Bhil religious life is woven through with taboos that treat the natural world as a realm of indwelling spirits, ancestors, and deities. Forests, individual trees, and entire groves may be regarded as sacred spaces, where cutting, lopping, or felling is either forbidden or permitted only after propitiatory rituals. Certain groves, often referred to as dev-van, are approached with particular reverence: entry can be restricted, and neither trees nor animals within them may be harmed. Such prohibitions extend to specific trees believed to house deities or ancestral spirits, where even collecting wood or other products without offerings is considered a serious transgression. These patterns of restraint express a sense that the forest is not inert matter but a community of beings with whom humans must negotiate.

Similar reverence shapes the treatment of water sources. Rivers, streams, ponds, and wells associated with deities or water spirits are protected by strict prohibitions against pollution, including defecation, washing clothes, or dumping waste. Drawing water may be governed by ritual observances, and certain parts of a water body are kept especially pure. In some places, fishing or diverting water from particular ponds or streams is restricted or allowed only at ritually sanctioned times. These taboos create a moral boundary around water, marking it as both physically vital and spiritually charged.

Relations with animals are likewise framed by a network of prohibitions. Certain species are regarded as sacred, totemic, or as vehicles of deities, and hunting them is taboo or tightly regulated. More generally, hunting is often limited to particular seasons, with explicit avoidance of breeding periods and of pregnant or nursing animals. When hunting does occur, it is surrounded by expectations of ritual purification, offerings, or acts of apology and thanksgiving to the animal spirits. Restrictions on consuming clan totem animals further underscore the sense that animals participate in a shared moral universe, not merely a human food chain.

Agricultural and seasonal activities are also subject to ritual constraints that reflect this spiritual ecology. Ploughing, sowing, and harvesting are tied to auspicious times, and working the land during certain ritual or ceremonial periods is avoided. Before new land is cultivated or crops are harvested, offerings or first-fruit rites may be required to honor the earth and local deities. Entering particular forests or sacred spaces can be restricted during phases of ritual impurity, such as mourning or menstruation, and purification is often required before approaching shrines or extracting natural resources. Taken together, these taboos and prohibitions form a subtle code that both honors the unseen presences in nature and regulates human use of land, water, and wildlife.