May 11, 1969, Columbus, Ohio
Allen Ginsberg: We have a farm also now in upstate New York. There we have vegetarian table also in the farm. We have a cow, goats. But...
Prabhupada: From economic point of view, if one man has got a cow and four acres of land, he has no economic problem. That we want to start. He can independently live any part of the world. Simply he must (have) one cow and four acres of land. Let the people be divided with four acres of land and a cow, there will be no economic question. All the factories will be closed.
Allen Ginsberg: Four acres, you think?
Prabhupada: Four acres.
Allen Ginsberg: Maybe.
Prabhupada: That I am instructing Kirtanananda, to show this example in New Vrindaban.
“ Therefore, after reading Bhagwad-gita one should promptly come to the conclusion of Bhagwad-gita: one should give up all other engagements and adopt the service of the Supreme Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. If one is convinced of this philosophy of life; that is faith” ( Gita 9.3
Room Conversation with Allen Ginsberg
May 11, 1969, Columbus, Ohio
Allen Ginsberg: We have a farm also now in upstate New York. There we have vegetarian table also in the farm. We have a cow, goats. But...
Prabhupada: From economic point of view, if one man has got a cow and four acres of land, he has no economic problem. That we want to start. He can independently live any part of the world. Simply he must (have) one cow and four acres of land. Let the people be divided with four acres of land and a cow, there will be no economic question. All the factories will be closed.
Allen Ginsberg: Four acres, you think?
Prabhupada: Four acres.
Allen Ginsberg: Maybe.
Prabhupada: That I am instructing Kirtanananda, to show this example in New Vrindaban.
Bhagavad-gita Lecture 13.35
Geneva, June 6, 1974
Ksetra means field of activities. Just like in agricultural land. You get a piece of land, and you produce your own food grain, or as you like. The government gives you a piece of land, and you have to pay a little tax, and you can grow your food grains as you like.
....The same example: You are given a field, a piece of land. You can grow twice, thrice in a year very nice foodstuff, sometimes pulses, sometimes paddy, sometimes the mustard seed. Any land... In India, we have seen that a cultivator produces three, four kind of food grains in a year. That is the system... (Aside:) Not this...
That is the system that in India every man is producing his food grains independently. Now it is stopped. Formerly, all these men, they used to produce their food grain.
So they used to work for three months in a year, and they could stock the whole year's eatable food grains. Life was very simple. After all, you require to eat. So this Vedic civilization was that keep some land and keep some cows. Then your whole economic question is solved.
The whole economic question can be solved. If you have got excess, then you can trade, you can send to some place where there is scarcity. But every man should produce his own food. That is Vedic culture. You get a piece of land and produce your family's foodstuff.
....So this example is given: idam sariram ksetram. That means to own a certain piece of land is the basic civilization. Everyone must have a portion of land to produce his food. There will be no economic problem.
....So anyway, the whole world situation is degrading, that people are not producing their own food. This is the problem, real problem. Ksetra-ksetrajna. This example is given. As every man must possess a piece of land... Therefore this... Because it is very common thing, this example has been given. Ksetra-ksetrajnah.
Adi-lila
Chapter Seventeen, Text 111
TRANSLATION
"In My last birth I was born in the family of cowherd men, and I gave protection to the calves and cows. Because of such pious activities, I have now become the son of a brahmana."
PURPORT
The words of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the greatest authority, herein clearly indicate that one becomes pious simply by keeping cows and protecting them. Unfortunately, people have become such rascals that they do not even care about the words of an authority.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 1: Chapter Nineteen, Text 3
Cow protection means feeding the brahminical culture, which leads towards God consciousness, and thus perfection of human civilization is achieved.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 8: Chapter Twenty-four, Text 5: PURPORT
Without protection of cows, brahminical culture cannot be maintained; and without brahminical culture, the aim of life cannot be fulfilled.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 7: Chapter Three, Text 13: PURPORT
In Vedic culture, the welfare of the cows and the welfare of the brahmanas are essential. Without a proper arrangement for developing brahminical culture and protecting cows, all the affairs of administration will go to hell.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 6: Chapter Eighteen, Text 52: PURPORT
One cannot become spiritually advanced without acquiring the brahminical qualifications and giving protection to cows.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 1: Chapter Seventeen, Text 20: PURPORT
The conclusion is, therefore, that the sufferings of the representative of religion and the representative of the earth, as present before Maharaja Pariksit, were planned to prove that Maharaja Pariksit was the ideal executive head because he knew well how to give protection to the cows (the earth) and the brahmanas (religious principles), the two pillars of spiritual advancement.
Prabhupada, Hyderbad, 1977,
as related by Teijas, ISKCON Farm News, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 5.:
"We should establish this varnasrama-dharma in America. The varnasrama is centered around the cow."
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-one, Text 38: PURPORT
Lord Krsna, the Supreme personality of Godhead, is the prime protector of brahminical culture and the cow. Without knowing and respecting these, one cannot realize the science of God, and without this knowledge, any welfare activities or humanitarian propaganda cannot be successful.
Room Conversation Paris
June 11, 1974
Prabhupada: So use this. This is one of the business. Krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhava-jam. We don't stop trade. We don't stop food, producing food grains. But we want to stop these killing houses. It is very, very sinful. Therefore in Europe, so many wars. Every ten years, fifteen years, there is a big war and wholesale slaughter of the whole human kind. And these rascals, they do not see it. The reaction must be there. You are killing innocent cows and animals. Nature will take revenge. Wait for that. As soon as the time is ripe, the nature will gather all these rascals, and club, slaughter them. Finished. They will fight amongst themselves, Protestant and Catholic, Russian and France, and France and Germany. This is going on. Why? This is the nature's law. Tit for tat. You have killed. Now you become killed. Amongst yourselves. They are being sent to the slaughterhouse. And here, you'll create slaughterhouse, "Dum! dum!" and killed, be killed. You know. You showed me?
Science of Self Realization
Chapter Four :Understanding Krsna and Christ
Srila Prabhupada: The problem is that the Christians do not follow the commandments of God. Do you agree?
Father Emmanuel: Yes, to a large extent you're right.
