We have compiled some quotes and realizations based upon these quotes and the application in our personal life of these quotes or instructions by Srila Prabhupada. Everybody knows – chant Hare Krishna and be happy. How that instruction was to be applied as the days move more into kali yuga can be found within this article.
“So let us try to make an attempt to organize a New Vrindaban scheme, and I shall request all my students to develop this idea and show a good example to this Western part of the world where people are always engaged in ugra-karma, asuric-karma.”
“Everyone has to earn his livelihood by agriculture,..”
“Every man must possess a piece of land..”
“The first necessity is that you should be self-sufficient. That is God's arrangement.”
“There are so many land. Come here and grow food. Grow fruit. That is… That is the desire of Krishna. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Produce food and eat in sufficiently, be strong, and chant Hare Krishna. That is our philosophy.”
“When men are uncivilized, they do not how to grow food, they kill animals in the jungle and eat. When they are civilized, they know how to grow food now and the nice food grains, fruit, flowers”
“There is a proverb: agriculture is the noblest profession. Is it not said? Agriculture is noblest, and Krishna was farmer, His father”.
“I wish to introduce this ideal now. Then if we are successful this cheating civilization will stop.”
“The beginning of life is how to become cent percent obedient to guru.”
“We want two favours. One from guru, one from Krishna. That’s all. We don’t want anyone’s favour. “
Srila Prabhupada explains why everyone should grow their own food – this is to be done gradually because for so many lifetimes we are addicted to city-living.
May 28, 1974 – Rome
Yogesvara: Srila Prabhupada, the way you've been describing our solutions to the problems of the world, they seem to be on two levels. One is the extended solution, that is to say, the ultimate solution of Krishna conscious.
Prabhupada: No, there is no question of extended. You keep yourself in a limited solution. And then, when it is appreciated it will be automatically extended. You don't touch the extended. You become ideal civilized man. Others will follow.
Yogesvara: Well, for example, ultimately, we want to live locally. These cities are not necessary.
Prabhupada: No, you make the best use of a bad bargain. Just like in New Vrindaban. They are coming to the city for preaching. So not absolutely we can abstain immediately because we have been dependent so long, many, many lives. You cannot. But the ideal should be introduced gradually. And make it perfect more and more and more and more. But there is possibility. Possibility if you live locally and make your arrangement, you get your foods… The real necessity is, bodily necessity is, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. This is necessity. So if you can eat locally, you can sleep locally, you can have your sex life also locally and you can defend locally, then what is the wrong? These are the necessities. We are not stopping this. We are not stopping, "No more sex life." That is nonsense, another nonsense. You must have. Marry. That's all. So you can marry locally and live. Where is the difficulty? Defend. If somebody comes to attack, there must be men to defend. And eating and sleeping. Where is your difficulty? Manage locally, as far as possible. After all, these are the necessities of body. So it can be solved locally. Is it impossible? To solve the bodily necessities? What do you think? Is it impossible?
This one below Srila Prabhupada is telling us how everybody in kali yuga is lazy, all sudras, and nobody wants to work. And then so much land is then lying fallow – empty of food growing there.
March 12, 1974 – Vrindavana
Make a small unit of community and show ideal life, not idle life. Ideal life. Now in Bombay, they have refused. Because they are under the impression that "They, these Europeans have come here under some sentiment, and what is the use?" They have taken some plea and rejected our… [break] …is there. As we are making counterpropaganda against maya, the maya is also very strong. She will also make propaganda against you, very strong. So unless you become very sincere devotee, daivi hy esa gunamayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14], then it will not be possible to conquer over maya. You’ll be succumbed. Hare Krishna. [break] …taranti te, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te. In India the, the brahmana class, they say, "Oh, I am born in brahmana family. Why shall I do this work?" You see. Therefore the whole society has gone to hell. In your country still, they accept any kind of work. It doesn't matter. And here, in India, if he happens to be a brahmana, he'll not take any kind of work. Means… Just like plowing. He'll not agree. Therefore so much land. The ksatriya is thinking, "I am ksatriya." The brahmana is thinking, "I am brahmana." And the land is lying fallow. There is no production. He will go to the office and fight with the pen as a ksatriya. And instead of studying Vedas, he'll study the rules and regulations given by the office. But he'll not come to plow. Therefore this scarcity of food. He'll go to a mill to work as ordinary laborer. (Hindi) He'll not come. So much land we see lying unutilized. And they're crying for grain.
