All forms of life comprise the five Natural Elements (Panch Mahabhuta Tatwa), namely, Air, Water, Soil, Space and Fire. These five Elements combine together to create a balance in Nature, which ultimately helps in the creation and sustenance of life. Any kind of disharmony may lead to a catastrophe. However, the modern man with his increasing interference in the natural mechanisms, is incessantly polluting the Elements and as such casting a doom on himself.

Panch Mahabhuta Tatwa and Sharira offers a scientific study of the Elements and the body, and their inter-relationship. It is an effort to introduce ourselves to our selfish face and the impact it is having on the environment and life on earth.

The book, basically, aims at making us realise the need to change our ways, close the entrance to the path of destruction and extinction, and move on the constructive path, keeping the Elements clean for growth, health and happiness. Not only will it be a victory of man, but also of Elements, body, divinity and humanity!

Prof. Shrikant Prasoon is a reader, teacher, thinker, writer, poet and above all, a humanist. The more he reads and thinks, the more he writes on varied topics, but with one aim —‘to show man the need of Nature and natural life’. He believes that all religions are integral and inseparable, living and developing parts of one basic Religion called Humanism; and all the systems are an outcome of the greatest celestial system, which is devised and regulated by the Unseen and Unknown Creator.

A retired Professor of English, he writes in Hindi with equal ease. His recent books Knowing Buddha, Knowing Guru Nanak and Indian Scriptures have been widely acclaimed.

We can exist only in, around and with Nature, and never away from or without Nature. This is because Nature is everywhere on the Earth; and Time and Space are present in the whole of the Cosmos. It is not the growth and development of the Cosmos, but of man that is a matter of real concern. It is important to ascertain whether human being is growing or not, is safe or not and whether the continuity of life on the Earth is guaranteed or not. We are there because of the existence of Nature and Elements. We cannot dare to deplete ozone layer and survive. We cannot keep on establishing arms and weapon factories, paying money for each death, or paying fine for polluting air and water, and still manage to survive. We have to stop this rat race for some time and think over our own misdeeds and their effect on our lives and other living beings. We have been wrongly claiming that the country which has a car for everyone on an average basis is a developed country. In fact, it is the country with the worst living conditions. The people of that country are the most unfortunate ones. The country that is satisfied with legs and cycles for local movements is the best one, in other words, the country that has not as yet polluted its atmosphere. Unfortunately, the people of such countries are largely considered backward. However, they are not. They are wise and fortunate. They are protecting their essential Elements.

But this comparison is meaningless, for there is ‘oneness’ in Nature. The effect of a hot place runs towards the cold places and the goodness of good places runs towards the bad ones to create a balance. The whole of the Cosmos is based on the theory of ‘Control and Balance’. Because of this ‘oneness, control and balance’, life, Elements, Nature and Universe exist. We all are exiting because of that perennial process and eternal system. We have closed the theory of cause and effect in the books. We are still continuing to sleep in the air conditioners and waking with wine with the belief that whatever injuries we are causing to Nature will have no effect on us, and that the situation is under control. This wrong belief has given a false sense of security, which is more dangerous than any natural calamity.

The presence of the Creator can be felt and must be felt in the light of the fact that in the whole of the Universe, not even a single entity or body is independent. Somehow, they are all tied to each other and there is a great unbroken chain of dependence or interdependence. The growth and existence greatly depends on the mutual interdependence between all. Growth is neither independent nor free. It too depends on the Elements and the energy caused or given by them, or through other ‘beings’, but never on its own.

The most wonderful (In the course of discussion on Panch Mahabhuta Tatwa and Sharira, this coinage in the superlative degree might occur again and again, because there are many superlatives in the Universe. It is not our sports’ record that only one will be at the top. In Nature, like in Olympic Games, there are numerous ‘superlatives’. All the adjectives that we know so far or have created so far, can be used in their superlative forms while talking about the Universe, its individual bodies and its Unknown Creator.) fact about the creation is that each body, right beginning from a tiny insect to a towering mountain, absorbs Elements and emits them in the form of energy. Each one is useful and meaningful and adds something to the ecological balance, with an exception of man who only destroys the ecological system. Each being in the creation makes its presence felt in its own way at its own place, and definitely within the time that it has at its disposal.

In the Indian scriptures, the five Elements have been described in totality as one complete unit. For example, it has been written that with the creation of Space, Brahma created Air to keep it filled up. He then mixed up the other three Elements, Earth, Water and Fire. So, the tradition that is followed in the Indian scriptures is that only the major or leading Element is mentioned by name, the rest are all understood. Hence, if Water is mentioned that does not mean that the related organ or substance contains only Water; it means that it contains all the five Elements with the prominence of Water in it.

As an example, it is mentioned in Brahma Sutra (3:1:2): Trayamakatwat bhuyastwat

It means that the three Elements were mixed by Brahma. So, all are meant when one is mentioned. All the Elements are present in the sperm, but since Water is the leading Element in it, so only Water is mentioned.

