FARM CRYA

RYA
Why Devotees Should Care for a

Green Transition
Radhamadhav Das, PhD

First edition, May 2015

Radhamadhav Das, 2015
Cover art: Joy Datta
Proofreading and editing:
dev ds
Aditi-dev ds and Daivakti-dev
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All Glories to r-r

r Guru & Gaurga!

The three main purposes of this booklet are:

1.

To inform devotees about the great urgency for a wide and fast
green transition.

2.

To encourage devotees to recognize this as a unique

opportunity to serve the mission of Mahprabhu.

3.

To offer practical solutions.

Note: The term green transition refers to a transition to sustainable

life-systems. This includes not only the environment, but also the
economy, the society and all other human life systems.

Prelude
The cottage in the grove on the bank of Rdh Kuna, the great
Govardhana hill, the banks of the Yamun river, the Kusuma
Sarovara lake, the Manasa Gag stream, the daughter of Mount
Kalinda (the Yamun river) with her many waves, the Va Va
Banyan tree, the town of Gokula, the holy place Dhra Samra, the
trees and creepers and reeds of Vndvana, the different varieties
of birds and deer, the cooling breeze from the Malaya mountains,
the peacocks, the bumblebees ()

e saba choato kahi nhi ju

e saba choato parna hru

I shall not go anywhere where these

stimulants of devotional service are missing.
Without them, I shall give up my life.
rla Bhaktivinode hkura,
aragati, Rdh-kuna-taa.

akti
laukika vaidika yata kichu ka-akti
sabra sammne haya ke dha-bhakti
bhakti
By respecting both earthly and transcendental energies of Ka,
ones devotion to Ka becomes fixed. (Caitanya
Caitanya-bhgavatam
2.18.184)

Rather than considering the earthly energies of Ka as

mundane, one should consider them transcendental and
pray to them for devotional service to Ka.
rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda
in his purport to the above verse.

Civilization will collapse very soon, all over the world.

Our farm projects are an extremely important part of our movement.
We must become self-sufficient
sufficient by growing our own grains and
producing our own milk, then there will be no question of poverty. So
develop these farm communities as far as possible.
If these farms become successful then the whole world will be
enveloped by Krishna consciousness. () Krishna is the Farm crya.
Baladeva is holding a plough, and Krishna is holding the calf.
calf.
The Ka consciousness movement will go down in history as having
saved mankind in its darkest hour.

rla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swam Prabhupda

Morning walk, November 29th, 1975.
Letter to Rupanuga, December 18th, 1974.
Letter to Hari Sauri, August 10th, 1977.
Conversation, London, 1973.

1. The Problem:
System Collapse Ahead
Civilization will collapse very soon, all over the world. This may
sound like just another doomsday slogan, but these were in fact the
words of rla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swam Prabhupda in 1975. Today,
this statement rings truer than ever. We have just peaked in global oil
production in 2005 and we have no plan how to replace oil. Unless we
achieve a wide and timely green transition to a sustainable way of life,
millions of people could lose their lives in collapses of oil-based
infrastructure like agriculture, transportation, law-enforcement,
canalization and hospitals. In addition, the speculative global finance
system is bound to collapse from within.
It is critical to be well informed about the threat of infrastructure
collapses so we can understand what the need of the hour is, namely to
make a fast and widespread transition to a fully sustainable way of life.
I therefore humbly request you to read the booklet Need of the Hour.
You can read and download it for free on www.sublimeunion.org.
Forty years have passed since rla Prabhupda made the above
statement, and we have not achieved much in following his instruction
that we must become self-sufficient. Now time is running out.
Experts say that oil production can drop significantly within the next
five years and this can lead to massive infrastructure collapses all over
the world. The most critical aspect will be the famines following the
collapse of the modern agriculture that completely depends on oil
products like fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and petrol. When the
global food reserves (estimated to last only 70 days) will be depleted,
people will start starving and looting everywhere. We wont be able to
save our cows and food stocks from them. Once people have looted
and eaten all animals and plants (including all seeds), there will be
nothing left to plant and breed. Even secluded farms will not be saved
from this destructive looting, what to speak of houses and temples in
the city. If we dont transition to sustainability we may soon face the
greatest holocaust in history. We shouldnt think that this isnt
possible. During the Bengal famines, people didnt only eat all cows

they ate all rats too, and some

even resorted to eating human
flesh. Although these famines
were artificially created by the
British, they show what happens
during a collapse of agriculture.
Many people died of neem
poisoning because after having
eaten everything else, they ate all
neem leaves, which in excess leads
to poisoning. And this happened
in Gaua-dea, the holy land of
Mahprabhus devotees. Over ten million people starved to death, and
many of them were devotees wearing Tulas neck beads. Sad but true.
Im sorry for including the horrible photograph, but we must wake up
to reality.
Until we have achieved a safe level of stability, we should give
first priority to the green transition. Its not just the modern
infrastructure thats bound to collapse. As mentioned in Need of the
Hour, many of natures eco-systems, the global climate and the
modern economic system are also bound to collapse. rla Prabhupda
also said that the artificial way of banking will collapse (Room
conversation, Jan. 21, 1977). Before the Moghuls attacked, the
Goswamis timely anticipated the threat and moved the Deities to
Jaipur. The present threat is much, much greater. What is our plan? If
we consider the unprecedented catastrophic impact of these imminent
collapses, it becomes clear that this is mankinds darkest hour that rla
Prabhupda foresaw. And if we should be able to offer a house in
which the whole world can live, then we should start building it
quickly. It is good to have faith in the Lords protection, but that
should not lead to neglect of anticipation. Trust in Allah, but feed
your camels first. That applies especially if you cross a desert and
the upcoming transition period will be nothing short of a desert. The
Lord often protects His devotees by inspiring them with solutions.
God helps those who help themselves, and He personally cares for
those who care for others.

2. The Chance:
Boost Preaching and Sdhana
In order to identify with the green transition, it is crucial to understand
how it improves our preaching and our personal sdhana. Let us first
discuss tattva. Some devotees claim that the green transition is a
material activity and that we should focus on spiritual activities like
chanting. Often, such devotees have not understood what spiritual and
material means in tattva. In the Abrahamic religions there is a strong
bifurcation of the material and spiritual worlds with regard to cosmic
position and substance (substance dualism). But the Caitanyaite
criteria for a thing to be material or spiritual is less its substance or
position, but its internal affinity, which is changeable (affinity or
potency transformation, akti-parima). This means that with the
wrong affinity or intention, our chanting is material, and with the right
affinity, our involvement in the green transition is spiritual. We must
also be careful not to fall into the trap of the myvds who preach
that the Absolute Truth is real and the cosmic manifestation is false
(brahma satya jagan mithy). We follow r Madhvcrya who said
brahma satyam jagat satyam, Both the spiritual and material realms
are real. Our journey from the unreal to the real (asato m sad gama)
is less a switching of worlds than a change of consciousness. With
spiritual vision, everything in creation is seen as Kas energies.
Rather than considering the earthly energies of Ka as mundane,
one should consider them transcendental and pray to them for
devotional service to Ka. rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat
Prabhupda (see Prelude).
Sustainability is a core principle of the santana-dharma. The
words sat and santana both express eternal existence and thus
sustainability. Mother Earth is called dhara, she who holds and
sustains life, and she appears in the form of a cow. Dharma
personified appears as a bull. Unless we realize the close relations
between dharma and protecting mother Earth, mother cow and father
bull by leading a fully sustainable life, there is little hope for any
substantial progress. The words dharma and dhara both come from
the verbal root dh, to hold, to sustain. Dharma is the original
3

principle of sustainability. If dharma is executed properly, human

society is automatically sustainable. That doesnt mean that we can just
chant and watch the show it means that dadmi buddhi-yoga tam,
Ka will give us the intelligence how to achieve a green transition,
and then we have to implement it. Since dharma and sustainability are
one, a reestablishment of dharma must go hand in hand with a
transition to sustainability. As followers of the primordial
environmentalists, namely Ka, whom rla Prabhupda called the
Farm crya, Balarm, who is called dhara-dhra, upholder and
sustainer of the Earth, and Vnd-dev, the goddess taking care of the
forests of Vraja, we should be natural leaders of the green transition. If
we spearhead the green transition in a spirit of true dharma and in
order to preach and serve Kas devotees, then it is a perfectly
spiritual activity.
In regards to preaching, the green transition is a great necessity
if we want to offer people a complete solution and showcase
traditional Vedic life. People are looking for solutions for todays
crises in all parts of the world. When they visit our communities and
cannot find sufficient transition engagement, many go somewhere else.
If we could showcase transition upfront by living in Vedic villages and
towns, much more people would join our communities. If these farms
become successful then the whole world will be enveloped by Krishna
consciousness. (rla Prabhupda, letter to Hari Sauri, Aug 10th,
1977.) If we can offer truly sustainable solutions, then it becomes
easier for people to believe that we are messengers of the sat, the selfsustaining eternal principle. If they see that we not only talk, but also
live holistically, it will not be hard for them to accept that we are the
servants of the pram, the complete whole personified. Green
devotee projects like the Eco Yoga Villages and the Govardhan Eco
Village (see links in the Appendix) are attracting thousands of people
every year who are looking for green solutions, and many of them join
our communities and become devotees.

