Animals in Indian Philosophy: A Rich Presence in Literature

The classical Indian literature is replete with animals, with a vast corpus of animal fables and tales involving talking animals. These stories, present since the time of the Rigveda, depict animals as social beings and are used for didactic purposes on how to interact. The Dharmashastras and Arthashastras also discuss right conduct towards animals. In epic literature like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, animals are incorporated within the divine realm. Surprisingly, while animals permeate Indian literature, there is little explicit engagement with animals as a philosophical issue. The absence of a singular Sanskrit word for 'animal' in the way it is used in English contributes to this lack of explicit focus.