© 1998 VNN
| EDITORIAL December 13, 1998 VNN2671 Comment on this Story Vedic Villages (Part One) BY NARASIMHA DAS EDITORIAL, Dec 13 (VNN) — Due to the influence of Srila Prabhupada's teachings, leading thinkers both in the East and the West these days often propose village solutions to the massive global problems facing mankind. Village models, and proposals for returning to simple, village-style social and economic structures are now in vogue and more appealing to reasonable people. Srila Prabhupada said that creating rural Krsna conscious communities was an important part of his mission. The Vedic perspective Srila Prabhupada gave us helps us understand that modern industries and lifestyles are unwanted and unnecessary. Modern society is useful only for quickly spreading information. Otherwise, it breeds corruption, greed and waste. Rather than empowering people as individuals, it tends to create herds of blind followers who are incapable of thinking for themselves or providing their own necessities. Such individuals, robbed of their inner strength and morality become pawns in the hands of powerful economic and political leaders. Ultimately they become the liability of political and social leaders. Due to their dependence, addictions, and rapid degeneration to the stage of uncontrollable animals, the mass of modern people eventually become a useless burden. When atheistic leaders see the people are no longer useful for economic expansion, they make plans to eliminate them. World leaders are well prepared for this inevitable stage of material advancement of civilization -- the stage of annihilation. The atheistic ideal is to create utopian facilities for the greed of a few at the expense of the entire planet. For this end they create elaborate networks of systems and heavy-handed police and military organizations to herd people into lifestyles and jobs they don't want but learn to tolerate using high-tech distractions, along with alcohol and drugs provided by establishment industries. In spite of the advances of ecological sciences, which have accurately predicted many of the adverse effects of industrialization and consumerism, most people are still in denial about the fact that modern facilities -- such as nuclear power, combustion engines and toxic chemicals -- are dreadfully dangerous and should be given up completely. This is the single greatest obstacle to creating working villages and a peaceful, enlightened society -- our lack of eagerness caused by hi-tech addictions. The first art of village life is learning how to peacefully chant Hare Krsna under a tree. This was Srila Prabhupada's program both when he began ISKCON in New York City and when he stayed one month in the remote hills of West Virginia to establish New Vrindaban. He taught devotees how to sit down and chant intensely. Spiritual programs and festivities of Krsna consciousness are the inspirational basis of Vedic villages. By living close to nature, and cultivating a mood of dependence on Krsna and appreciation for the beauty of nature, devotees develop the talents and inspiration necessary to make village life successful at a particular location. A village and a villager must both achieve resonance with the local environment. A villager must find spiritual peace and purpose in the environment. Vivikta-desa sevitam. The Gopis were so much absorbed in the mood of their village, Sri Vrindaban Dham, that they refused to leave even for the sake of living with Sri Krsna, their dearmost loved one, in Sri Dham Dvaraka. On the practical level, every village needs flat land and a good water source. Ideally, the water source should descend from a hill above the cropland, so that gravity-flow irrigation can be employed. The local environment should provide enough trees for firewood and construction and enough fertile fields for grazing and crops. Such favorable environments were common in India until 50 or 100 years ago. Even today in many parts of the world fertile flat land or gently sloping land is available with full water resources from clean streams or springs flowing from nearby hills. Intelligent devotees should settle on lands that provide a suitable environment for both agriculture and kirtana. The surroundings should be tranquil and pleasing. Unfortunately, most good agriculture areas today are polluted by poisons, fertilizers and other pollutants, not the least of which is noise. For this reason, at this eleventh hour, devotees should consider more pristine locations. Rather than trying to buy huge flat lands and grow huge crops for marketing or feeding the masses, ascetic Vaisnavas can settle land in remote or hilly areas, where food production is pursued for self-sufficiency rather than as commercial income. Of course, for the long-term development of large villages, areas with abundant river-bottom or creek-bottom lands are undeniably superior, especially if large forests or wilderness areas are nearby or adjoining. The first village infrastructure needed is housing. When a family has a home and stored food, they can begin systematically developing the arts of village economy. Thus the grhastras, the productive class who support the other classes of varnasrama society, are defined in the Vedas simply as "house holders." We cannot begin the task of creating a village until a few grhastras own their own homes at a rural location. Families living in their own homes on improved natural farms form the building block for a prosperous village, kingdom or nation. The basis of village economy must be food crops or food production. The basis of village morality and order must be kula-dharma, or religious family life. Kula-dharma is preserved by nama-sankirtana and by protecting village elders. Village managers should accept the guidance of senior devotees. The village elders are generally varnaprasthas or ascetic brahmins, retired from social life and absorbed in hari-kirtana and hari-katha. They should guide the village according to the eternal principles of Krsna consciousness rather than allowing themselves to be influenced by social pressure or issues of the day. Village elders and other senior brahmins should be competent to apply the instructions of Srila Prabhupada in any situation that might arise. They should carefully avoid influences of mundane politics, lower modes of nature, popular opinion, and profit motives. A village is generally not protected from within but from without, by the local king or warrior. If no outside protection exists, a village must have its own defense. In rural settings the police and fire departments do not respond to 911 calls quickly. I was present when New Vrindaban was attacked by a motorcycle gang in 1973. I never felt so helpless and in want of an iron. We were unprepared at that time, and the police came several hours later to sniff around uselessly. In communities where there are women, children, cows, and Deities, internal defense systems must be carefully organized by village leaders. Surprised to hear of our lack of preparedness at NV, Srila Prabhupada said he would himself keep a gun in his bead bag, if necessary, to protect the Deities and devotees. If central government agencies fail, unimaginable pandemonium will reign far and wide. A Vedic village should be independently prepared for all contingencies, such as famine and war. The above provides a very brief overview of fundamental principles for Vedic villages given in Srila Prabhupada's books and lectures and other Vedic writings. Prabhupada repeatedly emphasized that the practical basis of village prosperity must be food production. In "Vedic Villages (Part Two)" we will discuss simple formulas for helping devotees achieve family self-reliance and then later Vedic village liberation, which satisfies all the needs of human life and preserves the natural order created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9812/ET13-2671.html
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