Another important contribution of the green transition to

preaching is that it protects the dignity of our preachers and
communities at large. In the Gauya history we find that the cryas
never neglected to anticipate upcoming dangers. In fact, it is the
custom in all spiritual traditions to approach the sages to learn how to
respond to different calamities. It is thus natural that we expect
spiritual leaders not only to be enthusiastic, but also to be experts in
pioneering a green solution, especially if we are facing one of the
greatest threats in history. Therefore, in order to protect our dignity,
our preachers and spiritual leaders must take a zealous lead in the
green transition. If we can transition, then many people will join us as
rla Prabhupda envisioned. If we fail, we will have to go begging
from others, and in the future people will ask us: What was your
contribution to the transition? Where were you during our darkest
hour? We must make sure to fulfill rla Prabhupdas prediction that
the Ka consciousness movement will go down in history as having
saved mankind in its darkest hour. (Conversation, London, 1973.) If
we want to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity for
preaching, we need to increase our social integrity. An important

lesson we can learn from the collapse crisis is that in order for our
society to be resilient, holistic and sustainable, we need to be better
integrated into society at large. hkura Bhaktivinode set the example
of social integrity. Nowadays many people shy away from cooperating
with the Hare Krishna devotees due to our reputation of being elitist
and sectarian. Spearheading the green transition up-front is a great
chance to regain our social, economic and educational integrity.
Needless to say, this would provide a great boost to our preaching.
Our cra (conduct) should match our pracra (preaching). We
talk of simple living and high thinking, but most of us are far from
simple living. How attractive can that be for people who are looking
for long term solutions? Let aside preaching how beneficial is that
for our sdhana? Lets take a look at how the green transition is
beneficial for our sdhana. By having our own land and organic
produce, we can become independent of the modern industry and can
spend more time with devotional activities. We can offer the Lord food
and other produce that has been cultivated with love and devotion and
thats free from chemicals and GMO, which lead to diseases like
cancer, memory loss and depression even of children.
Without a green transition, we continue to contribute in many
ways to the destruction of nature, whose energies we should consider
transcendental and pray to them for devotional service to Ka
(rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat Prabhupda, see Prelude). Krishna is
the Farm crya. Baladeva is holding a plough, and Krishna is holding
the calf. Krishna advised Nanda Mahrja not to perform Indra-pja,
but to worship the land, Govardhana, because it was supplying all
foodstuffs for the residents of Vndvana and the cows as well. (rla
Prabhupda, letter to Hari Sauri, Aug 10th, 1977.) The entire planet
Earth was made sacred when r Ka blessed her with the
impressions of His lotus feet. Despite respecting her as one of our
main seven mothers and addressing her as Bhm Dev, the Earth
goddess, we are contributing to her destruction by participating in the
exploitative modern system of economy. We would expect that at least
in the holiest places of this world the places of Lord Kas pastimes
the devotees are living in harmony with nature. But alas, these places
have now become some of the most polluted spots on Earth.

According to the Mother Nature Network, the Yamun river is the 7th
most toxic place to live on Earth.

Surgeons regularly remove over 50 kgs of plastic from cows stomachs.

stomachs

This February, a very outspoken non-resident

resident Indian man was
sitting next to me in the train. In his Californian accent he
h shouted:
Really, youre going to Vrindavan? Man thats
hats the filthiest place in
the world! The streets are full of garbage and the Yamuns water is
pure sewage. Ill never go there again!
When I said that one needs
spiritual vision to see the real Vrindavan, he outright called me a
hypocrite. In one sense, he was right.. Only a hypocrite can reside in
Vrindavan and watch quietly as people destroy Rdh-Kas
Rdh
llbhm and all her uddpakas (stimulants like the trees, rivers and
animals that invoke remembrance of Ka). If we were truly devoted,
we could never tolerate their desecration, and like rla Bhaktivinode
hkura, we would call out: Without
ithout these devotional stimulants,
stimulants I
shall give up my life! (see Prelude).
Nowadays it is almost impossible to live in the dhma without
committing offense; most things we use or buy involve ecological
7

