Le Cow Quote Du Jour # 12

[Guest guest]

Here is the text of an article sent to Chakra Wed morning

 

SELF RELIANT COW PROTECTION

 

by

 

Madhava Gosh

 

I read with interest Garuda's article on Self Sufficient Cow Protection. I am

happy seeing the topic discussed, even more so by someone making a serious

attempt to reconnect with the Earth. I am moved to respond and will address

aspects of 4 topics in this reply - cow protection, self sufficiency, mules

versus oxen from the perspective of draft animals, and mules versus oxen from

the perspective of cow protection. The hardest part will be to restrain

myself

from voluminous quoting.

 

COW PROTECTION

 

One quote and I'll let it go at that:

 

 

TRANSLATION

The brahmanas, the cows and the defenseless creatures are My own body. Those

whose faculty of judgment has been impaired by their own sin look upon these as

distinct from Me. They are just like furious serpents, and they are angrily

torn

apart by the bills of the vulturelike messengers of Yamaraja, the

superintendent

of sinful persons.

 

PURPORT

The defenseless creatures, according to Brahma-samhita, are the cows,

brahmanas,

women, children and old men. Of these five, the brahmanas and cows are

especially mentioned in this verse because the Lord is always anxious about the

benefit of the brahmanas and the cows and is prayed to in this way. The Lord

especially instructs, therefore, that no one should be envious of these five,

especially the cows and brahmanas. In some of the Bhagavatam readings, the word

duhitrh is used instead of duhatih. But in either case, the meaning is the

same.

Duhatih means "cow," and duhitrh can also be used to mean "cow" because the cow

is supposed to be the daughter of the sun-god. Just as children are taken care

of by the parents, women as a class should be taken care of by the father,

husband or grown-up son. Those who are helpless must be taken care of by their

respective guardians, otherwise the guardians will be subjected to the

punishment of Yamaraja, who is appointed by the Lord to supervise the

activities

of sinful living creatures. The assistants, or messengers, of Yamaraja are

likened here to vultures, and those who do not execute their respective duties

in protecting their wards are compared to serpents. Vultures deal very

seriously

with serpents, and similarly the messengers will deal very seriously with

neglectful guardians.

 

Ref. VedaBase => SB 3.16.10

 

SELF SUFFICIENCY

 

I don't like and don't use the term self sufficiency in the context of farming

projects. I prefer the term self reliant, but "self sufficient" is so deeply

ingrained in devoteespeak I decided to see how Srila Prabhupada used it. I

read the 200+ quotes in VedaBase for "self sufficiency" and "self sufficient"

and offer the the following samples. First I read the quotes in Srila

Prabhupada’s books. The following is representative of the great majority of

quotes:

 

The Supreme Lord Krsna is described herein as atmarama. He is self-sufficient,

and there is no need for Him to seek happiness from anything beyond Himself. He

is self-sufficient because His very transcendental existence is total bliss.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.11.4, SB 1.11.5, SB 1.11.4-5

 

There are also a few uses as represented by :

 

Everyone, from the aquatics to the highest form of human being -- from the ant

up to Brahma, the first creature of this universe -- is searching for peace.

That is the main objective. Lord Caitanya said that a person who is in full

Krsna consciousness is the only peaceful man because he has no demands.. That

is

the special qualification of a person who is in Krsna consciousness. He is

akamah. Akamah refers to those who have no desire, who are self-sufficient, who

have nothing to ask and who are fully peaceful. Who are they? They are the

devotees who are situated in Krsna consciousness.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => TYS 9: The Real Peace Formula

 

That use of self sufficiency here has to do with consciousness, not external

arrangement.

 

Lastly (and I am consciously skipping the quote about a demon being self

sufficient because I don't understand how it fits in) there are only a

couple

quotes about those wanting to be self sufficient:

 

By the grace of the Lord, each and every planet is created fully equipped. So

not only is this earth fully equipped with all the riches for the maintenance

of

its inhabitants, but also when the Lord descends on the earth the whole earth

becomes so enriched with all kinds of opulences that even the denizens of

heaven

worship it with all affection. But by the will of the Lord, the whole earth can

at once be changed. He can do and undo a thing by His sweet will. Therefore no

one should consider himself to be self-sufficient or independent of the Lord.

 

============ REF. SB 1.16.24

 

 

Therefore the jugglery of science is gradually leading people to a godless

civilization at the cost of the goal of human life. Having missed the goal of

life, materialists run after self-sufficiency, not knowing that material nature

is already self-sufficient by the grace of God. Thus creating a colossal hoax

in

the name of civilization, they create an imbalance in the natural

self-sufficiency of material nature.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 5.51

 

So reading the books, one could easily come to the conclusion that use of

"self sufficiency" is not appropriate when talking about socio-economic

arrangements. However, I read on, into the more time and circumstance

oriented

letters and talks. As would be expected, there are again numerous

references to Krsna as being self sufficient, and to what true self

sufficiency is for individuals:

 

Dhananjaya: [break] ...isn't self-sufficiency...

Prabhupada: Self-suff... There is no self-sufficiency. Self-insufficiency.