Manu Smriti (1:27) says that the five Elements have
their destructive abstract forms. The whole Universe was created with them:

Anvyo matra vinashinyo dashardhanam tu yah smritah
Tabhih sardhmidah sarvam sambhavatyanupurvashah

In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4:4:5), all the five Elements are shown in their subtle forms. So it is established that the Elements are in the body in their subtle form. And because the Elements are in the body as combined subtle entities, so they cannot be said to be destroyed when the body is burnt or gets decomposed in the grave:

Nopamardenatah — Brahma Sutra (4:2:10)

Vedanta (Brahma Sutra) written or compiled by Veda Vyasa gives separate sphere to each Element. Each and every sphere is interconnected with one another. For example, the sphere of Air is said to be after the sphere of Sambatsar and before that of the Sun, because the description or distribution of air is balanced at certain places and imbalanced at others:

Vayumabdadavisheshvisheshabhyam — Brahma Sutra (4:3:2)

In the same way, Varuna is the god (master) of Water. Lightning is closely connected with Water. So, the Water sphere should be accepted just above the sphere of Lightning. In this way, all the shrutis complement each other, and there is no discrepancy.

Tadito adhi Varunah sambandhat — Brahma Sutra (4:3:3)

The first shruti says ‘those who know the secret of Brahma Vidya and try to know the Truth with reverence and devotion, they get the archi which is light, heat and fire through sunrays. That archi is divine airplane, which transports day from the lighted phase of the Moon (shukla paksha) to the six months when the Sun is tilted towards the Northern Hemisphere, to Sambatsar in another six months, then to Solar Zone, from there to Moon and from the Moon to Electrical sphere. From there, the abstract spirit takes him to Brahma (or to Brahmaloka). This is known as Divine Airways.’ So is mentioned in Chhandogya Upanishad (5:10:1-2).

The second shruti says ‘when man starts his journey towards the Brahmaloka, he turns into Air. The atmospheric and cosmic air provides him the way that is as narrow as the hole in a wheel. He moves up through that way. The Sun gives him the way that is equal to the hole in a musical instrument called lumber. He reaches the sphere of the Moon where he gets wider path equal to the hole in a Nagara, another musical instrument. From there on, he happily reaches the world of the Brahma. He lives there for an infinite period. Then he is amalgamated into the ‘brahman’. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad — 5:10:1)

The third shruti says, ‘he gets the divine airplane and comes to the sphere of Fire, then to that of Air, to Sun, to Varun, to Indra, and through Prajapati Loka he reaches Brahmaloka’. (Kaushitaki Upanishad — 1:3)

Tadito adhi Varunah sambandhat

It means that above the Electric sphere, there is the Water sphere, and both are related.

In the study presented by Hazari Prasad Dwivedi in Anama Dasa ka Potha, it is made clear that there were different divisions of the rishis, who were totally dedicated and devoted to one Element only. They were ably supported by munis and tapaswis, the research scholars who remained busy in collecting data and feeding back to the rishis. Each such division treated the Element on which they were working as the greatest one and worshipped it as a god. They shared their views with other divisions and the rishi, who had called the congregation, propounded the final theory, which was written as mantras or sutra.

The rishis knew a lot about the Elements. Different rishis were the experts and masters of different Elements. Fire is always associated with Rishi Atharvana. Admittedly, he was the man who discovered different ways of creating, protecting and keeping Fire when there was no civilisation in other parts of the world. Notably, he was the first to invent it. It is the truth and it cannot be changed, and Atharva Veda is its proof.

Rishi Kanva knew a lot about wind, its formation, tempests and its association with rain. In Rig Veda (1:38:4, 7 & 8), he addresses the wind born in the sky as a plural, and says that though wind (air) dies out, yet those who breathe in it live:

Yadyuyan prishna mataro martasah syatana stota wo amritah syat

The sage also claims that it rains when there is no air:

Miham kriwantyawatam

It has been proved correct by modern climatologists that at low pressure areas, the clouds cluster and turn into raindrops.

The most striking thing is their knowledge of nitrogen and its relation with the fertility of the land. They declared its presence and correlated it with lightning. They said that nitrogen makes the land fertile by lightning:

Washarewa vidyurmimati vatsam na mata
sisakati yadesham vrishtir saraji

The given couplet means that the clouds bring rain and make sounds like cows to give energy and fertility.

Another striking feature of these reseaches on the Elements is their declaration that Water is formed with hydrogen and oxygen. They said that Water contains two Elements called Bhrigu and Angira. Both the western and Indian names could never have been the same.

The Elements are so well-known and popular that people accept them as an established fact and feel that others are sure to know about them. So, usually they just confine themselves to their names leaving the details aside. The younger generation fails to feel the full impact of the five great Elements.

Most of the dictionaries accept Elements to be Earth, Air, Fire and Water, which people believe are the constituents of everything. Ironically enough, Space is missing from the list. Without Space, creation is not possible. This is one reason why the word ‘Element’ is unable to bear the denotations and connotations of ‘tatwa’. Even the phrases as ‘essential Elements’, ‘fundamental Elements’ or ‘natural Elements’ do not carry the full significance of ‘tatwa’. Anyway, since there is no better substitute available, so the word ‘tatwa’ has to mean ‘Element’.

In modern Chemistry, element is a simple chemical substance that consists of atoms of only one type and cannot be split into a simpler substance by various chemical procedures. Gold, carbon, oxygen are all elements.

On the basis of that particular definition, modern science claims the existence of 114 elements in all and the number is still growing. These elements are known to constitute all matter at and above the level of atoms, the smallest unit of any element. All atoms of an element are identical in nuclear charge and in the number of their protons and electrons.

The scientists have given a one or two letter symbol to each element. The elements combine to form a wide variety of compounds. The most common elements found in the crust of the Earth are oxygen (49%), silicon (26%), aluminium (8%), and iron (5%). These are only chemical elements. But the Panch Mahabhuta Tatwas are the life Elements. The existence of life cannot be dreamt in the absence of any of them.