The above conversation Srila Prabhupada is telling us that everybody – be he a so called brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra – nobody wants to work growing their own food. He says the so called brahmanas will work in some office and study the rules of that job, but to the plow he will not come – and so much land is lying empty. The ksatriya will fight with a pen, the brahmana will study office rules and regulations, but to the plow, neither of them will come!! So to me this means that he wants everybody to grow their own food and stop wasting time doing useless occupations meant to only make others rich. This is an emergency situation right now with the vast majority of the population (95%) living in cities and only 5% living out of cities and many of them not even growing food! We all know kalau sudra sambhava – in this age everybody is born a sudra. Only by samskara does one elevate himself beyond that status. So if we get the brahmana threads around our neck, and we still are not doing the actual day to day work of a brahmana, then we are brahmanas in name only. One has to work and be qualified in that occupation to be called a brahmana. Prabhupada used the example of a lawyer – he gets the law degree, but if he doesnt work as a lawyer, then he is not a real lawyer. So why the strong emphasis above by Srila Prabhupada for all the castes – brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra if none of them can “come to the plow”. He says they all will refuse to do this kind of work. And what is the result of that?
So much land lying vacant and food prices only on the rise as less people grow food and more people have to eat. In emergency times the actual brahmanas can do the work of vaisyas if nobody is doing that, or the work of a ksatriya, but he never accepts the position of servant to anyone else, like the sudra.
June 6, 1974 – Geneva
So anyway, the whole world situation is degrading, that people are not producing their own food. This is the problem, real problem. Ksetra-ksetra-jna. This example is given. As every man must possess a piece of land… Therefore this… Because it is very common thing, this example has been given. Ksetra-ksetra-jna.
So as we till our land and gets foodstuff according to my labor, according to my intelligence… Food grains I can produce once twice, thrice, if I work hard. Generally, they work two times: three months, three months. And those who are very lazy, they work three months. But even working for three months, they can acquire foodstuffs for the whole year. That I have seen…
My practical experience is that we grow about 80% of our food needs here, on our own land of what we offer and eat. The little I have to spend at some store for that other 20% is far far less than what the karmis are paying. When I go thru some store checkout, I usually pay about $10-15 dollars for maybe some fruit, or milk, or nuts, etc. like that but the karmis right ahead of me in line are forking over at least $200-300 dollars for their shopping cart full of processed foods filled with chemicals, additives, pesticides, insecticides, fillers and GMO products.
And they usually do this once a week – that adds up 4 times a month. So all that time they are spending at some “job” which they do not like, nor their “boss”, usually 40 hours per week , plus drive time, car expenses to do that, stress on the mind and body in freeway traffic, smog, pollution they breathe in daily, etc. etc. This is your reward for being an obedient servant to maya – by not being self independent.
June 2, 1974 – Geneva
Prabhupada: Wasteful, yes. Therefore I say they have no brain. All, they are rascals. Rascal leaders. A little labor in agriculture will be sufficient to produce the family’s food stock for the whole year. You can stock. You work only three months, and you get sufficient food for your whole family. And less nine months, you chant Hare Krishna. But these rascals will not do that. They will work hard like ass simply for eating. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti. They will not accept easy life.
Oct 2, 1975 – Mauritius
So I see in your this Mauritius land, you have got enough land to produce food grains. You produce food grain. I understand that instead of growing food grains, you are growing sugar cane for exporting. Why? And you are dependent on food grains, on rice, wheat, dahl. Why? Why this attempt? You first of all grow your own eatables. And if there is time and if your population has got sufficient food grains, then you can try to grow other fruits and vegetables for exporting. The first necessity is that you should be self-sufficient. That is God's arrangement. Everywhere there is sufficient land to produce food grains, not only in your country. I have traveled all over the world – Africa, Australia, and other, in America also. There are so much land vacant that if we produce food grains, then we can feed ten times as much population as at the present moment. There is no question of scarcity. The whole creation is so made by Krishna that everything is purnam, complete. Purnam idam purnam adah purnat purnam udacyate, purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate [Isopanishad Invocation]. If we don't produce food grain – you require it – and put unnecessarily men into scarcity, that is sinful. That is sinful. Everything, every instruction for our happy life and to advance in Krishna consciousness and make life perfect .
In this conversation Srila Prabhupada is telling us we should all be self sufficient – rely upon nature and Krishna for our needs. This makes one strong in body, strong in mind, builds character, and a much more dependent servant of the Supreme Lord. He says “that is Gods arrangement”. He also tells us at the end that if we don't grow our own food, this puts men into scarcity which is sinful. There is a saying that God helps those who help themselves, to which Prabhupada explains this to mean – helping ourselves means putting ourselves under His protection. Means doing what He wants us to do, not what we want to do independently of Him and His plans for mankind.
