Vedic Culture and Agriculture

New Vrndavana, ISKCON's 1,000-acre farm in West Virginia, has proved so successful that Srila Prabhupada has asked his disciples to begin many other such farm communities. The Society, therefore, has purchased farmland in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Louisiana-and in the holy city of Mayapur, India.

There are many reasons for establishing such Krsna conscious farms. First, many people find an urban setting most uncongenial for spiritual advancement; they prefer to serve Krsna in the simple, peaceful atmosphere of the country. Everyone likes to work in a different way, and the farms give the Society a broader ability to engage everyone in the work most suitable for him.

Second, such Krsna conscious communities give an ideal example of how one can live very simply, depending on the natural gifts Krsna has provided rather than the artificial products of supermarkets and factories. In other words, they provide a model for simple living and high thinking.

Perhaps even more important, however, is that these communities can give ISKCON a kind of independence from the shaky financial structures of America and the other nations of the world. According to the Vedic scriptures, real wealth lies in land, cows and natural resources, not in paper money. After all, land and cows provide food and a place to live, and so they have real value. But paper bills are just promises. Their value changes with inflation, and they may at any time become utterly worthless. According to the Vedic scriptures, therefore, our modern world economy, based on a false standard, is headed for almost certain collapse. But by raising its own food on its own land, ISKCON will be able to independently provide for the basic needs of its members and thus carry on its mission of spreading Krsna consciousness, regardless of the economic ups and downs of a materialistic society. We might add here that modern economists would greatly benefit from studying the scientific financial knowledge presented in the Vedic scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam. Vedic knowledge is many-sided. The Vedic scriptures deal not only with religion but also with politics, economics, sociology, art, psychology and all other subjects necessary for a progressive human culture.