Always remember that. Unless you become perfect in Krsna consciousness, there

is

no self-sufficiency. All self-insufficiency. Hare Krsna.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- September 3, 1975, Vrndavana

 

 

Then how does the term enter devoteespeak? When Srila Prabhupada was in

America, the alternative culture movement was strong, with an emphasis on

independence from the mainstream military/industrial complex, and this was in

the minds of many devotees joining the movement.. Frequently it is the

devotee

who first mentions self sufficiency and Srila Prabhupada then responds to that

usage:

 

Siddha-svarupa: Actually there is.... There is two factions in the Chinese

schools now. One is saying to.... They're both materialistically based, but one

is trying to stay on a position of self-sufficiency economically and not take

from other countries or even trade, and the other school is to industrialize.

And they're always fighting with their...

Prabhupada: Oh, there are two schools?

Siddha-svarupa: Yes.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Siddha-svarupa: And the school who is more for self-sufficiency in agriculture,

they also have brought out the.... In the last eight years or so they've

brought

to the surface more spiritual ideas.

Prabhupada: Hm. So there is a section who'll support.

Siddha-svarupa: Yes.

Prabhupada: Who can support our movement.

Siddha-svarupa: Yes.

Prabhupada: So we have to capture them.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- March 15, 1976, Mayapura

 

Still a good idea.. Where once alternative culture movements were fueled by

anti Vietnam War sentiment, today they are spearheaded by environmentalists,

many of whom see the struggle as being one against globalization. Self reliant

localized devotee communities could be centers of spiritual and material

inspiration for this growing movement. Even Al Gore is positioning himself as

the environmental candidate. Using "self reliant" here, I am not disputing

that Srila Prabhupada used "self sufficient" to describe agrarian based

societal organization. He does, as in the following quotes, one of which

also

warns against the danger of ISKCON rural communities becoming merely suburban

in texture::

 

But I can understand the financial position of New Vrindaban so the best thing

will be to stop any more influx in New Vrindaban until the place is

self-dependent. The whole idea of New Vrindaban is that men who are living

there

should produce their own food, of which milk is the principal thing. Unless

that

position is achieved it will not be advisable to ask anybody to go there.

Better

to ask them to go there if they are willing to work and produce their own food.

Otherwise, nobody should be advised to go there.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Kirtanananda -- Los Angeles 31 July, 1969

 

Prabhupada: Yes. (break) ...encouraging in our society to take to agriculture

to

support this center. I am purchasing land in Vrndavana and Mayapura to become

self-sufficient. Whatever production you make, you be satisfied. Little

vegetable, little grain and little milk. That is sufficient.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => HIGHLIGHTS: Perform sacrifice and become

self-sufficient...king grants land, taxes are in-kind and based on

production...paper curr

 

If only it ended there. Read on:

 

Regarding your points about taxation, corporate status, etc., I have heard from

Jayatirtha you want to make big plan for centralization of management, taxes,

monies, corporate status, bookkeeping, credit, like that. I do not at all

approve of such plan. Do not centralize anything. Each temple must remain

independent and self-sufficient. That was my plan from the very beginning, why

you are thinking otherwise? Once before you wanted to do something centralizing

with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere the whole thing would have

been killed.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Karandhara -- Bombay 22 December, 1972

 

So here he is clearly talking about temples, not farm communities. It gets

even more complicated:

 

In this part of the world also, we have got several buses which are going all

over your country and doing nicely. Yesterday I have seen one Sankirtana bus

presented by Rupanuga Maharaja, complete with kitchen, shower, and deity room.

It is completely self-sufficient and can keep 8 to 10 men. Their program is to

remain on the road going from town to town and village to village.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Madhudvisa -- New Vrndavana 7 September, 1972

 

So does self sufficiency mean self contained as a traveling bus, or

producing foodstuffs living on the land? You couldn't have two more mutually

exclusive lifestyles. One tied to the land, the other completely untied.

You

see the problem; not with the concepts involved, but the usage of the term.

Srila Prabhupada’s points are crystal clear if taken in context in case by

case. It has more to do with the insufficiency of the language; in English

the

same term can be used differently at different times. In any case, it is not

the concept of sustainable Earth based economics that I am uncomfortable

with.

I am with Srila Prabhupada cent per cent on this. It is the term itself that

is so fraught with cultural baggage and spiritual inexactitude. Was Srila

Prabhupada himself attached to the term? Not really, as is seen in the

following quotes where he discusses the concept but uses another label:

 

Prabhupada: Yes, increase farm projects. It is very nice project.