abuse. As rla Prabhupda mentions in the book Vrindavan Days,

external contamination of the dhma also exists to keep away the
materialists. But that doesnt mean that we should contribute to it.
Puarka Vidynidhi, who in ka-ll is Vabhnu Mahrja, the
father of Rdhr, only went for Gag-darana at night because he
was so pained to see people rinsing their mouth in her waters (Cb
2.7.25). We are careful not to step even on the shadow of the Tulas
plant, but our toilet flows straight into the Gag or Yamun and
mixes with her water thats used for worship. We offer rati to mother
cow, but our garbage ends up on open piles where cows eat plastic that
congests their digestive system, leading to a painful slow death. In the
film Plastic Cow we see how doctors of the Karuna society in Andhra
Pradesh remove over fifty kilograms of plastic from a cows stomach.
This has become a routine surgery.
Mahprabhus golden formula is simple: Chant without offenses
and youll get the treasure of prema. (Cc 3.4.71.) Its not a false
expectation that after chanting for a good time we should attain kaprema; if we dont, then we can understand that we are committing
offenses (Cc 1.8.29). If we analyze our Gauya history, we will be
confronted with a big question: Why is it that despite more and more
people joining our movement, fewer and fewer attain to the aspired
stages of bhva and prema? The chance to commit offenses must have
increased. If we compare all kinds of chances for offense today with
previous times, we find that they have all increased gradually, but one
has increased exponentially: the chance to commit offense to the
dhma, to Mother Cow and to other exalted Vaiavs like Yamun
Dev and Bhm Dev through ecological abuse. During Mahprabhus
time, all farming was still organic and there were hardly any toxic
wastes. People travelled by bullock cart and went to the field for their
toilet duties. Nowadays we are unavoidably enmeshed into a web of
ecological abuse environmentalists speak of eco sin. If we accept
that Bhm Dev is a Vaiav then eco sins are vaiava-apardhas.
For preaching, she may excuse us, but we must also showcase the ideal
devotee lifestyle. In a strict sense, chanting while committing eco sins
is like an elephants bath. If we are sincere in devotion we must give
high priority to remove this obstacle.

How can we become disentangled from the web of eco sins? As

most human systems are interlinked, even seemingly insignificant
decisions like buying grains start a cascade of unintentional eco sins,
such as pollution of soil and air through conventional agriculture. Even
if we buy organic grains, we still contribute to tractors replacing the
bulls, resulting in their slaughter. The conclusion forces itself upon us
that if we want to increase our chances of getting ka-prema, we
have to achieve a complete system overhaul a wide green transition.
In a green and clean environment well not only be less prone to
commit offenses, but well also be closer to the remembrance and
lifestyle of Vrindavan, the original evergreen forest.
Certain devotees fear that engaging in the green transition will
compromise their devotional service; they claim that it belongs to
inferior activities. However, there is no question of whether the
devotees effort of a green transition is nivtti-mrga or pravtti-mrga,
or whether it is rgnuga-bhakti or vaidh-bhakti, or whether it is
within varrama-dharma or beyond it this depends entirely on our
consciousness. The extent of spiritual benefit we get depends more on
the quality of our consciousness than on which type of devotional
activity we are engaged in. An offensive priest or preacher will
eventually fall down whereas a pure devotee engaged in farming can
reach Goloka Vrindavan. If we have understood the rare opportunity
of protecting and serving the Lord and His devotees in a time of great
need and our motive is to please Them, then our green transition is in
line with the highest practices of our rpnuga-cryas. If we dont get
stuck in externalities and go a little deeper, we can recognize a
beautiful parallel of the green transition with the Ratha-ytr festival;
just as r Jagannthas cart festival expresses a transition from vaidhbhakti in the opulent city to rgnuga-bhakti in the sweet village, so
the green transition encompasses a transition from industrial opulence
to natural sweetness an environment that not only makes it easier to
remember God, but especially invokes remembrance of Gods
sweetest pastimes as a transcendental cowherd boy frolicking in the
lush forests of Vnda. Thus it can easily be understood how the green
transition can give a great boost to our preaching and sdhana.

