WATER AND RELIGION

Hurray! The summers have arrived and everyone happy

and excited about holidays.
Every summer has its own story, this time the subplot
of the story is the scarcity of water that everyone is
facing to, Actually. the stories would be fun and
enjoyment even when counterattacking the water crisis
problems. India is being considered as a diverse
country .The country has about 200 spoken languages
in addition to hundred spoken dialects. The diversity is
maintained in culture, traditions, rituals, styles, food
and many moreThe Constitution of India recognises
22 national languages with Hindi and English being
given higher stature as national languages.
Water has a very close connect with religion and
religion is an eternal basis for any ideology in India. In
the village of Denganmal, about 140 km from Mumbai,
men marry a second and sometimes even a third wife
just to ensure their households have enough drinking
water. These women are known as 'water wives'. Water
not only purifies objects for ritual use, but cleanses a
person - externally as well as spiritually. Without water
there is no life. Water is considered sacred in all our
religions. India is blessed with a wide network of rivers.
But we are still faced with drought like conditions in
areas like Marathwada and Latur. People got to walk
long distances for a pot of water, there are fights at the
water pipe every day and there is an endless wait for
the illusive water tanker.
Why do we waste water? Why do we allow water to run
off and be wasted. As much as religion teaches us the
value of water in our spiritual life, we treat water with a
complacency of abundance. We do not value this
natural resource until we are faced with dire
consequences.

In Hinduism, Tarpana is the point at which the

worshipper makes a cup with his hands and pours the
water back into the river reciting mantras. After
sipping some water, he may then apply the
distinguishing mark of his sampradaya (tradition), and
say the morning prayer, samdhya. Sodhana is Hindu
purification.
In Islam, ritual purity (called tahara) is required before
carrying out religious duties especially salat (worship).

There are three kinds of ablutions. Firstly, ghusl, the

major ablution, is the washing of the whole body in
pure water, after declaring the intention to do so.
Muslims are obliged to perform ghusl after sex which
incurs a state of major ritual impurity. Ghusl is also
recommended before the Friday prayer, the two main
feasts, and before touching the Koran. Ghusl must be
done for the dead before they are buried.

The second ablution is wudu, the minor ablution, which

is performed to remove minor ritual impurity from
everyday life. This must be done before each of the
five daily prayers and involves using pure water to
wash the face with pure water, rub the head with water,
wash the hands and arms up to the elbows and the feet
up to the ankles. This comes from the Koran 5: 7/8 "O
you who believe, when you prepare for prayer, wash
your faces and your hand to the elbows; rub your head
and your feet to the ankles" and is elaborated on in
great detail in the Sunna. Every mosque has running
water for wudu. The third type of ablution is performed
when no water is available. In this case clean sand
may be used.

In Christianity, water is used to clean sin and the

body. Baptism is an initiation ritual which uses water.
The Bible speaks about how a Samaritan woman who
had come to draw water (at the well) on being asked by
Jesus, 'Give me something to drink.' The Samaritan
woman said to him, 'You are a Jew. How is it that you
ask me, a Samaritan, for something to drink?' Jesus
replied to her: If you only knew what God is offering and
who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me something to
drink,' you would have been the one to ask, and he
would have given you living water. 'You have no
bucket, sir,' she answered, 'and the well is deep: how
do you get this living water?

Water, is used in a variety of metaphorical ways in

Scripture. Water is mentioned 722 times in the
scriptures.
The Gospel of John records the transformation of water
into wine at the Marriage at Cana in the first miracle
attributed to Jesus when He ordered six stone jars to be
filled with water to when in His final moment on the
cross, Jesus asked for a drink (of water) and was
instead given vinegar on a sponge. Other references to
water are: the River of Jordan, to the healing of the
lame man at the pool of Bethzatha, to His walking on
the Sea of Galilee, to Jesus healing the blind man at the
Pool of Siloam, to Jesus washing his disciples feet and
to blood and water flowing out of His pierced side.

The Parsis or followers of Zoroastrianism believe water,

when pure, is sacred. A Parsis must perform ritual
ablutions before saying their prayers (which are said 5
times a day facing a source of light) and before any
religious ceremonies such as weddings.

A concerted effort to save water needs to be made. No

religion teaches its followers to waste this precious
resource. Let us start today in our own small manner
while the sun shines down harshly upon us threatening
a water war.
#supporting a cause #save water
inspiration
Marcellus dsouza
Ideology and Blogged by-- Amey
Pachpute