Srila Prabhupada: Then what is the meaning of the Christians' love for God? If you do not follow the orders of God, then where is your love? Therefore we have come to teach what it means to love God: if you love Him, you cannot be disobedient to His orders. And if you're disobedient, your love is not true.
All over the world, people love not God but their dogs. The Krsna consciousness movement is therefore necessary to teach people how to revive their forgotten love for God. Not only the Christians, but also the Hindus, the Muhammadans, and all others are guilty. They have rubber-stamped themselves "Christian," "Hindu," or "Muhammadan," but they do not obey God. That is the problem.
Visitor: Can you say in what way the Christians are disobedient?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. The first point is that they violate the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" by maintaining slaughterhouses. Do you agree that this commandment is being violated?
Father Emmanuel: Personally, I agree.
Srila Prabhupada: Good. So if the Christians want to love God, they must stop killing animals.
Father Emmanuel: But isn't the most important point--
Srila Prabhupada: If you miss one point, there is a mistake in your calculation. Regardless of what you add or subtract after that, the mistake is already in the calculation, and everything that follows will also be faulty. We cannot simply accept that part of the scripture we like, and reject what we don't like, and still expect to get the result.
For example, a hen lays eggs with its back part and eats with its beak. A farmer may consider, "The front part of the hen is very expensive because I have to feed it. Better to cut it off." But if the head is missing there will be no eggs anymore, because the body is dead. Similarly, if we reject the difficult part of the scriptures and obey the part we like, such an interpretation will not help us. We have to accept all the injunctions of the scripture as they are given, not only those that suit us. If you do not follow the first order, "Thou shalt not kill," then where is the question of love of God?
Visitor: Christians take this commandment to be applicable to human beings, not to animals.
Srila Prabhupada: That would mean that Christ was not intelligent enough to use the right word: murder. There is killing, and there is murder. Murder refers to human beings. Do you think Jesus was not intelligent enough to use the right word--murder--instead of the word killing? Killing means any kind of killing, and especially animal killing. If Jesus had meant simply the killing of humans, he would have used the word murder.
Father Emmanuel: But in the Old Testament the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" does refer to murder. And when Jesus said, "Thou shalt not kill," he extended this commandment to mean that a human being should not only refrain from killing another human being, but should also treat him with love. He never spoke about man's relationship with other living entities, but only about his relationship with other human beings. When he said, "Thou shalt not kill," he also meant in the mental and emotional sense--that you should not insult anyone or hurt him, treat him badly, and so on.
Srila Prabhupada: We are not concerned with this or that testament but only with the words used in the commandments. If you want to interpret these words, that is something else. We understand the direct meaning. "Thou shalt not kill" means, "The Christians should not kill." You may put forth interpretations in order to continue the present way of action, but we understand very clearly that there is no need for interpretation.
Interpretation is necessary if things are not clear. But here the meaning is clear. "Thou shalt not kill" is a clear instruction. Why should we interpret it?
Father Emmanuel: Isn't the eating of plants also killing?
Srila Prabhupada: The Vaisnava philosophy teaches that we should not even kill plants unnecessarily. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.26) Krsna says:
patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati tad aham bhakty-upahrtam asnami prayatatmanah
"If someone offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or a little water, I will accept it." We offer Krsna only the kind of food He demands, and then we eat the remnants. If offering vegetarian food to Krsna were sinful, then it would be Krsna's sin, not ours. But God is apapa-viddha--sinful reactions are not applicable to Him. He is like the sun, which is so powerful that it can purify even urine--something impossible for us to do. Krsna is also like a king, who may order a murderer to be hanged but who himself is beyond punishment because he is very powerful. Eating food first offered to the Lord is also something like a soldier's killing during wartime. In a war, when the commander orders a man to attack, the obedient soldier who kills the enemy will get a medal. But if the same soldier kills someone on his own, he will be punished. Similarly, when we eat only prasada [the remnants of food offered to Krsna], we do not commit any sin. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (3.13):
yajna-sistasinah santo mucyante sarva-kilbisaih bhunjate te tv agham papa ye pacanty atma-karanat
"The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food that is first offered for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin."
Father Emmanuel: Krsna cannot give permission to eat animals?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes--in the animal kingdom. But the civilized human being, the religious human being, is not meant to kill and eat animals. If you stop killing animals and chant the holy name Christ, everything will be perfect.
Krsna
Chapter Fifty-seven: Five Queens Married by Krsna
Thus Arjuna went to the forest with his bow and infallible arrows. He dressed himself with suitable protective garments, for he was to practice killing many enemies. He specifically entered that part of the forest where there were many tigers, deer and various other animals. Krsna did not go with Arjuna to practice animal killing, for He doesn't have to practice anything; He is self-sufficient. He accompanied Arjuna to see how he was practicing because in the future he would have to kill many enemies. After entering the forest, Arjuna killed many tigers, boars, bison, gavayas (a kind of wild animal), rhinoceroses, deer, hares, porcupines and similar other animals, which he pierced with his arrows.
Some of the dead animals that were fit to be offered in sacrifices were carried by the servants and sent to King Yudhisthira. Other ferocious animals, such as tigers and rhinoceroses, were killed only to stop disturbances in the forest. Since there are many sages and saintly persons who are residents of the forest, it is the duty of the ksatriya kings to keep even the forest in a peaceful condition for living.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 10: Chapter One, Text 69 :PURPORT
Vina pasu-ghnat. The word pasu means "animal." An animal killer, pasu-ghna, cannot enter into Krsna consciousness. In our Krsna consciousness movement, therefore, animal killing is completely prohibited.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-seven, Text 11 :PURPORT
Those who are involved in the mode of ignorance manufacture religious systems for killing animals. Actually dharma is transcendental. As Lord Sri Krsna teaches, we must give up all other systems of religion and simply surrender unto Him (sarva-dharman parityajya). Thus the Lord and His devotees and representatives teach the transcendental dharma, which does not allow animal-killing at all.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-seven, Text 11 :PURPORT
There are two ways of animal-killing. One way is in the name of religious sacrifices. All the religions of the world--except the Buddhists--have a program for killing animals in places of worship. According to Vedic civilization, the animal-eaters are recommended to sacrifice a goat in the temple of Kali under certain restrictive rules and regulations and eat the flesh. Similarly, they are recommended to drink wine by worshiping the goddess Candika. The purpose is restriction. People have given up all this restriction. Now they are regularly opening wine distilleries and slaughterhouses and indulging in drinking alcohol and eating flesh.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-seven, Text 11 :PURPORT
Actually, those who are in knowledge of everything are determined to execute Krsna consciousness, but those who are rascals (mudhah), sinners (duskrtinah) and the lowest of mankind (naradhamah), who are bereft of all intelligence (mayayapahrta jnanah) and who take shelter of the demoniac way of life (asuram bhavam asritah), are disinterested in Krsna consciousness. As such they become implicated and take on so many activities. Most of these activities center around the killing of animals. Modern civilization is centered around animal-killing.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-six, Text 6
TRANSLATION
If a king is too attracted to eating flesh, he may, according to the directions of the revealed scriptures on sacrificial performances, go to the forest and kill some animals that are recommended for killing. One is not allowed to kill animals unnecessarily or without restrictions. The Vedas regulate animal-killing to stop the extravagance of foolish men influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance.