3. The Solution:
A Wide & Fast Green Transition

The best way to care for our fellow beings right now is to prevent
collapse by making a green transition, its most critical aspect being
localized organic farming. First of all, we must at once start large
organic seed banks of locally adapted seeds in all places in order to
cover the huge demand during the transition to the post-petrol era.
People will realize that organic seeds are more valuable than all the
money and gold in the world. The same consideration applies to land
and cows. These things cannot be acquired all of a sudden. Land
suitable for cultivation and dwelling must be carefully chosen and
cultivated and cows need to be bread for many generations. Bulls need
to be trained for plowing and pulling. In theory, we know the value of
land and cows, but we are yet to implement that knowledge on a large
scale. Especially in times of transition, we should invest most surplus
funds in seed banks, land and cows, not in big buildings. We should not
only cover our own demands but we should be able to provide organic
seeds and trained bulls to other people as well during transition. If we
can do this all over the world, this could very possibly be the critical
service that will make us go down in history as having saved mankind
in its darkest hour.
rla Prabhupda wrote: Our farm projects are an extremely
important part of our movement. We must become self-sufficient by
growing our own grains and producing our own milk, then there will
be no question of poverty. (Letter to Rupanuga, 1974.) In 1977, he
said in Vrindavan: How they were happy, the inhabitants of
Vrindavan with Ka and living with cows. That I want to introduce.

10

At any cost do it. And dont bother about big, big buildings. It is not
required useless waste of time. Produce; make the whole field green.
See to that. Then whole economic question solved. () Farm, farm,
farm, farm! That is not my program its Kas program. Annd
bhavanti bhtni (Bg. 3.14). Produce greenness everywhere,
everywhere Vrindavan. Are there any other words that rla
Prabhupda repeated four times in a row other than Ka and
farm? Self-sufficient farming means organic farming. Of course, we
are not just going to give people organic food we will give them
ka-prasdam prepared from real sattvic, organic food, and help
them to develop Ka-consciousness.
Before we go into details, lets remember a very critical aspect of
the collapse crisis: its not just about saving a little energy or only
about eco-communities the deciding quest is to ensure a green
transition on the macro level, that means entire states, countries and if
possible the whole planet Earth. Because as mentioned before, any
solution limited to the micro level like eco-villages is prone to vanish
during the collapse-caused looting. The challenge is to attain a timely
and widespread green transition this alone can provide the required
resilience (ability to adjust to and recover from sudden change). At
least it should happen on the state level. This is not unrealistic. Bhutan
is an entire country dedicated to a transition to 100% organic farming.
After a collapse of food and fuel supplies in 1989, the Cubans replaced
up to 80% of industrial farming with community-based and bullpowered organic farming. Today, 90% of Havanas fresh produce
comes from local urban organic farms and gardens. In 2014, the Thai
government decided to greatly scale up organic agriculture. In 2011,
the Danish government mandated to achieve independence from coal,
oil and gas by 2050. The whole world is watching Germanys
Energiewende (energy transition) to independence from nonrenewable energy sources like coal, oil and nuclear power.

11

1. Vegetables and fruit plantation in the middle of the Cuban city Havana.
2. A community-owned PV array on a noise barrier in Freiburg, Germany.

On a sunny day in 2012, the Germans broke the world record

when they were able to cover half of their countrys energy demand
from solar power. In 2012, the Energiewende offset an estimated 146
million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions (the targeted greenhouse gas
reduction is 8095% by 2050). It has helped to bring down the cost of
solar to less than half and created 380000 new jobs, while the GDP
rose steadily. In the USA, many companies are saving more than fifty
percent of energy demand and billions of dollars by switching to more
efficient infrastructure and technology. There are many such
encouraging transitions, but no state or country has yet achieved a
green transition with sufficient resilience, especially in regard to
helping people who have not transitioned, which is essential to avoid
collapse. There is a lot of work to be done and that too within a short
time. Just exactly how devotees should go about with this work is open
for discussion. There can be different models; some with modern
renewable technologies as in Govardhan Eco-village in Maharashtra,
and some that include only traditional systems as in Gokuldham Ecovillage near Belgaum.
We can at least invite experts from all fields from inside and
outside our society and start green transition conferences and thinktanks and establish transition committees everywhere. The World
Vaishnava Association (WVA) has been addressing environmental
concerns in most of their meetings and this year ISKCON has invoked
the Sustainable Vaishnava Community (SVC) that focuses on
conferences and networking. The green transition deserves and must
get most of our present attention. It is essential to understand that the
green transition will only achieve the required momentum if the
12

