Cow Quote #26 -- protecting cows under the protection of the ks

[Guest guest]

Yet another fantastic quote from Gauranga Prema Prabhu.

 

This is the part I'm really interested in:

 

The structure of the varnasrama-dharma was so nice that the brähmanas would

guide the head of state. The head of state would then give protection to the

citizens. The ksatriyas would take charge of protecting the people in

general, and under the protection of the ksatriyas, the vaisyas would

protect the cows, produce food grains and distribute them. Südras, the

working class, would help the higher three classes by manual labor. This is

the perfect social system. S.B. 4.17.9

 

Srila Prabhupada describes the version of varnasrama that he presents here as

"The Perfect Social System."

 

We go round and round about how the vaisyas can protect the cows when they have

to make payments on their land -- but here Srila Prabhupada offers a vital clue

on how this works in varnasrama:

 

"...Under the protection of the ksatriyas, the vaisyas would protect the cows,

produce food grains and distribute them."

 

Unless the farmers are under the protection of the ksatriyas -- it is very,

very

difficult for them to protect cows.

 

Elsewhere Srila Prabhupada explains the system of land tenure in varnasrama.

That system is not capitalist: The farmer does not have to buy his land. And

that system is not communist -- at least not classical communism: The farmer

does not share his land with other farmers.

 

Rather, under the system that Srila Prabhupada describes the ksatriya gives

land

to the farmer "for production, not for ownership." And, in return, the vaisya

pays a certain percentage of his produce (it's significant that Prabhupada

specifically mentions "grains" in the passage above, because grains are easy to

store without spoilage) to the government -- 25% of what he produces.

 

Then, *after* he pays his taxes-in-kind (not cash) to the government, he

donates

to the brahmanas.,

 

This is Srila Prabhupada's picture of "the Perfect Social System." We know

that

we cannot set up a system like this right now. But -- if we start with Srila

Prabhupada's model -- then we can think of how we will substitute for each

factor so that we end up with something as close to Srila Prabhupada's model as

possible.

 

Cow protection is very, very difficult to maintain within the capitalist

context

-- because land prices are driven very high by real-estate speculation. Thus

mortgage and tax payments are too high to allow a farmer who simply lives by

milking cows and working the oxen to survive. In the capitalist context, we

have seen that there must be a charitable component to make up for the fact

that

the ksatriya provides no protection to the farmer.

 

Just for sake of comparison consider the post-Soviet Cuban model of agriculture

-- as described by Fernando Funes in his book "Sustainable Agriculture and

Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba" (Food First Publisher 2002).

Cubans discovered that the strictly communist form of agriculture they had

before the collapse of the Soviet Union did not work. It was too large scale;

individual farmers weren't motiviated (Prabhupada describes this also); it

could

only operate with imported chemical inputs and petroleum.

 

Therefore, the Cuban government switched to several different types of land

use/land ownership models. The model that particularly interested me is one

which is legally termed a "usufruct" model (from the Latin words for "use" and

"fruit") in which farmers have a right to all the produce on the land, but they

cannot sell or let it become ecologically degraded. This sounds very, very

similar to the model that Srila Prabhupada advocated.

 

So, there is a lot in this quote for us to think about -- and many clues on how

to make varnasrama really work.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

"Gauranga Prema (das) BCAIS (Cape Town - SA)" wrote:

 

> SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM -Canto 4 Ch.17 text 9

> TRANSLATION

> The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, at the time King Påthu

> was enthroned by the great sages and brähmaëas and declared to be the

> protector of the citizens, there was a scarcity of food grains. The citizens

> actually became skinny due to starvation. Therefore they came before the

> King and informed him of their real situation.

> PURPORT

> Information is given herein concerning the selection of the king by the

> brähmaëas. According to the varëäçrama system, the brähmaëas are considered

> to be the heads of the society and therefore to be situated in the topmost

> social position. The varëäçrama-dharma, the institution of four varëas and

> four äçramas, is very scientifically designed. As stated in Bhagavad-gétä,

> varëäçrama-dharma is not a man-made institution, but is God-made. In this

> narration it is clearly indicated that the brähmaëas used to control the

> royal power. When an evil king like Vena ruled, the brähmaëas would kill him

> through their brahminical powers and would select a proper ruler by testing

> his qualifications. In other words, the brähmaëas, the intelligent men or

> great sages, would control the monarchical powers. Here we have an

> indication of how the brähmaëas elected King Påthu to the throne as the

> protector of the citizens. The citizens, being skinny due to hunger,

> approached the King and informed him that necessary action should be taken.

> The structure of the varëäçrama-dharma; was so nice that the brähmaëas would

> guide the head of state. The head of state would then give protection to the

> citizens. The kñatriyas would take charge of protecting the people in

> general, and under the protection of the kñatriyas, the vaiçyas would

> protect the cows, produce food grains and distribute them. Çüdras, the

> working class, would help the higher three classes by manual labor. This is

> the perfect social system.

 

--

Noma Petroff

Academic Department Coordinator

BOWDOIN COLLEGE

Department of Theater & Dance

9100 College Station

Brunswick ME 04011-8491

 

Phone: (207) 725-3663

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http://academic.bowdoin.edu/theaterdance/