PURPORT
Because demoniac people want to be cheated, so many cheaters are present to cheat them. At the present moment in this age of Kali-yuga, the entire human society has become an assembly of cheaters and cheated.
For this reason the Vedic scriptures have given us the proper directions for sense gratification. Everyone is inclined in this age to eat meat and fish, drink liquor and indulge in sex life, but according to the Vedic injunctions, sex is allowed only in marriage, meat-eating is allowed only when the animal is killed and offered before the goddess Kali, and intoxication is allowed only in a restricted way. In this verse the word niyamyate indicates that all these things--namely animal-killing, intoxication and sex--should be regulated.
...If a king is allowed to hunt in a forest, it is not for his sense gratification. We cannot simply experiment in the art of killing. If a king, being afraid to meet rogues and thieves, kills poor animals and eats their flesh comfortably at home, he must lose his position. Because in this age kings have such demoniac propensities, monarchy is abolished
by the laws of nature in every country.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-five, Text 8 :PURPORT
Narada Muni wanted to draw King Pracinabarhisat's attention to the excesses of killing animals in sacrifices. It is said in the sastras that by killing animals in a sacrifice, one immediately promotes them to human birth. Similarly, by killing their enemies on a battlefield, the ksatriyas who fight for a right cause are elevated to the heavenly planets after death. In Manu-samhita it is stated that it is necessary for a king to execute a murderer so that the murderer will not suffer for his criminal actions in his next life.
On the basis of such understanding, Narada Muni warns the King that the animals killed in sacrifices by the King await him at his death in order to avenge themselves. Narada Muni is not contradicting himself here. Narada Muni wanted to convince the King that overindulgence in animal sacrifice is risky because as soon as there is a small discrepancy in the execution of such a sacrifice, the slaughtered animal may not be promoted to a human form of life.
Consequently, the person performing sacrifice will be responsible for the death of the animal, just as much as a murderer is responsible for killing another man. When animals are killed in a slaughterhouse, six people connected with the killing are responsible for the murder. The person who gives permission for the killing, the person who kills, the person who helps, the person who purchases the meat, the person who cooks the flesh and the person who eats it, all become entangled in the killing. Narada Muni wanted to draw the King's attention to this fact. Thus animal-killing is not encouraged even in a sacrifice.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 1: Chapter Seventeen, Text 8 :PURPORT
The protection of the lives of both the human beings and the animals is the first and foremost duty of a government. A government must not discriminate in such principles. It is simply horrible for a pure-hearted soul to see organized animal-killing by the state in this age of Kali. Maharaja Pariksit was lamenting for the tears in the eyes of the bull, and he was astonished to see such an unprecedented thing in his good kingdom. Men and animals were equally protected as far as life was concerned. That is the way in God's kingdom.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 1: Chapter Seven, Text 37 :PURPORT
A cruel and wretched person who maintains his existence at the cost of others' lives deserves to be killed for his own well-being, otherwise he will go down by his own actions.
PURPORT
A life for a life is just punishment for a person who cruelly and shamelessly lives at the cost of another's life. Political morality is to punish a person by a death sentence in order to save a cruel person from going to hell. That a murderer is condemned to a death sentence by the state is good for the culprit because in his next life he will not have to suffer for his act of murder. Such a death sentence for the murderer is the lowest possible punishment offered to him, and it is said in the smrti-sastras that men who are punished by the king on the principle of a life for a life are purified of all their sins, so much so that they may be eligible for being promoted to the planets of heaven.
According to Manu, the great author of civic codes and religious principles, even the killer of an animal is to be considered a murderer because animal food is never meant for the civilized man, whose prime duty is to prepare himself for going back to Godhead.
He says that in the act of killing an animal, there is a regular conspiracy by the party of sinners, and all of them are liable to be punished as murderers exactly like a party of conspirators who kill a human being combinedly. He who gives permission, he who kills the animal, he who sells the slaughtered animal, he who cooks the animal, he who administers distribution of the foodstuff, and at last he who eats such cooked animal food are all murderers, and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature.
No one can create a living being despite all advancement of material science, and therefore no one has the right to kill a living being by one's independent whims. For the animal-eaters, the scriptures have sanctioned restricted animal sacrifices only, and such sanctions are there just to restrict the opening of slaughterhouses and not to encourage animal-killing. The procedure under which animal sacrifice is allowed in the scriptures is good both for the animal sacrificed and the animal-eaters. It is good for the animal in the sense that the sacrificed animal is at once promoted to the human form of life after being sacrificed at the altar, and the animal-eater is saved from grosser types of sins (eating meats supplied by organized slaughterhouses which are ghastly places for breeding all kinds of material afflictions to society, country and the people in general). The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted calamities.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
Canto 1: Chapter Three, Text 24 :PURPORT
Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.
PURPORT
Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gaya (Bihar) as the son of Anjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly.
Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization.
He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him.
Killing of animals before the advent of Lord Buddha was the most prominent feature of the society. People claimed that these were Vedic sacrifices. When the Vedas are not accepted through the authoritative disciplic succession, the casual readers of the Vedas are misled by the flowery language of that system of knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gita a comment has been made on such foolish scholars (avipascitah).
The foolish scholars of Vedic literature who do not care to receive the transcendental message through the transcendental realized sources of disciplic succession are sure to be bewildered. To them, the ritualistic ceremonies are considered to be all in all. They have no depth of knowledge. According to the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: the whole system of the Vedas is to lead one gradually to the path of the Supreme Lord. The whole theme of Vedic literature is to know the Supreme Lord, the individual soul, the cosmic situation and the relation between all these items. When the relation is known, the relative function begins, and as a result of such a function the ultimate goal of life or going back to Godhead takes place in the easiest manner.
Unfortunately, unauthorized scholars of the Vedas become captivated by the purificatory ceremonies only, and natural progress is thereby checked.
To such bewildered persons of atheistic propensity, Lord Buddha is the emblem of theism. He therefore first of all wanted to check the habit of animal-killing. The animal-killers are dangerous elements on the path going back to Godhead. There are two types of animal-killers. The soul is also sometimes called the "animal" or the living being. Therefore, both the slaughterer of animals and those who have lost their identity of soul are animal-killers.
Maharaja Pariksit said that only the animal-killer cannot relish the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore if people are to be educated to the path of Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to stop the process of animal-killing as above mentioned.
It is nonsensical to say that animal-killing has nothing to do with spiritual realization. By this dangerous theory many so-called sannyasis have sprung up by the grace of Kali-yuga who preach animal-killing under the garb of the Vedas. The subject matter has already been discussed in the conversation between Lord Caitanya and Maulana Chand Kazi Shaheb. The animal sacrifice as stated in the Vedas is different from the unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse.
Because the asuras or the so-called scholars of Vedic literatures put forward the evidence of animal-killing in the Vedas, Lord Buddha superficially denied the authority of the Vedas. This rejection of the Vedas by Lord Buddha was adopted in order to save people from the vice of animal-killing as well as to save the poor animals from the slaughtering process of their big brothers who clamor for universal brotherhood, peace, justice and equity.
There is no justice when there is animal-killing. Lord Buddha wanted to stop it completely, and therefore his cult of ahimsa was propagated not only in India but also outside the country. Technically Lord Buddha's philosophy is called atheistic because there is no acceptance of the Supreme Lord and because that system of philosophy denied the authority of the Vedas. But that is an act of camouflage by the Lord. Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Godhead. As such, he is the original propounder of Vedic knowledge. He therefore cannot reject Vedic philosophy. But he rejected it outwardly because the sura-dvisa, or the demons who are always envious of the devotees of Godhead, try to support cow-killing or animal-killing from the pages of the Vedas, and this is now being done by the modernized sannyasis.
Cow Trusts:
(SPL to Yasomatinandana dasa, 28th November, 1976)
"You say we must have a gosala trust, that is our real purpose: krsi-go-raksya vanijyam, vaisya-karma svabhava-jam (Bhagavad-gita 18.44). Where there is agriculture there must be cows. That is our mission: Cow protection and agriculture and if there is excess, trade. This is a no-profit scheme. For the agriculture we want to produce our own food and we want to keep cows for our own milk. The whole idea is that we are ISKCON, a community to be independent from outside help. This farm project is especially for the devotees to grow their own food. Cotton also, to make their own clothes. And keeping cows for milk and fatty products.
Our mission is to protect our devotees from unnecessary heavy work to save time for advancing in Krsna consciousness. This is our mission. So there is no question of profit, but if easily there are surplus products, then we can think of trading. Otherwise we have no such intention. We want a temple, a gosala and agriculture. A community project as in Europe and America. We are making similar attempts in India in several places. Immediately I'm going to Hyderabad to organize the farm project there. We have six hundred acres. We have the permission from the government. There is no question of ceiling."
Lord Krsna was a Cowherd
In the Srimad Bhagavatam 10.35.21.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that in the afternoon Sri Krsna dressed Himself in new clothing and then went out to call the cows home. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti gives the following information about the transcendental cows of Vrindavana: For each of the four colors of cows - white, red, black and yellow - there are twenty five subdivisions, making a total of one hundred colors. And such qualities as being colored like sandalwood-pulp tilaka (speckled) or having a head shaped like a mrdanga drum created eight further groups. To count these 108 groups of cows, distinguished by color and form, Krsna is using a string of 108 jewel-beads... (gems) ....."Those in the group with tilak marks on their foreheads are called Citrita, Citra-tilaka, Dirgha-tilaka and Tiryak-tilaka, and there are groups known as Mrdanga-mukhi (having a head shaped like a mrdanga drum), Simha-mukhi (lion head) and so on. "Thus being called by name, the cows are coming forward, and Krsna, thinking that when it is time to bring them back from the forest none should be forgotten, is counting them on His jewel-beads."
In S.B.10.19.7..it says..
The Supreme Personality of Godhead called out to the animals in a voice that resounded like a rumbling cloud. Hearing the sound of their own names, the cows were overjoyed and called out to the Lord in reply.
“ Therefore, after reading Bhagwad-gita one should promptly come to the conclusion of Bhagwad-gita: one should give up all other engagements and adopt the service of the Supreme Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. If one is convinced of this philosophy of life; that is faith” ( Gita 9.3)
Similarly, after reading Make Vrndavana Villages, one should promptly take up the service of the varnasrama dharma if one is convinced of its philosophy (that is faith, as Srila Prabhupada mentions above). In Back to Godhead Magazine Vol III, Part VI published May 20, 1956, in an article entitled Classless Society. Srila Prabhupada makes a mot statement when he remarks:
” The classless sociely so often demanded by the people in general is made possible by the process of ‘yajna’ or sacrifice for the Supreme…Spiritual existence of devotional activities and classless society are two identical terms. The one without the other has no meaning.”