leaders prioritize it. This will only happen if the devotee community
encourages and supports their leaders in this most crucial effort.
Therefore, education about the urgency of a green transition is needed
on all levels from youth to leadership. All devotees should be taught
how they can contribute to the transition on the micro and macro
level. Devotees may not agree with everything I am proposing, but we
must under all circumstances start networking and developing
transition plans. At present there are already some wonderful
transition projects running. I just returned to Vrindavan from a SouthIndia tour to four eco-villages. The devotees have attained a significant
level of self-sufficiency and are moving into the right direction. But, as
mentioned, these projects are limited to the micro level and thus prone
to destruction by collapse-caused looting. Because not enough
emphasis is given on this point, Im stressing the very critical aspect of
widespread transition. Of course, if these micro solutions spread like
wildfire, they will move up to the macro level, but this is very unlikely
to happen without the involvement of bureaucrats and the
government. And lets be realistic about this if we demand that all
people become devotees, follow the four regulative principles and
serve within varrama-dharma so that they can participate in our
model for a sustainable society, then we will also not be able to create
the required momentum in time. This is not to say that we should
loosen these principles in our societies. It is to say that we have to
simultaneously provide quick transition solutions that are attractive for
the commoners, most of whom are not going to give up their bad
habits within the next 5-10 years.
The conclusion is that until the green transition is completed, we
must simultaneously move on two transition tracks; a traditional and a
universal or super-traditional one. In this deciding time, many of us
must also focus on the universal track in order to create the required
momentum. Once the critical tipping point is reached, society at large
will pull in fully, and when the transition is accomplished, we can reinvest all our energy into our traditional lifestyle. We must not shy
away from dealing with governing officials, bureaucrats and academics.
Our principle is yukta-vairagya. To save their beloved hakurjs from
the Moghuls, the Goswamis also collaborated with governors. If the

13

necessity arises, we should be ready for any service for the Lord and
His devotees. Although the Vaiavas are ultimately beyond
varrama, we should not think Im beyond all these duties, let
others do them. Rather, we should say, if none else does the job of
the katriyas, let me do it! While doing our specific services, we
should be sarvopdhi-vinirmukta, detached from any temporary
designation and post and attached to hkea hkea-sevanam,
engaging all our senses in any required service for the master of the
senses.
Especially now during the transition period we realize the great
lack of true katriyas. Some devotees hope that the governments will
try to prevent collapse, but those who are well-informed know that
they have no plan for a timely green transition. Also within our society
we lack trained katriyas. For example, you may have heard that some
time ago in India, thieves broke the wall of an ISKCON gol at night
and stole two cows. The paid security guards were sleeping so soundly
that they didnt even notice the breaking of the wall. What a shame for
those cows. After similar incidents, devotees with brhmaa initiation
decided to accept the role of night guards. Some even started
patrolling around on bikes to check for thieves loading cows on trucks
and taking them away for slaughter. While others were hiding, H. H.
Bhaktirghava Swami and other devotees bravely defended the r-r
Rdh-Mdhava Deities when dacoits attacked the Mypur temple.
rla Prabhupda boldly defended the temple land in Mumbai, and
after his victory he said with satisfaction: it was a good fight. When
no katriyas came forth to take up the case for the devotees after the
Chand Kazi forbade nagara-sakrtana in Navadvip Dhm,
Mahprabhu Himself became the leader of a non-violent civil
disobedience party and led the devotees in a protest procession to the
Kazis residence. Similarly, many of us will have to accept unusual
roles to bring about the green transition. Every seva we do can become
an excuse not to serve the need of the hour, and then it may even
become a disservice. Suppose the pjr would have refused to
relocate r-r Rdh-Govinda when the Moghuls were about to
attack because he had prepared some important pj. That so called
pj would have been a great disservice. It is not our tradition to

14

follow tradition just for the sake of following tradition. Our tradition is
to serve the Lord and His devotees according to Their most prominent
needs. This time, the need of the hour is to make a timely and
widespread green transition. The people of Bengal may not have seen
the famine coming. But we are informed about the impending
collapses and thus we have to step into action. The government is not
doing enough, so well have to fill the gap. In both big Bengal famines
(1770 and 1946) the cause was mismanagement, inaction and policy
failures of the (British) government. In Kali-yuga, we cannot rely on
any so called government. If there is a need, we have to lead.
In a healthy devotee society, the brhmaas, by dint of their
spiritual absorption and study, would soon realize the graveness of the
converging crises and counsel the katriyas. The ever-alert katriyas
would at once mandate a green transition and would not hesitate to
sacrifice everything to protect society. The vaiys would direct the
economic and agricultural transition and the drs would support
transition through film, music, poetry, art and working force. That this
transition is not happening on a large scale indicates that our society is
not in a very healthy state, both spiritually and materially. Maybe the
increasingly pressing need for a timely transition will give a kick-start
to developing varrama-dharma, which already includes a blueprint
for a sustainable and resilient community. Many devotees feel that the
green transition and varrama-dharma are impractical. But what
alternatives do we have? If we dont want to face unprecedented
catastrophes, we have no other choice than to transition into
sustainable living. If we have understood this fact, than there will be no
more excuses. Of course living simply can be a challenge for most of us
who are used to the so called comforts of modern living. We may
have to do it forcefully, but for the next generation it will again be
natural, having been born in a simple environment. And since we are
anyway going to have to design a complete system overhaul, we might
as well take a deep breath and say, All right, varrama-dharma,
here we come. Often the magic happens when we step out of the
comfort zone and sacrifice for a greater good. To accommodate more
of the common people, there should also be communities with fewer
regulations. We must not play down such attempts and recognize their

