Nature’s Blueprint: Exploring India’s Bio-Inspired Heritage
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति य: |
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा || Gita 5.10||
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ
lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā
Here is the English translation of the abovementioned verse from Srimad Bhagavadgita (5.10):
Having offered or rested one’s actions in the Brahman, the one who is not attached to the actions performed is never stained by any error, as water never clings to a lotus leaf.
A lotus leaf is born out of water, lives in the water, draws all that is needed for its survival from the water, yet it is untouched by the water. Sri Krishna citing this as an example mentions to Arjuna that happy is he who knows the art and science of living in the world by being unattached to the world as a lotus leaf is never glued by the water.
This also explains that the petals and leaves of a lotus are ultra-hydrophobic. As a result they are water and dirt repellent and exhibit extreme self-cleaning properties. This aspect of a lotus leaf, that it is water and dust repellent, in recent time has inspired many products having self-cleaning, stain-repellent and water-repellent properties which have a better chance of surviving a water encounter. For example we now get in the market water-repellent devices, paints and other products which have properties that repel water from them, which makes them hydrophobic like a lotus leaf. Thus in many ways nature has been inspiring and in recent times we have many bio-inspired products that are changing the way we make everyday things.
Here are a few examples of bio-inspired products in recent times. But the seers and sages of ancient India were aware of these secrets of nature.
Did you know what makes the fireflies glow and how it has inspired certain technology to improve?
The light of a firefly is caused by an organic compound called luciferin in its abdomen. As air rushes into a firefly’s abdomen, it reacts with the luciferin. Consequently, it causes a chemical reaction that gives off the firefly’s familiar glow. This light in a firefly generates so little heat that it is called a cold light. Therefore in Sanskrit one of the word for a firefly is ध्वान्तमणि dhvaantamaNi meaning that which shines in the darkness, also the light that is cool. (the word dhvaanta meaning darkness also refers to coolness; night is cooler than the day).
Furthermore, Luciferin, the light-emitting compound found in Fireflies and glow worms, generates bioluminescence. In computer technology the Java Fast Screen Capture PC software designed for Glow Worm Luciferin firmware to create the perfect Bias Lighting and Ambient Light system for PC is generally known as Firefly Luciferin.
There is research happening on how to make the LED bulbs more efficient for clean energy. At present the overall commercial LED efficiency is only about 50 percent. One of the major concerns is how to improve the so-called light extraction efficiency of the LEDs. One solution that the researchers have found is to texture the surface with microstructures — microscopic projections — that allow more light to escape. Currently, in most LEDs these projections are symmetrical, with identical slopes on each side. The researchers in this field discovered that the Fireflies’ lanterns efficient in emitting light have asymmetric microstructures — the sides slanted at different angles, giving a lopsided appearance. This shows that the light can be extracted efficiently by using asymmetric structures which the fireflies lanterns have.
This was observed by the ancient Indian seers and sages who named a firefly as ज्योतिरिङ्गण (jyotiringaNa, literally a moving light), meaning that in which there is a surge of light waves. The whole technology focused on improving light extraction efficiency is inspired by a ज्योतिरिङ्गण (jyotiringaNa) or Firefly.
It is the perfection in nature — which is why ‘bio-inspiration’ works. Look at the surgical instruments described by the ancient Physician Sushruta — of the 120 instruments described, almost all have bio-inspired features, some named after birds with particular shapes of beaks and other animals with shapes of their jaws etc. (kankamukha or heron’s mouth, kaakamukha or crow’s mouth, simhamukha or lion’s mouth, vrikamukha or wolf’s mouth etc.) An interesting instrument is called vyaaghramukha or ‘tiger-mouth’ which has a special feature like how a tiger mouth can tear apart flesh, but also carry cubs firmly without hurting them.
Since time immemorial, Nature has been offering endless inspiration and enraptured the artists, the poets, the sculptors, the painters, the critiques, the philosophers, the dancers, the musicians and so on. A fundamental belief in harmony between man and nature has always been a part of the Indian ethos. When one is in perfect communion with the nature , it starts inspiring in many ways the creative impulses. Then one finds in nature more constructive structures as a source of permanent creative inspiration in conceiving shapes and material products. By being in harmony with the laws of nature and harmonizing the function with the shape, a creative mind through its works creates much love and awareness for nature.
मधु वाता ऋतायते मधुक्षरन्ति सिन्धवः। माध्वीर्नः सन्त्वौषधीः॥
मधु नक्तमुतोषसि मधुमत्पार्थिवँ रजः। मधुद्यौरस्तु न पिता॥
मधुमान्नो वनस्पतिर्मधुमाँ अस्तु सूर्यः। माध्वीर्गावो भवन्तु नः॥
madhu vātā ṛtāyate madhukṣaranti sindhavaḥ.
mādhvīrnaḥ santvauṣadhīḥ..
madhu naktamutoṣasi madhumatpārthivam̐ rajaḥ.
madhumānno vanaspatirmadhumām̐ astu sūryaḥ.
mādhvīrgāvo bhavantu naḥ..
May the winds blow sweetly. May the streams scatter sweetness. May the herbs bring us sweetness. May the nights and dawns fill us with sweetness. May the dust of the earth be full of sweetness. May heaven itself, like a father, bring us sweetness. May the forest trees be full of sweetness. May the sun itself shower sweetness on us. May sweetness flow toward us from all directions. (Rigveda, 1.91.6–8)
“We know less than one thousandth of one percent of what nature has to reveal to us.” - Albert Einstein
(Earlier published in the Rishiplus November 2022 )