The clear understanding is this: sanatana dharma (activities of the pure spirit soul, devotional service to Lord Krishna) and varnasrama dharma ( activities of the conditioned soul through the four varnas and the four asramas) go hand in hand, or as Srila Prabhupada so brilliantly states above “the one without the other has no meaning"
Some will argue that how is this possible in Kali-yuga where everyone is mandah sumanda-matayo, lazy and misguided (SB1.1.10). The simple answer is Lord Caitanya has inaugurated a new age, the predicted golden era of 10,000 years, the Age of Enlightenment, which is in its embroyonic stage at this particular juncture. So we are not factually or no longer in the Age of Kali with the advent of Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana Movement. Of course one may go on presenting so many arguments for not implementing the varnasrama mission. The bottom line should be this: the Founder-Acarya of our society and Lord Caitanya’s foremost General in his Sankirtana Mission, Srila Prabhupada, as well as his predecessors, Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakura and the foremost Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, all of them expressed the need to do it. In a letter addressing his son as “ Sarasvati”, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes:
“People of this world who are proud of their own aristocratic birth cannot attain realy aristocracy. Therefore they attack the pure Vaisnavas, saying, ‘ They have taken birth in low-class families because of their sins.’ Thus they commit offenses. The solution to this problem is to establish the order of daivi-varnasrama dharma, something you have started doing; you should know that to be the real service to the Vaisnavas.”
Hari Kirtan: Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Maharaja, Prabhupada said that 50% of the preaching work is done; another 50% is still left. Would you please elaborate on this?
Maharaja: Yes, 50% of Srila Prabhupada's mission is yet to be done. There have been, actually, various interpretations about this. I would say that the majority of devotees, whom I know, understand that this 50% is, actually, the establishment of varnasrama. This includes, we could say, varnasrama development and, specifically, varnasrama rural development. It also includes establishing varnasrama colleges. Maybe we can speak about that a little later. Varnasrama colleges, that was many years ago… there are many, very clear, detailed instructions by Srila Prabhupada, even in his essay "Gita Nagari", which he wrote before going to America. So varnasrama college or varnasrama colleges are actually meant to help set up varnasrama communities.
It is interesting. Initially, Srila Prabhupada, and there are quotes to that effect also, was giving less importance to varnasrama and concentrating more on people taking directly to Krishna consciousness. Even he mentioned that it is not possible to have varnasrama and sometimes people quote this particular passage. Then later on, we can say in the last few years, and especially during the last year Srila Prabhupada was with us, he actually explained, that we see in a practical way, that so many of our devotees cannot come up to the platform of pure devotional service. We all know it's not such an easy thing. Therefore, in order to help our community, our society, our devotees, both individually and collectively, come up to the platform of pure devotional service, varnasrama is necessary. It's like a tool whereby one can learn to live a regulated life style, follow different samskaras and receive proper training, proper education so that one can advance, in a very methodical and scientific manner, because varnasrama is actually very scientific. It's the ideal and perfect program because it is given by Lord Krishna himself, as mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gita, and of course in the Srimad Bhagavatam especially.
So this 50% is referring to establishing varnasrama and what we fail to understand, even though we are in the year 2003, the beginning of year 2003, how to go about establishing varnasrama? Even many of our devotees, I would say even a number of our leaders, there is a. how to put it, maybe we have been and we are somewhat slow in understanding what that actually means, the scope of varnasrama. My understanding, from reading various quotes and hearing conversations etc. from Srila Prabhupada, is that we need to understand, that although we are largely established in the cities, and Prabhupada himself established our temples mainly initially in the cities, but what many devotees don't realize, don't know possibly also, is that Srila Prabhupada did not really want us to remain in the cities. There are direct quotes from Srila Prabhupada where he is, in the context of varnasrama, explaining to devotees, we need to establish these communities, rural communities, to give an example, to serve as an example, to people that actually this is the natural way of life we should be living because the cities are unnatural the way they are set up.
Cities of course existed in the Vedic times, but the present cities are based on demoniac principles and degrading people. And also the very structure of cities is falling apart. They are worse than jungles, Prabhupada mentions in the Bhagavatam. But we are making very little effort, on the whole, in our society, very few efforts are being made. Varnasrama, actually the essence of varnasrama, the centre of varnasrama, is intimately, closely, and directly connected with land and cows. How many of us in the cities think of land and cows?
Hari Kirtan: Hardly
Maharaja: We are lucky if we even go out of the city sometimes to see even if there is still some land and cows. We have less developed consciousness of what land means, of its importance, of the fact that land is actually a personality, we call her mother earth. Mother earth, what does that mean? And also Bhagavatam says... land is one of our mothers, and the cows also. By not moving in this direction, by not understanding its importance, its urgency, I've said a few times, what we do not realize is that the cities are meant to be primarily for people who should preach to other people that actually we do not belong in the city. This may seem like a somewhat, what is it, a shocking or drastic statement to make, but Prabhupada has very clearly said that the cities are going to crumble, to fall apart. And he gave the reason. The main reason why he pointed that the cities of America and Europe will be destroyed, that they are being destroyed and they will crumble, why, because of this one most unforgivable sinful activity, of allowing the slaughtering of cows. And as devotees, it's unfortunate to say, we are… I wouldn't say completely oblivious, but we are very less concerned; we are forgetting how important the cow is to Krishna.
Krishna considers the cows more important than the brahmanas. We know that in the Vedic culture the brahmanas, they are the head of the society, the leaders of the society, the spiritual guides. But the cows are dearer to Krishna than the brahmanas. So as devotees how often do we think about cows? How connected are we with cows? How often do we see a cow? How often do we feed cows? Even the cows that we have in the few places where we have cows , which is not many, there are so many things we need to learn about cows, our consciousness even there is not very high.
Our living basis, the realization I get in reading various passages from Srila Prabhupada's books, our living basis as devotees should not actually be the cities. Our homes and the future of our children should not be in the cities. We should only go, we should only commute to the cities to do our business; otherwise, we shouldn't be there. If one is living in the city and not preaching, he's in the wrong place, he shouldn't be there. We are in the cities because the majority of people are there and that's where we can preach to people, but again Prabhupada very clearly mentions that our preaching will be ineffective if we don't have a model to show to people. So who's working on creating models? In the few farming communities that we have, we have to get away from the idea of just doing farming, what we need to do is actually establish villages or like in India and Indonesia, and in Asian countries where there still the presence of villages, we have to somehow save the villages from becoming deserted, that's the job right now.