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legitimate function in the greater plan. Let aside different-minded

devotees we have to collaborate with anyone who supports the green
transition if we want to achieve the required level of resilience in time.
This is the bottom line.
Lets assume that at least half of the world population has to
become self-sufficient to be able to accommodate the other half in
times of the upcoming crises. Are the devotees going to convert half of
the world and all live self-sufficiently within the next five years? To
expect this would be utopian. Nevertheless, many devotees live in a
kind of dream bubble, believing that they will be able to accommodate
all people in times of crises, and some devotees even welcome
collapse, thinking that it will lead to many refugees joining our
societies. This hot dream bubble at once bursts on the ice crystal of
cool-headed thought. Say a wonder happens and one million devotees
become self-sufficient overnight. Could they accommodate the other 7
billion people? That would be seven thousand people per devotee!
Lets be real the hungry mob will not come to join our chanting.
They will loot our food stocks and eat our cows. What to speak of nondevotees also devotees will fight for food amongst themselves.
Therefore, to protect the devotees and all other living beings, we must
collaborate with all people moving toward sustainability on a wide
scale. Devotees were collaborating with non-devotees during the
churning of the milk ocean, which greatly pleased the Lord.
For a basic lineout of transition solutions on the micro-level and
macro-level, please read Need of the Hour, published by the Sublime
Union, an organization dedicated to a wide green transition and an
identity transition (www.sublimeunion.org). Devotees may strive for a
local traditional transition and simultaneously serve in a project
dedicated to a wide transition like the Sublime Union.

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Green transition plan for devotees

This emergency plan focuses on the very urgent transition to selfsufficiency to avoid system collapses in the next five years (to
implement the entire Vedic system will take more time).
Action plan
1. Get educated about the imminent threat of system collapses
and the pressing need to transition to sustainable systems.
Know how this was voiced by our cryas and how the green
transition is a most beneficial spiritual activity.
2. Take a firm decision to anticipate this threat.
3. Learn the possible measurements and step into action.
Major measurements
- Green dhma-seva
Charity starts at home. Unless we have green and clean dhmas, how
can we expect anyone to take us seriously when we talk about
sustainability (this also applies to all our communities and their
environment). Can you imagine the Vatican or Mecca in such a mess
as there is in Vrindavan? Purity is the force. If we make at least
Vrindavan green and clean, we will not only gain great force from
inside, but also receive more support from outside. Please remember
that green refers to sustainability of all human life systems. The
following suggestions for Vrindavan can also be applied to different
other places. The broken sewer system must be repaired and sewage
treatment plants must be installed. In India the custom was to go to the
fields for ones toilet and this was a fully sustainable system. Now that
most people want the comfort of a home toilet we need to provide
modern solutions. The wet flush toilet is not only a great
environmental hazard but also an underestimated health threat.
Mixing excrements with flowing water is a very efficient way of
spreading disease through bacteria, viruses and parasites. During
Vedic times, people would never pass stool and urine into water. It
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goes against our nature to pass stool and urine into a river, lake, ocean
or well, but by using the flush toilet we do so indirectly. It is a natural
instinct to empty ones bowels into earth and cover it with earth, where
the stool will quickly turn into fertile soil. The toilet within the house is
also a source of subtle contamination that goes against Vedic
principles of purity. Since we have the chance of redesign, we should
strive to leapfrog the disadvantages of Western toilets. Lets at least
make toilets separate from our houses and build sewage treatment
plants. The greenest home toilet is the composting toilet, which is
common in remote houses in the Swiss Alps. It looks like a common
toilet, but the excrements are covered with sawdust and once they are
fully composted they provide very fertile compost. This dry toilet also
helps saving tons of water.
Next is waste management. We must introduce waste
separation and recycling systems and proper waste treatment. To
minimize the use of plastic waste we must offer viable alternatives such
as affordable biodegradable bags, plates and packing. In regards to
greening, we should at once start organic food gardens in as many
places as possible, as this is the most critical aspect of local resilience.
Public spaces can be turned into edible gardens. Fruit trees should be
planted wherever possible such as next to roads. Wide-scale
reforestation with local trees is needed to bring back the original
Vrindavan. The over-loaded transportation system needs to be
redesigned. Central places should be car-free and only cycle rickshaws,
bullock carts, horse carriages and battery rickshaws should be allowed.
A proper bus system needs to be introduced and people should also be
encouraged to walk and use bicycles. By covering most power
demands with local solar power, people can live more eco-friendly,
resilient, independent and economically. Solar water heating systems
and solar cookers need to be introduced. Local economies have to be
supported over non-local ones by measurements such as local
currencies, obligation to label non-local products and taxes on nonlocal products that will be used to fund local green development. To
reverse urbanization, living in developed villages has to be promoted.

