If there is no forest, then the tiger gets killed; if there is no tiger, then the forest gets destroyed. Hence, the tiger protects the forest and the forest guards the tiger!
-Mahabharat (Kumbhaghonam Edition) – Udyoga Parva: 5.29.57
nirvano vadhyate vyāghro nirvyāghraṃ chidyate vanam|
tasmādvyāghro vanaṃ rakṣedvayaṃ vyāghraṃ ca pālayet ||
India is the land of tigers. It is impossible for us to imagine a Bharata where this majestic animal does not roam the land and yet our collective greed has landed us in times when we are fighting tooth and nail to ‘Save The Tiger’.
Long before human beings needed an ‘International Tiger Day’ to protect this gentle beast, a shloka which occurs in the Southern Recension of the Mahabharata, categorically stated that the existence of both forests and tigers is interdependent. If forests do not exist, tigers are forced to enter human habitation and get brutally killed. If tigers do not exist, ruthless humans destroy the forests for reasons we do not need to elaborate upon.
It is our fundamental duty as human beings and as Indians to ‘Save The Tiger’. It is a part of our cultural ethos. And more importantly, this is their land too! While you are think about the tiger, click here to witness a tiger’s appeal and read these beautiful lines by William Blake.