Self-dependent. Very good. Krsna personally, He lived in village, farm, cows,

calves, land, Govardhana Hill. It is very nice. Land, in America, you have got

so much land. Produce vegetable, grains, milk, eat sumptuously, no economic

question. Prepare very nice product.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit

 

Keep amongst yourself and produce. Produce food grain, produce cotton, mustard

seed. Self dependent, no use... And we don't require motorcar. Bullock cart is

sufficient. There is no need of going anywhere.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => HIGHLIGHTS: Energy problems will be solved as soon as we

are localized...oxen will solve problem of transport...ISKCON should be id

 

So an alternative, " self dependent" is used by Srila Prabhupada that could

serve equally as well. So why do I prefer the term self reliant? In a

nutshell, because it is used by proactive environmentalists. I was visiting a

community that has earth sheltered housing, windmill generated electricity,

geothermal heating, organic gardens, composting toilets, etc. They expressed

to me they don't like the term self sufficient because it implies cutting

yourself off from others, and they feel they have a responsibility to the

rest of the world. They are also preachers of a sort, and I believe that

Srila Prabhupada would want us to continue interacting with world, not just

cut ourselves off from it. Book distribution for instance. The localization he

refers to is economic localization, not social isolation. After two decades

of

failed farm projects, there is just too much cultural baggage with the "self

sufficient" term and I would prefer a fresh start, using a term that it

already

being used by some in the section of population Srila Prabhupada suggested

attracting.

 

 

MULES VERSUS OXEN AS DRAUGHT ANIMALS

 

This has debate has been going on for a long time. America was settled with

oxen. Horse and mule power became more prominent with the rise of

industrialization. ((((((((((NOTE TO EDITOR at this point I am writing two

ends

to this paragraph a.) to be used if the Farmer's Barn Book excerpts are posted

as a separate article, which is what I would prefer. b.) would be used if

the

excerpts are included in the body of this article))))))))))))))))))) a.) I

have

submitted an article to Chakra of excerpts from the Farmer's Barn Book by

Clater

published in 1843. It covers most points. I got it out of The ISCOWP News

Volume 10 Issue 3. b.) Following is an article of excerpts from the Farmer's

Barn Book by Clater published in 1843. It covers most points. I got it out of

The ISCOWP News Volume 10 Issue 3.

 

MULES VERSUS OXEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COW PROTECTION

 

Mules are fine if someone is a vegan whose only interest is draft power.

However, as soon as you start drinking milk in a self reliant community, cows

need to be breed and calves will be born, 50% of them oxen. Actual protection

includes feeding them, whether they are worked or not. Which makes a mule an

extra mouth to feed. What to speak of a mule, also needed is a breeding mare

and a jackass. Mules are sterile. They are the offspring of a donkey sire

and

a horse dam. More mouths to feed. If you buy them from outside, then where

is the self reliance?.

 

Garuda cites the not distant enough mess that occured in New Vrindaban's cow

program as the tainted fruit of tractor usage. I agree. Tractors represent

the intrusion of industrial society into rural communities, making them

dependent on industrial production for survival. Due to my well known

interest in sports, a devotee suggested I watch a recently released video

called "The Cup". It is in Tibetan with English subtitle. It is the story of

a Tibetan monastery in India and how they cope with change in the modern world

into which they have been thrust by the Chinese. The cup in the title is a

reference to the World Cup, the once every 4 year world wide tournament of

National soccer teams. It is a plot device used to show what happens when

young monks are not totally isolated from the mainstream.. Notable is when

the monks go to get the satellite dish and TV to watch the finals (sorry,

sort

of ruining the suspense here but have to in order to make my point), they use

a

tractor to haul it. This is heavy symbolism by the film makers in that without

tractors replacing renewable energy in the farms, there wouldn't be the excess

energy floating around society to produce television. Also interesting was the

Lama's reference to the rice that the Chinese are bringing into Tibet. This

is

the real genocide - religious persecution is one thing, but displacing

agrarian

workers by cheaper oil produced rice is a death blow to the root of society.

 

Getting back to New Vrindaban, the question would be how did the project leave

aside oxen and go with tractors? The major step was replacing oxen with

horses

and mules, idling the oxen. The minor step was from mules to tractors. So

while I appreciate Garuda's interest in carrying forward Srila Prabhupada’s

vision of farm communities, I hope he would reconsider his conclusions

concerning use of mules. Even his statement about Amish style Krsna

communities bears rethinking. I have great respect for horse and mule powered

Amish farms, and acknowledge we have an abundance we could learn and emulate

from them, but it is difficult to ignore that part of their profit comes from

the slaughter of nonproductive cows and oxen. Devotee farms will not only be

lacking that income, but will have additional expenses in maintaining those

very animals.

 

Even with their competitive economic advantage over cow protectors, the Amish

are struggling to maintain their farming heritage. In our area they have saw

mills and do logging operations, sell baked goods and make crafts for

tourists, and are the labor pool for prefabricated modular housing. The fact

is that at present 50% of Amish are no longer involved in farming. They can't

make enough money from agriculture to pay for the their farms. If even the

Amish can't make it these days, how can devotees protecting cows expect to?

And how can devotees living in urban and suburban environments, who

realistically won't be moving to farming communities, support cow protection?

That is a whole other article, but here is a hint:

 

You say we must have a gosala trust, that is our real purpose.

krsi-goraksya-vanijyam vaisya karma svabhava-jam, [bg 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.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Yasomatinandana -- Vrindaban 28 November, 1976

[Guest guest]

Very nice! Hopefully, there will be questions about how we can progress with

the Cow Protection programs-goshalla trusts