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- Develop local resilience all over the world

Resilient communities are stable enough to overcome the upcoming
crises. Villages and towns should form alliances that are locally selfsufficient by covering the production of organic food, medicines and
clothing. Development of organic farms and even more so large
organic seed libraries are crucial, especially during the transition into
the post-petrol age. Natural ways of engineering should be promoted.
Research and development of traditional local ways of sustainable
living should be conducted. Mother cow and father bull should be
respected and protected, and the bulls should work in the fields and on
the roads. The Vedic tradition of keeping two years of grain stocks
should be reintroduced. This will not only give a backup for times of
need but also provide healthier aged grains.
- Green education
All above measurements are to be taught in all places and schools to
create the required awareness.
- Green collaboration
Many people and organizations dedicated to different sustainable
development projects should collaborate to create a great momentum
required to get things started on higher levels like education, research,
health care, economics and government. One such effort is the
Transition Network, the largest global network for sustainable
development. We have started a Transition Town Vrindavan
Committee with the outlook of making Vrindavan into a Transition
Town. This will not only create a network of collaboration and
education amongst people in Vrindavan, but also attract further
development from outside.
- Green governance
To implement the above measurements, cooperation of bureaucrats
and the government is required. This should be created by both
approaches; top-down and bottom-up. Leaders as well as the general

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populace should be educated about the urgent

ent need for a green
transition. Especially in this critical time, certain devotees must be
active in the fields of politics and law, as has been showcased by rla
Bhaktivinode hkura.
Concluding words
It has been a very enriching experience to compile and edit this first
edition of Farm crya. Please write to nectarpost@gmail.com if
anything can be corrected or complemented. We close with the words
of rla Prabhupda:
If these farms become successful
then the whole world will be enveloped
by Krishna consciousness.

Radhamadhav Das studied environmental science at the

Federal IT Zurich (ETH) and Vaiava philosophy at the
Florida Vedic College. He has taught at colleges in Bern and
Zurich and lectured at universities in India. He is presently
serving in Vrindavan as a researcher for the Bhaktivedanta
Learning Institute for Self-sufficiency
sufficiency (BLISS) and as the
Secretary
ecretary of the Environmental Committee of the World
Vaishnava Association (WVA).

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Appendix
Green transition devotee projects
Bhaktivedanta Learning Institute for Self-Sufficiency Vrindavan (BLISS):
www.blissvrindavan.org
Bhumi Project: www.bhumiproject.org
Care for Cows Vrindavan: www.careforcows.org
Dhanesvara Dasa: www.spiritual-econ.com
Eco-Agri Research Foundation in Karnataka: http://www.ecoagri.in
Eco Truly Park Lima: www.ecotrulypark.org
Eco Yoga Villages: www.ecoyogavillages.org
Food for Life Vrindavan: www.fflvrindavan.org
Gajanand Agarwal: www.krisit.com
Gokuldham Ecovillage Belgaum:
www.iskconvarnasrama.com/home/gokul-dham
Govardhan Ecovillage Maharashtra: www.ecovillage.org.in
ISKCON Campus Ministry: www.iskconcampusministry.com
ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry: www.iskconvarnasrama.com
Krishna Valley Ecovillage Hungary: www.ecovalley.hu
Sahadeva Dasa: www.drdasa.com/books
Vrindavan Act Now: www.vrindavanactnow.com

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