Environmental ontology and ecological ethics in sanskrit literature: A comparative eco philosophical inquiry

Ancient Sanskrit literature reflects a deeply rooted environmental consciousness that perceive nature as sacred, living and inseparable from human existence. This paper examines ecological awareness embedded in Vedas, upnishada, epic, purana, administrative collection, classical poetry. In this paper author highlights the reverence for the earth, sustainable use of resources, humans’ responsibility towards nature. Through the analyzing Sanskrit verses we find that Sanskrit literature offers a holistic environmental ethic in moral and practical dimensions, which helps for reduce contemporary ecological crisis. The global ecological crisis has prompted growing interest in non-Western and indigenous environmental philosophies that challenge dominant anthropocentric paradigms. Sanskrit literature, spanning the Vedic corpus, epics, Dharmasastra traditions, and classical kāvya, offers a philosophically coherent environmental worldview grounded in relational ontology, ethical restraint, and cosmic order. While existing scholarship has acknowledged environmental motifs in these texts, it has largely remained descriptive or devotional, failing to situate Sanskrit ecological thought within contemporary environmental philosophy. This paper argues that Sanskrit literature articulates a non-anthropocentric environmental ontology in which nature is understood as a morally significant, agentive, and interconnected domain rather than a passive resource. This study thus contributes to environmental humanities by foregrounding a non‑Western model of relational ecology with implications for global sustainability discourse.