We, as devotees, have to either save villages by having families become devotees, in existing villages or we have to start from scratch. We have to start, we have to get a fair amount of land and we have to divide this land similar to what we have done here in Indonesia with our Gita Nagari Baru project, one section is residential and the other section is for farming and even within the residential area each devotee has sufficient land for every residence to meet its immediate family needs, like that. And also some fruit trees. All kinds of information is there in the Vedic literatures based on Vastu also, without overly getting involved in Vastu and considering that like a primary thing, but it has its place.
We need devotees to understand the scope of varnasrama. But the scope and the depth of what varnasrama actually means… I haven't met that many devotees who understand, the way that Prabhupada actually meant.
So varnasrama college is also intimately connected with varnasrama development, varnasrama communities, because there are so many things we have to learn, there are so many skills we have to develop. We have to learn about the different varnas and the different asramas. Factually speaking, in order for that to take place in its fullness, so to speak, it has to happen in the country; it has to happen in the rural areas. It is not possible to have vaisyas in the middle of Calcutta. You might have some cows in the middle of Calcutta just wandering around and all over India you have that but vaisyas means in the country. And in the varnasrama set up, actually the majority of people are in the category of vaisyas and sudras.
Of course, that's part of the education that we have to give… to get out of the negative connotation of the word "sudra". But Prabhupada uses the word sudra, he is not afraid to use the term sudra and he gives it its proper meaning and understanding. We just have to educate ourselves, and educate others, that this is part of what we call facts of life, reality of life. There are these different categories and, once again, in so many places and if we just stop and analyze, this whole thing is completely scientific.
There is a need to present this to the academic world and to the scientific community in a very scientific manner so that people can begin to understand. I would say that, unfortunately, many of our own devotees are again lacking in their understanding, and lacking in their conviction that "this is what we have to work on". So whatever we may be doing in the cities, the long run is to... because we cannot flourish as communities, we cannot flourish as individuals; our children cannot flourish in the cities. We have to get back to the natural way, the norm, there's a norm as to how the society is meant to be organized. That norm is varnasrama, based on Krishna consciousness, daivi varnasrama. There are important books like the one compiled by Hare Krishna Dasi mataji. There is the essay of Srila Prabhupada "Gita Nagari". There's also, I just came across recently, this compilation by this devotee. Aisvarata Prabhu?
Hari Kirtan: Airavata Prabhu
Maharaja: Airavata Prabhu, yes. Vedic Sociology, Vedic Economy. He's compiled it very nicely and if one just gives some time to study and read and discuss with other devotees, it will just become so crystal clear, that, you know, why are we not doing this? I mean it's a direct order of Srila Prabhupada and you know... 50% of anything is quite substantial. Isn't it? Practically, very little do we hear of varnasrama in its practical application. There is a great need, and time is running out. Because the more we delay, the more difficult it will be for us to adjust, the more difficult it will be for our children and the upcoming generations to adjust.
In one conversation Prabhupada is practically arguing with his disciples, who are giving him all kinds of reasons why we should develop this program and that program in the city. Then Prabhupada says: "we don't want cities". We don't want cities. Then he asks this devotee, and this devotee, even counter arguing with Prabhupada, saying that "But Prabhupada, you established all the temples in the cities". Then Prabhupada says: "for now O.K." Then he says "Are you still going to be in the cities when the cities crumble". Ahhhh... (Maharaja makes an expression of disbelief as on the face of the devotee in the conversation).
We have to have this very important… and it cannot come like artificially, we have to develop vision. We have to have vision. We have to have Prabhupada's vision! That comes through simply taking, receiving what Prabhupada is giving. And it has to do with realization. Krishna consciousness has to be with realization. It is not some artificial process. We have to understand what we are doing. We have to understand where we are going. We have to understand where we should be going. So that requires education and it also requires training, both of which we have been very much lacking, unfortunately, and again, this varnasrama college is meant for that purpose.
I see majority of the people… like nowadays, all over the world, governments, they stress so much about education. It's kind of a joke, actually, because they don't really know what education is. And it's all geared towards getting jobs and making money. Education isn't really for that purpose. In the same way, agriculture is not really meant to be a business, agro-business. This is all economic development. All countries are just mad after economic development. That is actually bringing the downfall of our present civilization, all over the world.
So training and education, majority of people, actually… this is another shocking realization, I mean shocking realization, maybe a shocking statement, it comes from realization, and also from reading Prabhupada's books, is that the majority of people are not meant to go to school. Majority of people, where I studied at the university, I can see, the majority of people actually don't belong there! They are just wasting their time. They're there actually because they want to get that piece of paper, what they call "diploma oriented" society. Japan is caught up in that. Not only Japan, but China, and all the countries.
Hari Kirtan: Every part of the world
Maharaja: Yeah, every country. Majority of people, if you see, we know a little about varnasrama, who is meant to get an education? There are different kinds of education. Like formal. Formal education is like long term, following particular curriculum etc. like that. Actually I'm doing studies in education right now, the Masters level in education. One nice thing about educational courses is that it's helping me understand what education is. Education is something that is very vast. One nice thing which is coming out in the modern… there are a few nice things… what is called the concept of "life-long education". But even there, the concept of "life-long education", actually it's already there in Vedic culture, varnasrama is actually life-long education.
Brahmachari, you know we start brahmachari asrama, student life and we end up in the renounced life. If we do not end up in the renounced life then, next life, we again start brahmacari, or whatever, if we are fortunate enough to get a human birth. But the concept of life-long education…at least some people are making a step in the right direction, in that education is meant for life. Now they have to figure out "what is education", number one, and number two, then they have to figure out "what is life". Life is not only this material life. Life is not only for the few years we are in this body. Life means eternal life and education means material and spiritual education combined together.
So the whole material set up, as we know, is just based on a lot of speculation and we also know, from personal experience and observation, that speculation doesn't really give many results. I mean it gives results but all bad results. The kind of results that bring you headaches, sufferings, pains… and things like that. So the solution to our problems, the way we can be happy, the way we can actually be growing ... Life is meant to be a growing experience, growing in awareness, growing in consciousness, that's what Krishna consciousness is all about. And we have a tremendous responsibility as devotees, those of us who are teachers, those of us who are parents. Actually, there are many kinds of leaders and teachers. The concept of life-long education touches on that a little bit in that, actually, all of us are meant to be simultaneously students and teachers. Whatever we know, we should try to share that with others, and we should also understand that even though we may be teachers, even in a formal way, we are also always students.
