral growth has become stunted. ... Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the irrevocable promise is that everything will be added unto us. These are real economics. May you and I treasure them and enforce them in our daily life." He rightly claims: " The Earth has enough for everyone's needs but not for every person's greed." We must know that with the easy in which global communication and transport is available or possible with the help of science and technology of our age, it is possible through the ethical use of science and technology of our age to create a fundamentally spiritually as well as non-spiritually ethically enlightened/rational kingdom of ethical righteousness/goodness / of justice, liberty and love (Rama Rajya/kingdom of God) both locally as well as globally, just as it is possible through the unethical use of the science and technology of our age to create a kingdom of devils both locally as well as globally, by exercising free will and reason. Our traditional Indian civilization has the spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical resources to create a Rama Rajya/kingdom of God in our motherland and save her and, through it, show the world the right way / the true way to save the world at large from the impending catastrophic consequences of the present human-made very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular, along with the present very grave, deep-rooted, all-pervasive global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises.
Let us always remember the following invaluable messages of 'The Bhagavad Gita': "Lust for pleasures, anger and greed are the triple gates of hell and bring the downfall of one's soul. Hence one must abandon these three." ('The Bhagavad Gita',16.21) "A person's own lower self/mind is the best friend of the person if the person has conquered it spiritually ethically, but a person's lower self/mind becomes the greatest enemy of the person if the person has not conquered it spiritually ethically." (Ibid. 6.6) Let us also remember the following very valuable messages of Albert Einstein: "If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have only four years to live." "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." "There are two infinities: one is the universe and the other is human stupidity; and I am not sure about the universe." "I know not with what weapons World War-3 will be fought, but World War-4 will be fought with sticks and stones."
Let our like-minded noble people solemnly resolve to sincerely try to create a Mass-Satyagraha with the help of soul energy/force to create a Rama Rajya/kingdom of God in our country and save our country and through it show the the world at large the right way / the true way how to save the world at large from the impending catastrophic consequences of the present very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular along with the present very grave, all-pervasive, deep-rooted global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises, while making constant efforts to grow spiritually ethically higher and higher towards perfection. Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of Truth and nonviolence of our age, shows us the right way / the true way to create it in our country. Let our like-minded noble intellectuals solemnly resolve to sincerely create the necessary mass awareness for this supreme noble cause. Surely, our great living ancient Indian civilization has the spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical resources to make our country a Jagata Guru / a major global center of education and research about critical/rational character-building ethics education with spiritual ethics as its core and the problem of the ultimate goal/meaning of life as its central problem from the beginning of the education system/systems.
With love, best wishes and prayers,
Mrs. Rama Rauta
President: National Women's Organization, Pune
Founder: Save Ganga Movement
Websites: www.savegangamovement.org | www.4gashram.org
