Why not varnasrama?

[Guest guest]

> I see the economy as a different issue from varnasrama. Why cant

> varnasrama be implemeneted in the society as it is? Thereafter with higher

> knowledge a higher form of economy could follow....

 

 

The following was written by Hridayananda Maharaja:

 

 

Varna & Ashrama and Agrarian Economy

 

For many years, devotees have pondered how to institute the varnashrama

social system that Lord Krishna created (Bg 4.13) and Srila Prabhupada

advocated as vital to organize and truly civilize humanity. Considering the

two branches of this sytem — varna and ashrama — it seems that it is the

system of four varnas that has proven more difficult to institute, both in

ISKCON and in the world. ISKCON generally (at times roughly) practices the

system of four ashramas, but reviving the four-varna system has proven more

elusive, even among the devotees, not to speak of in the world.

 

Ironically, the philosopher who best explains this problem may be Karl Marx,

who famously concluded from his study of history that the means of

production determine social and political relationships. In other words, the

way that a society secures its basic material needs will shape the social

and political institutions of that society.

 

For example, at a very simple level, we find that societies who live by

hunting and gathering, being necessarily nomadic or semi-nomadic, tend to

form simple tribal systems of social and political life. Among agrarian

societies where food can be stored in large quantities, much larger scale

societies are possible, resulting in more specialized divisions of labor,

and much more complex political institutions. This leads to political and

social hierarchy.

 

We should note here that the Vedic varna system presupposes an agrarian

economy, ie an economy based on land and the production of food. As agrarian

life gives way to industrial, urban life, the simple efficient hierarchy of

varnas collapses. We see this clearly in the history of Europe where a

pre-industrial caste or varna system collapsed with the onset of the

industrial revolution. We also witness this process in contemporary India,

where rapid industrialization and consequent urbanization is weakening the

traditional caste system, even in its hereditary form.

 

Srila Prabhupada clearly understood these historical dynamics, for we find

that exactly at the time he began the “varnashrama talks” during his morning

walks in Vrindaban, 1974, Prabhupada began to urge the devotees to acquire

land and produce their own food. Prabhupada understood that the varna social

system presupposes, and seems to require, an agrarian economy.

 

Prabhupada also predicted widespread social and economic upheavels that

would render our self-sufficient farms essential for our own survival and

that of others. Thus for various reasons, including our own survival, ISKCON

truly needs another “back to the land” movement. In the context of an agrian

economy, we can revive the system of four varnas, created by Lord Krishna,

and now needed more than ever to civilize a lost, suffering humanity.