August 22, 1968 – Montreal
So fortunately, one of our students, he has taken a very large tract of land in West Virginia to develop a society like that, that simple life, eat simple things, grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and save your time for advancing in Krishna consciousness. Don't be implicated in the ugra-karma. Modern civilization is implicated in ugra-karma – vast machinery, everything complicated. The government complicated, the society complicated, economics rule complicated, foreign exchange complicated. Everything has become complicated. So Narottama dasa Thakura has sung very nice song. Satsanga chari kainu asatye vilas, ei karane lagila more karma bandha-phansa. Because we have given up Krishna consciousness, therefore we have been entangled in the different varieties of material activities. Now we have to simplify it. The Krishna consciousness movement is to simplify, to save the valuable life, to save the time of valuable life. This human form of life is very valuable. Bahunam janmanam ante [Bg. 7.19]. After many, many births we have got this important life. So we have to save our time to utilize it for Krishna consciousness. That should… So far we have got this material body, we want to maintain it. The body and souls live together. That is all right. For that, Krishna has given every chance. Anywhere you sit down, you have got land and cow. You produce something and cow's milk. That is sufficient for maintenance. So let us try to make an attempt to organize a New Vrindaban scheme, and I shall request all my students to develop this idea and show a good example to this Western part of the world where people are always engaged in ugra-karma, asuric-karma. Things are becoming very implicated, complicated.
This was way back in 1968 that Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to buy land and start growing their own food. He says he requests all my students to develop this idea, which by so doing will show by example how good this idea is and how bad is ugra karmic work. Practical action is better than precept.
May 3, 1973 – Los Angeles
Now, after the attachment increases to some degree, then next degree is find out nice apartment to live together. That is another increase of attachment. Then we have got an apartment. Find out some means of earning money. Formerly, they were earning…, there were no factories. Everyone has to earn his livelihood by agriculture, ksetra. Ato grha-ksetra. First of all, apartment must be maintained by working, by earning something, grha-ksetra.
April 23, 1976 – Melbourne
Guest: If we produced all of the foods that we could produce and we literally gave them away to other countries that need them, we'd produce a tremendous disincentive in those countries for their own production. I don't think it's as easy, the world…
Prabhupada: Production…. You take the total land as God's property, and all the population, they are sons of God. Then whole problem solved. Everything solved. If economic problem is solved, then social, political, religious, philosophical, everything is solved.
This conversation is particularly interesting because the first necessity is food to eat and he says by so doing that, then all the other important functions of society (social, political, religious,etc) will all be taken care of nicely. All these other problems solved – in one stroke! “Be thou happy by the performance of this yajna because by its performance it will bestow upon you all beneficial things." (BG 3.10)
April 3, 1975 – Mayapur
There are so many land. Come here and grow food. Grow fruit. That is… That is the desire of Krishna. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Produce food and eat in sufficiently, be strong, and chant Hare Krishna. That is our philosophy. Why you are producing bolts and nuts, tire and tubes? Eat. Rascal. They do not know that first of all you must eat. No, everyone is engaged in industry. Why? Krishna does not say that “Take to industry.” Krishna says, “Produce foodstuff.” Annad bhavanti bhutani. If you produce foodstuff, then both your animals, yourself, will be happy, becoming strong. Why do they manufacture other things?
Everyone is trying to become fortunate. Now, Canakya Pandita gives three things, formula, "If you want to be fortunate, then do these three things." What is that? Murkha yatra na pujyante: "Do not give any credit to the rascal." That is first qualification. Don't be carried away by the rascal. Murkha yatra na pujyante. If you worship a rascal, then your life is spoiled. You must worship a really learned representative of God. That is very good. And dhanyam yatra susancitam: "Food grains, they are properly stocked." Not that for your foodstuff, getting your food grain or earning your livelihood, you have to go hundred miles, fifty miles. No. At home, you produce your food grain and stock it. In India still, they work for three months during this rainy season, and they get their food grains for the whole year. You can save time so nicely. So these things are required for happy home. There must be food grains. You cannot be happy without eating. That is not possible… and the third thing, most important, dampatyoh kalaho nasti: "There is no disagreement between husband and wife." If these three things are there, then you haven't got to pray to the goddess of fortune, "Kindly be merciful." She will automatically come. "Here is a very nice place. I shall stay here."