by Vandana Shiva

About the author: Vandana Shiva is the director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi, India.

In the Vishnu Purana [a sacred Hindu text], the world is destroyed and recreated by the cosmic being when human values fail to maintain nature and society. Vishnu, the Creator, assumes the character of Rudra or Shiva, the destroyer, and descends to reunite all his creatures with himself. He enters into the seven rays of the sun and drinks up all the waters of the Earth, leaving the seas and the springs dry.

The reduction of all value to wealth and the exclusion of compassion and care from human relationships are among the factors that cause this dissolution. As the Vishnu Purana puts it: ‘The minds of men will be...