Prabhupada's Varnasrama, Transitional Varnasrama

[Guest guest]

Re: Pigs land and bulldozers

 

On Sat, 13 Nov 1999, COM: Gokula das (New Nandagram - AU) wrote:

 

> [Text 2775197 from COM]

>

> > It turns out folks that we have bottled out, and we are going for the

> > bulldozer.

> >

> > Shame! I hear you cry.

> >

> > Well rest assured that my head is hung low and my face flushed as I type

> > these words.

>

> > Your unworthy servant

> > Samba das

>

> Rest assured Samba I do not cry shame. I endorse your decision to use a

> bulldozer. The quicker the land is made productive the better. Please pull

> up the tea trees as this disturbs the soil profile less than pushing them

> out.

>

> Your servant, Gokula das.

 

-

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

 

I agree with Gokula prabhu. In this situation it seems better to use the

bulldozer, since you are not in a position to offer life-time protection

to the pigs.

 

We need to make the honest distinction between Srila Prabhupada's ideal

presentation of varnasrama (including free distribution of land by

ksatriyas, in-kind payment of taxes, localized-ox power economics, etc.)

and what kind of work we can do to help start varnasrama right now.

 

In my paper, "What Do We Mean by Varnasrama?: Five Models of Social

Development," I have made the distinction between

 

1. Original Varnasrama

(as refered to by Parasara Muni: Varnasramacaravata....)

 

2. Materialistic

Varnasrama (such as the modern caste-system, which Srila Prabhupada

criticized)

 

3. Spontaneous Varnasrama (the all pervasive spontaneous model

which Prabhupada refered to in his conversations with Professor Kotofsky

as automatically occuring in every society and every historical period,

and which has no link at all to spiritual activity) and two subsets of

varnasrama:

 

4. Prabhupada's Varnasrama (which is basically the same as

Parasara Muni's version, except that it has a particular focus on issues

which need to be addressed in the modern age -- for example Parasara Muni

never says that ox power will bring a better social system than tractors,

since that would have been irrelevant to the time he was speaking) and

 

5. Transitional Varnasrama (which is what we can work on now to take us

from either Materialistic Varnasrama or Spontaneous Varnasrama towards

Srila Prabhupada's ideal model.

 

 

Transitional Varnasrama relies heavily on yukta-vairagya -- but we must be

on guard not to slide into complacency and let our emergency measures

become permanent policies -- as Madhava Gosh cautioned Samba about using

the bulldozers to clear land: It's not ideal, but for a short term

situation it is acceptable. But, don't rely on bulldozers for a long term

situation, because then you take away the employment of the oxen and

undermine the establishment of cow protection.

 

Similarly, there has been some discussion of selling produce to earn a

living. To rely on *selling* produce to make a living is a capitalistic

proposal. In the ultimate model, Srila Prabhupada was opposed to both

capitalism and communism. Instead, he proposed localized

self-sufficiency, something which economists would term "subsistence."

Subsistence production means that production is focused on use by the

family that produces it -- rather than being focused on sales to others.

There are sales in a subsistence economy, but the focus is on producing

for one's own family. Srila Prabhupada's instructions are right in line

with the economists definition of subsistence, because he advocates that

produce can be sold "if there is excess" after the needs of the family and

the in-kind taxes to the ksatriya are paid.

 

But, Prabhupada's model presupposes a ksatriya who distributes land and

arranges to provide appropriate varna training for his citizens. In our

transitional status, the practical matter is that devotees generally have

to pay for their own land and often they must pay for any training they

receive -- (more often, they are inadequately trained).

 

So, in this Transitional Varnasrama, which is somewhat what we mean by

"practical varnasrama" as I understand it -- then it is permissible to

produce crops primarily for sale. It will help varnasrama much more if

someone like Mother Carol is on her land producing some crops to take to

market than it would if she simply gave up her rural living and moved to

the city and sold computers.

 

On one hand we must maintain our recognition of the truth: Capitalism

contains many elements which if unchecked will undermine the establishment

of varnasrama. Prabhupada has discussed some of these detrimental aspects

of capitalism. On the other hand, we will be shooting ourselves in the

foot if we condemn any type of capitalist agriculture (though we must

avoid capitalist-oriented dairy production). As much as I appreciate some

of his other concerns, Harikesa prabhu was absolutely wrong when he

stated that "Capitalism is the varnasrama principle." (May 3, 1994) And,

this perspective, if it had been allowed to continue would have destroyed

or at least greatly impeded the chance of ever making the transition to

Srila Prabhupada's ideal model of varnasrama.

 

Also, recently a GBC has stated that "communism is dead." On one hand, it

is good to recognize that it is the source of much of our problems in

ISKCON stem from our attempts to force non-brahmanas into a communal

social system -- which destroys individual incentice and individual

responsibility. Yet, on the other hand, we have developed large communal

herds -- in Vrndavana, Mayapura, New Vrndavana, New Talavan, and other

communities. It will not be possible to just get rid of these communal

herds over night, and move to the model presented by Krsna where each cow

returns to the individual family that owns it every night. That is also

not realistic. We must appreciate our communal-style farms as an element

of transitional varnasrama. And, just as with capitalism, we need to be

alert to the possible pitfalls of such the communal system, and gradually

work to move it closer and closer to the ideal model which Srila

Prabhupada describes: Every one should have a few acres of land and some

cows given by the government and these should be used for one's daily

bread.

 

In conclusion, the point is this. Neither bulldozers, market-oriented

crop production, nor centralized communal farms are part of Srila

Prabhupada's description of the ideal varnasrama community he wants us to

develope.

 

Nevertheless, features such as this may prove valuable and even

indispensible in building a transitional model of varnasrama that will

ultimately lead us to Srila Prabhupada's ideal model.

 

The essential thing is that we do not become complacent and feel that we

have reached the ultimate goal when we are using such transitional

methods.

 

On one hand we must have the honesty and humility -- as demonstrated by

Samba prabhu in his use of bulldozers -- to admit that our present

practices are not up to the level of ultimate varnasrama described by

Srila Prabhupada -- whether we are growing crops for marketing, using a

bulldozer or selling paintings. On the other hand we must keep the

pitfalls and dangers of each element of transitional varnasrama clearly in

our minds. That way we will not be diverted from our goal.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi