Varnasrama Book history-- by Hare Krsna dasi

[Guest guest]

> Such a book on Varnasrama would be about varnasrama in general and the

> brahmanas,ksatriyas (fighting and management), vaisyas (farming

> and cow

> protection) sudras, brahmacaris (education, celibacy), grhasthas

> (men, women

> and children; their activities, nature and their interaction among one

> another) vanaprasthas and sannyasis in particular.

 

So here's the story:

 

On Gaura Purnima 1986, I was initiated by Paramananda dasa Adhikary, ISKCON's

first Minister of Agriculture, and also founder and president of the

Gita-nagari Farm Community in Port Royal Pennsylvania.

 

Paramananda Prabhu had been with Srila Prabhupada at 26 2nd Avenue, and also

helped found Prabhupada's first Hare Krsna farm community, New Vrndavana,

before coming to Gita-nagari. Also, as you may know, Srila Prabhupada visited

Gita-nagari in July 1976. He was so impressed by Gita-nagari, that he

determined that he would start varnasrama. "How will you do that?" "I will go

to Gita-nagari. I will sit down, and and will show you how to live off the

land."

 

Paramananda was alway enlivened about the idea of carrying out Srila

Prabhupada's idea of starting varnasrama. As his disciple, I naturally

developed my devotional interests along the same lines.

 

Soon after I was initiated, I asked a friend to write down for me all the

varnasrama verses from the Bhagavatam. She never did this. But, I was hearing

more and more of Paramananda Prabhu's Bhagavatam classes, heavily slanted

toward cow protection and varnasrama, and often featuring recordings of Srila

Prabhupada discussing topics related to that.

 

Like any devotee in a temple, I was constantly maxed-out with service. I had

my children to take care of. I prepared the mangala arotik plates. I milked

the cows. I was the temple commander. I did farm correspondence for

Paramananda prabhu. But, eventually, at Paramananda's suggestion, I returned

to Maine and gradually re-united with my husband.

 

In our renewed relationship, my husband constantly encouraged me to work on my

varnasrama research. Basically, in addition to being a mother and having a

full-time job, writing my agriculture column for Back to Godhead, and editing

Hare Krsna Rural Life, I spent about 6 years reading through the Bhagavad-Gita

and the Srimad Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada's conversation books. I marked

every single quote that had to do with cow protection or varnasrama.

 

Then, by a miracle of Lord Nityananda, the VedaBase was created. Some kind

devotees helped me purchase a copy. I went through my books and copied and

pasted every quote from the VedaBase into a varnasrama manuscript, intending to

create a book like "Spritual Master and Disciple" or "Sri Namamrta."

 

Also, for awhile, there was some interest in varnasrama within ISKCON. By

1992, Jagadish Maharaja was head of the GBC, and at this time, somehow we got

word that the GBC had established "Correspondence Resolution Number 9, creating

a Fram Research Committee to research Srila Prabhupada's instructions on

Farming and Rural Community development." To those of us who loved varnasrama,

this clearly meant to research Srila Prabhupada's instructions on varnasrama.

Several people were appointed to the committee, but they also knew that I was

most of the way through this project already, so they also added me.

 

As we moved forward, various things happened to make varnasrama much less

popular in ISKCON. (Looking back, I can say that was just as well -- though I

did not think so at the time.) Also, at the same time, Ranjit Prabhu, the

editor at the Bhaktivedanta Archives, said he preferred not to have yet another

boring quote book. (I didn't think they were boring. I loved them. But

again, looking back, he was right.)

 

So we decided that we would make Volume 1 be a conversations book, and include

the important conversations on varnasrama.

 

So, that we did. By the time it came to publishing, all that was left of the

GBC Farm Research Committee was Suresvara prabhu and myself.

 

So, I had the conversations book. But I also had 4 more volumes of manuscript.

These volumes (in manuscript form) were:

 

2. Brahmanas and Ksatriyas

3. Vaisyas and Sudras

4. Brahmacaris and Grhastas

5. Vanaprasthas and Brahmanas

 

They were all in 3 ring notebooks. Just raw quotes, needing further sorting

and further editing to get rid of duplicate quotes, correct citations, etc. I

can still look up at my bookshelf and see volumes titled "Varnasrama

Fundamentals, Brahmanas, Ksatriyas" or "Grhastas and Women," etc.

 

In the meantime a number of events happened within and without ISKCON which

made me a lot more apprehensive about promoting varnasrama.

 

I thought that once the Prabhupada Varnasrama conversations book was published,

that devotees would finally understand the central role of cow protection in

varnasrama. I thought they would understand that the basis is "catur varnyam

maya srstam" (Bg 4.14). I thought they would understand that it can't be

asrama and then varna, it must be varna then asrama. I thought they would

understand that the purpose of human existence is to do one's work as a direct

offering to Lord Krsna (Bg 18.46-48) not that one's work must be first

converted into a cash offering to a brahman before it can be considered

devotional service.

 

Basic things like that..

 

Then, I begin to notice other things, like the serious corruption of ISKCON

leaders in dealing with abuse of Vaisnava children. It was pretty

disappointing.

 

Outside of ISKCON, in world affairs, the fundamentalist Taliban was beginning

to rise in Afganistan. One day I saw some photos of Afgani women being stoned

to death and some twelve-year-old Afgani boys running enthusiastically across a

soccer field, proudly displaying bunches of chopped-off hands.

 

I started to rethink. In its present stage of corruption, and with a general

lack of capability for understanding nuance and the imporance of time, place

and circumstance -- it's quite possible that if one attempted to push for

ISKCON to adopt varnasrama, it would not result in spreading Lord Caitanya's

sankirtan movement. Instead, it would end up creating a crazy group like the

Taliban -- making people hate Krsna. So, I gave up on encouraging ISKCON

leadership to establish varnasrama.

 

I still believe in Prahupada's varnasrama vision, but at the moment, it just

doesn't seem like ISKCON is the place to do it. It would be a disaster.

 

So, in sum, I have the quotes. I'm still working on the project. But, in

general, even if I did have enough time to work on this faster, I just don't

think the devotee community in general is mature enough to be ready for this

information right now. It would just promote fundamentalist fanatacism that

would be contrary to the spirit of Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement.

 

"This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It

is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by

realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is

joyfully performed. "(B.g. 9.2)

 

Are we ready to do varnasrama joyfully, or are we ready to cram it down

people's throats? Will we spread the sunshine of Krsna consciousness, or will

we spread our contempt and hatred for others who think differently? Someday

we'll be ready, someday we'll have enough devotion, enough wisdom, enough

honesty, enough tolerance, enough generosity, enough nurturing love to use

varnasrama as a way to make more people happy by working for Krsna . But I

don't think are there yet.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi