Man turns against himself!

by Daya Dissanayake

From deep history to date, man has always destroyed more than what he had developed or built. From the day he began to walk on his hind legs, he had used his forelegs for destruction. Man likes to believe that he is Midas, but in reality he is a Bhasmasura.

In Greek mythology whatever Midas touched turned into gold. According to Aristotle, Midas died of hunger because even the food he touched turned into gold and he could not eat anything. Mankind will someday die of starvation as a Midas because the food he touches has turned into poison.

Felling trees bring disasters

There had been an Asura by the name Shoorpakasura who performed severe penance to seek a favour from god Siva. The Asura first asked for immortality, which could not be granted, so he asked the power to burn anyone down to ashes by touching his forehead.

When his wish was granted, Shoorpakasura came to be known as Bhasmasura. He realised that he has become the most powerful person in the universe.

He decided to test his power on god Siva. Siva knew he was unable to stop the Asura and tried to escape, seeking help from god Vishnu who appeared before the Asura in the form of a most beautiful woman, named Mohini. Bhasmasura was infatuated and Mohini made him dance with her, and then got him to touch his own head. Bhasmasura instantaneously turned to ashes.

In trying to dominate the entire universe, Bhasmasura destroyed himself, and that is what man has been doing all this time.

Whatever man touches is turning into ashes. His hands became very useful. He could plant a tree and use the same hands to cut down a hundred trees. In 1978, the World Bank estimated that if tropical deforestation continued at a rate of 15 to 20 million hectares per year, there would be no tropical forests remaining by 2040.

One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.

Natural resources

In destroying all natural resources man is destroying all life on earth. Experts estimate that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. And he is destroying his own brothers and sisters. He could stroke the face of a beautiful woman, and use the same hands to choke her to death. There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000. In Brazil alone, less 'civilised' European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's.

When man discovered fire he thought it a great victory. He could cook his food. He could also burn down the forests, with all plant and animal life in it, he could burn down entire cities with all the people in them, and he could even burn down libraries.

When he started using iron, he could make tools and equipment to make life easier for himself. Most such tools could also be used as weapons, to kill his brothers and innocent animals. He invented the wheel to transport the trees he cut down, and rocks that he split apart. He used the wheel to build war chariots, tanks and armoured cars and rocket launchers.

He learned to burn fossil fuel for lighting and then to operate his machines and his vehicles. In his greed for more wealth and power he began to burn more and more fossil fuel, contributing to global warming. He will continue to burn it till he exhausts all the fossil fuel deposits.

Atom

Man learned to split the atom, and believed he could produce more energy in place of fossil fuels, and he learned to use the same energy to destroy two great cities in a few seconds. Man learned to play with chemical composition of all natural products. During the past 100 years he has created 80,000 deadly chemicals, which he is releasing into the air, water and the soil every day. Man is proud to have developed technology to interfere with the genes in plants and animals, and he will continue to meddle till he has created more Frankensteins than he could ever control.

A major cause of destruction on Mother Earth is by pollution, and man is the only cause of pollution. Other animals and plants never pollute their surroundings.

It is probably because man's mind became polluted as he developed more intelligence. Padmasiri de Silva had written that the pollution of the mind and the pollution of the environment has been the two aspects of the same problem.

Man has been destroying what had already been created, but also his own creations. Man with his imagination became a creative artist. He could create music, paintings, sculptures and literature. He could also destroy them. Man's creativity was destroyed, along with the commercialisation of creative productions due to man's greed. There has also been wanton destruction.

Library

The first library to have been destroyed was the one in Alexandria, in 47 C.E. and it is said to have contained over 700,000 books at the time of destruction.

In India the library of the oldest university on Mother Earth had been burnt down in the 11th century, with its nine million books, long before paper and printing had come into use. It could be the pollution of man's mind which made him commit such crimes, probably in an attempt to prevent people from getting an education, from learning to think for themselves, as it could be easier to rule such people.

Man would probably continue to be a Bhasmasura, till someday he would destroy himself and annihilate all mankind. Man's evolution has been a downhill process for a long time, as it has not been the fittest who survived.