So formal education, although education is meant for everyone, and for the whole life, formal education, when I say that majority of people should not be in school, people should not be caught up, it's not the place, to be taking up what is called "formal education", like many years in some kind of institution, like that. Formal education is meant for the brahmanas essentially, and in the varnasrama system or in any society, brahmanas, the really intelligent people, are very few, especially in Kali Yuga. So majority of people are actually like sudra and vaisya. Prabhupada says that actually they don't need to go to school to learn what they need to do. That they don't need to go to school doesn't mean they don't need education. We have this false conception that if you do not go to school you are not educated. We have another false conception that if we do not know to read or write, we are not educated. That's wrong.
To be illiterate doesn't mean to be uneducated. Prabhupada points out that village people like in India, or there are other places where they are God conscious, they're more educated than people with PhD's, although they cannot read and write. This is what we are left and caught up with… these false conceptions, and in different countries, they are trying to raise the level of literacy and one is judging how advanced is the country on the level of literacy. This is all bogus. False propaganda. Especially now-a-days, the more literate you are, the more you have access to garbage literature and the more you actually become polluted because there is no proper training and guidance. Majority of people in Kali-Yuga… actually we are all born sudra and, therefore, because of no proper guides, no proper leaders, we remain sudras. Therefore, sudra is someone who can't look after himself. So we are being misguided, constantly, and therefore, our consciousness, our activities, everything is polluted.
Hari Kirtan: There is one more question. Devotees generally argue that, "Na me bhakta pranashyati", that my devotees never perish and devotees are generally practicing devotional services like sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam… well, in the city. So what is the need, really, to build villages and shift there? People's lifespan as it is, is very short. How to defeat this argument?
Maharaja: Yes. Well, sravanam, kirtanam, yes but who's hearing Prabhupada's instructions to get back to the villages? That's the answer. We are doing so much chanting, we are doing so much hearing, but, what is the quality of that chanting, what is the quality of our hearing? When the Founder Acarya of our society makes a statement that 50% of my work is not done, what are we doing sitting around, doing so called hearing and chanting? We should be hearing not only selected instructions from Srila Prabhupada. It is a fact, of course, that one can become realized simply by any one of these activities of devotional service. But the fact remains that, actually, hearing is the most important, and if we do not hear those important instructions by Srila Prabhupada we are going to miss out. This is very. I would say it's a crucial instruction. That is a crucial instruction in the present context, and the world situation which every single day is falling apart and the suffering of individuals and especially of animals, cows especially, the atrocities being committed every single day. We are not aware of, we are not aware of. That means that we are not hearing. We are not attentive, and we are seeing that we are disobeying the orders and committing nama aparadha. Third offense… disobeying the orders of the spiritual master.
So, that's a whole different subject matter. But why do we have so many problems in our society, individually, collectively, amongst ourselves, in relationships? Well we have to come back to these basic things. Until we do that, it is likely that our problems will not become resolved. There are people who are not even devotees who understand some of these things better than we do.
Hari Kirtan: Really Maharaja, enlightening it was. In a short time we came to know many things about varnasrama and understood the meaning of the 50% of the work that Prabhupada wanted us to do. Thank you Maharaja.
Maharaja: Hare Krishna.
Part II
Hari Kirtan: You said that now is the time to really get back to the villages and lead a natural life. To practically get this done, we see only 2 options. One is converting the existing villages, I mean make them Krishna conscious and make them understand the advantages that they have staying in villages; and the second option is like creating new villages. Which do you think is the more effective way or practical way?
Maharaja: Well, I would say that both are needed. In some places, it may be practical to start a new village, in other places it may be more practical to work with an existing structure. Very often it is more difficult to work with an existing structure because of inherent conditioning that is there. There are many factors and influences. Both, I would say, both should be tried out, should be experimented with and I'm quite confident, personally, that both can work if we have the right approach, the right understanding and individuals who are willing to make the effort. It's not easy. It's not at all easy. As devotees, all of us are heavily conditioned in modern way of doing things, modern way of life, modern way of thinking etc. we've become also very attached to our computers (laughs). Too many material facilities etc. like that.
Obviously we've become too attached, overly attached. We have to come back to hearing. Prabhupada, in many places, explains, you know, we should learn to be content with the minimum. This is important. We should learn to live with the minimum. We should learn to simply have what is required to keep body and soul together. Doesn't mean we live in poverty. But it means that we need to cut down because there are so many things that actually we don't realize, so many things we don't need. Most of us have surplus of things, unnecessary things. Our present modern civilization has become very expert in producing all kinds of unnecessary facilities etc. like that.
What is very essential for us, and that is there of course in the philosophy, is understanding that our real satisfaction and happiness can only come, will only come when we practice real devotional service. And real devotional service is not dependent on anything material, as we know the philosophy, means we have to learn to put into practice the philosophy. That devotional service, spiritual life, is not dependent on our material situation. We may live in a so called good material situation, with various facilities, but we shouldn't become enamored by that and attached to that. And likewise, we may be in a completely different impoverished situation, but similarly we should not become discouraged by that. If we actually have, if we actually understand, if we actually practice devotional service, then our material condition, our material situation will become, and it has to become, secondary. Varnasrama, actually, is, that's one of the important features of varnasrama, that the emphasis is on teaching masses very basic, primary points, the emphasis is on always keeping in mind the focus, Krishna consciousness .
So in the material world people, because majority of people don't have Krishna consciousness, do not have spiritual life, therefore, they have to hang on to something. They have to be naturally attached to something and that attachment to something, that something is something material. So we have to actually learn to become attached to simple things, simple way of life. Learn to be satisfied with relationships of Krishna conscious devotees. And again, if we continue to live in the cities, there is simply too much constant advertising and allurement away from spiritual life. All kinds of pollution, consciously or unconsciously, bombarding our senses all the time. I think you know in Secunderabad it's like that.
Hari Kirtan: Yeah Yeah Yeah.
