The Anuvrat Movement: Theory and Practice: Environment

According to one respondent, Tulsi added the 11th vow relating to the environment in light of the increasing ecological problems. Although an average person does not cut tree, though all uses water and so I wanted to find out the respondents' attitude towards the consumption of water. The most interesting finding obtained from the chart below is not that so many respondents describe their water usage as "above average" and "below average," but that the majority of respondents categorized their water usage as "average" or "don't know." That so many of the population are unaware of their usage may reflect a lack of education and awareness in Indian society as a whole regarding environmental issues. Such data reemphasize my claim that accepting the vows does not necessarily make one environmentally responsible. Table 7 represents the participants' responses from different religious backgrounds regarding the usage of water.

Religion	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Don't Know	Total
Jain	19 12.8%	64 43%	23 15.4%	43 28.9%	149 100%
Hindu	1 2.9%	11 31.4%	8 22.9%	15 42.9%	35 100%
Sikh	0 0.0%	1 100%	0 0.0%	0 0.0%	1 100%
Muslim	0 0.0%	5 83.3%	0 0.0%	1 16.7%	6 100%
Total	20 10.5%	81 42.4%	31 16.2%	59 30.9%	191 100%

The next questions in the survey were: "Do you need more information on what you could do to be more environment friendly?" and "Do you need more information on what you could do to be more socially responsible?" The survey data shows that 195 respondents attempted both of these questions. 84% of the responses were "yes," 9.4% "no" and 6.5% were not sure. Such a results conveys an eagerness to get information, but is that enough? The following tables 8 and 9 presents the survey output and provides yet another comparison between an Anuvrati's attitude and a non-Anuvrati's attitude.

Table 8. "Do You Need More Information on What You Could Do to be More Environment Friendly?"

	Yes	No	Not Sure	Total
Anuvrati	105 69.15	4 28.6%	5 45.5%	114 64.4%
Non-Anuvrati	47	10	6	63
	30.9%	71.4%	54.5%	35.6%
Total	152	14	11	177
	100%	100%	100%	100%

	Yes	No	Not Sure	Total
Anuvrati	96 64.9%	8 57.1%	7 53.8%	111 64.4%
Non-Anuvrati	52 35.1%	6 42.9%	6 46.2%	64 35.6%
Total	148 100%	14 100%	13 100%	175 100%

Data in the above table present marginal differences in the behavior between those who accept the vows and those who did not accept. One analysis which I draw from such a result is, since many of these non-Anuvratis were from the Jain background, they might not have accepted the vows (for several reasons discussed in the previous chapter) but might be conscious in the use of natural resources and willing to learn more. Hence, I conclude the analysis of the behavior and attitude of Anuvratis and non-Anuvratis by quotating a Muslim Anuvrati respondent: "People might not fill the Anuvrat form and pledge to be an Anuvrati, but when the Anuvrat concept is explained to them, it makes a strong impact upon them. Spreading the concept is more important than getting the forms signed."^[110] His view is in accordance with Tulsi, who wanted to see change, not just the increasing number of pledges.

My personal conclusion from this study is that Acharya Tulsi recognized many social ethical issues and attempted to create awareness of them in the Indian society.

Tulsi's vows were focusing on issues of war and disarmament at the same time there were vows related to social issues and environment. It seems he started his movement with what were perhaps too many agendas for changing the society. What if he had either focused on a single vow related to dowry, bribery or one category like social justice and promoted it? If he had altered his strategy, could there have been more significant results within these 60 years?