Aapa (Jala) Shabda

Jala or water, one of the five great elements, is one of the most important necessities of mankind, followed by air or Vayu.

Shabda or sound, Sparsha or touch, Roopa or form, and Rasa (taste) are the main characteristics of Jala.

Jala comes after agni in the order of the five great elements. Taste or rasa is the basic and main attribute of Jala.

The basic property of Jala is its liquidity or dhravatwa. Jala or aapa is the main constituent in biological humors, as it helps in preserving many things.

Moreover, you can bring and keep two or more things together. Cold and wet are its qualities. However, it becomes difficult to choose something and stick to that due to the huge abundance of it.

Jala or aapa constitutes 70% of the human being's body, while only 30% is blood. Nature has made it possible to keep the cells of all the organs in a body using water.

Similarly, water binds the particles in herbs and minerals together. Water, a mahabhootha makes the biological, chemical, and bio-chemical bonds possible. Major religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and so on consider apa or jala as a deity. Even Vedas consist of shlokas or mantras on the usefulness and importance of water, and how it had been of use during the vedic period. Furthermore, it is also one of the four classical elements of ancient Greek philosophy and science.

Water has its own importance and usefulness apart from drinking it. One of the best features of water is that it can be recycled.

Using the Jala or water, we can keep ourselves and the environment clean. This is used in preparation of food and other drinks. It also beautifies our environment. It is also used in construction purposes, manufacturing units, agriculture, saving people and property from fire.

In olden days, it was used in performing rituals, taking a ritual bath, and also for accepting the objects to be tossed into it. The emotions, wisdom, the soul, and femininity are represented by water in Wiccan tradition. Intelligence and wisdom are represented by water in Chinese tradition.

Rivers, lakes, ponds, wells, oceans, seas, and so on are the manifestations of water. It houses several animals like frog, fishes, crocodile, water snakes, and so on, and also rich treasures like corals, pearls, and so on. 70% of our earth is water, and only 30% is land. Due to the advent of many industries, and manufacturing units, water consumption has increased.

Moreover, the water pollution has also increased wherein the waterbed underground is slowly deteriorating. The demand for drinking water is increasing day by day as the volume of water is slowly decreasing.

By the process of desalination, sea or ocean water is processed and converted to drinking or edible water, by removing the salt. Even though, this is an artificial process, it is being followed in most of the countries surrounded or bordered by sea or ocean to meet the demand of need of water. Therefore, it is very important to conserve this treasure.