Maharaja: All the cities, cities are especially like that. So depending on different factors, like in our particular situation here in Indonesia, we opted to start something from scratch. It took quite sometime to find a proper piece of land. So we have at present 150 acres. We are in a process of acquiring more land, another 20 hectares we are looking at right now. That's another 50 acres. And we can actually, I mean in the last 3 years, we see, we could say, the nucleus of a small village coming up. We can actually see it. It takes a little bit of time, but actually, in one sense, not that much time. Three years is a relatively short time I would say. And we see how our devotees are becoming gradually, more and more, better established. And I asked a few days back when we were there, I asked the devotees: how is everything? How is life in GNB? They said that, actually, it's nice. It's O.K. and it's a learning process actually.
Hari Kirtan: New people are also joining, something positive.
Maharaja: Whenever we have festivals, we have people coming, learning about it. That's what Prabhupada meant by "you create, you become an example". You create an ideal living situation. Whoever comes there will see, ah, it's so nice here. People are happy and many of our devotees are genuinely very happy that they are living amongst like minded devotees. Of course, many of our devotees have professions in cities and so many engagements etc. and, for many of them, it may seem completely impossible, and possibly for some it may be impossible, to completely leave the cities. What is important is that, again, we should not put all of our, as the expression goes in English, all our eggs in the same basket. If we are going to put then it should be in the country. Eggs belong in the country, come from the country anyways. Even people who are professionals, etc. like that, if they get an opportunity to visit places where we are developing communities in the country, they will begin to appreciate and understand.
The mere fact that, the mere statement given by Srila Prabhupada, that cities are going to crumble, and they are crumbling under our very eyes, that in itself is sufficient to make our devotees understand, maybe this is not really a long term situation for me here, and actually it's not.
Maharaja, this last question, myself representing a spoilt condition, city
Maharaja: Prototype, like city boy ( laughs)
Hari Kirtan: Having heard about cow protection, the importance of cow protection, if we were to take up something about cow protection, what would be the things like the boy like me can do? Previously, like, we may be able to stop the cow slaughter? Can we go to preach about that? Or we get a cow and struggle with it?
Maharaja: As long as you continue to live in Secunderabad, I think it will be difficult to just get a cow. There are a number of things that, as devotees, for example, living in the cities, we should do in order to become…First of all there is a need to become conscious ourselves on the need for cow protection. What it means and how unprotected our cows are, all over the world, how deplorable is the present situation, what kind of reactions it must be creating and that will eventually come back to all of us .
Some practical things we should do, yes, both individually and, because we are a society, even more so as a collective society, as a society in different cities around the world, we should be much more active in terms of making propaganda against the slaughtering of cows, cruelty to animals in general, but especially the cow.
There are organizations, groups of people, who are, again, not devotees, who are much more active than we are to protect specifically the cow. Lord Chaitanya, 500 years ago, organized the first civil disobedience movement by having 100,000 people march to protest against the Chand Kazi. In that purport, that particular pastime, Srila Prabhupada explains that as devotees we have a right to protest, not only a right but it's our duty to protest against activities against dharma. And that's the most obvious thing that is promoting adharma, our unprotected cows. There are many things that can be done in the city, I would say, possibly working with other groups who are concerned like animal rights movement. Some things are being done. Like every year, they have this "Meat Out" program, campaign has been going on for many years and our society is active in supporting their activities.
So, in other words, there are people, again, who are not as such as we understand like devotees, with tilaka, etc., like that, but there is another brand of devotees, we could say, who have similar concerns and working with them is one possibility. And as a society, individually taking up, just like in the past we've had protests against abortion for example. That's another atrocity in modern society that we should be much more active and concerned about.
In addition, our congregations in the cities need to be educated. Our devotees need to educate our city people. They need to inspire them to actually do something in the country like you (Secunderabad temple) are endeavoring to do. Not only speaking but, also, you have to do something concrete to develop that more. Inspire people to purchase some land. Even individual can purchase some land to just come back to the reality of land and cow.
Of course, we have to prepare ourselves especially to look after the cow. It is not an easy thing. I would say we are ignorant, to a large extent, how to look after cows and what are the requirements? I've come to realize, and I've heard from different devotees who are knowledgeable, it's even a greater responsibility to look after cows than to look after children. One should think more before having a cow than having a child, because each child is going to grow up and is going to be independent, is going to be able to look after himself, not so for your cow. Your cow is going to always depend on you. So if you are not ready, you know a cow lives for a good 20 years or more and has by products, calves. So that means that it's a long term responsibility.
So there are concrete things we should discuss amongst devotees, between temples possibly. I mean I don't see these things on the agendas, on the ICC, not to criticize ICC meetings or other kinds of meetings, regional or global, but very little that is going on. This year, in Mayapur, I understand that there was a seminar, workshop on cow protection by the Ministry of Cow Protection, which is very good. We need more of these things and we need to filter down on different continents, regions and all of our temples.
Again it's a question of ignorance on our part, ignorance on the one hand and also carelessness or just indifference. Indifference is a very big detriment in advancement. Indifference is a kind of impersonalism. We are impersonal in different ways. We do not think about the cows. It's a result of our disease of impersonalism we've inherited, I think, especially in the western countries or maybe all over the world. And Krishna consciousness is meant to destroy… Namaste Sarasvate deve Gaura vani pracharine, Nirvisesa Sunyavadi paschatya desa tarine. Not only in America, all over the world… so we are afflicted by this disease of impersonalism. And Krishna consciousness is meant to destroy that because Krishna consciousness is "personalism" in its pure form. And it will only become manifest, in its pure form, as we become personal when we will have the cow, Krishna's most dear and beloved friend and devotee, constantly in our mind and our lives, not only we think about it, our lives will be arranged in such a way that we will touch base, either we will see cows daily or we will be somehow or other connected with cow or cow product, like ghee or this or that. Govinda Restaurants is one way. Of course, in the beginning of our movement, we were cooking daily with ghee. Now how many temples are cooking with ghee?
Hari Kirtan: Just become another hotel.
Maharaja: Yeah. So we need to read more of the Krishna Book where protection of cows is stressed and underlined. We just need to hear more of Prabhupada's instructions. We need to discuss about them, not only discuss, but we need to begin to putting them into practice. We have to set down goals. We have to plan things out. We are very bad at planning in Iskcon, unfortunately, very bad at setting goals. We have to grow up, we have to mature. We have to become more purified.
No comments:
Post a Comment