Varnasrama Dharma

1. Varnashrama
50 years of ISKCON
where do we stand?
Presentation by Vasusrestha Prabhu

2. Is Varnashrama Meant for Devotees?
Devotees of Krishna are para-upakara
Uttama adhikari
Madhyam adhikari
Kannista adhikari

3. Society Means Social Structure
The main goal of varnashrama:
to guide society back to Godhead
brahmins
ksatriyas
vaishyas
sudras
Duties According to Varna
Brahmins: priests, teachers, educators: To
disseminate sastric knowledge and guide society
according to religious principles
Ksatriyas: kings, rulers, soldiers, administrators:
To rule and manage society and to protect its citizens
Vaishyas: farmers, merchants, businessmen: To
provide society with food and other basic commodities
Sudras: assistants, labourers: To provide manual
labour and to act as subordinate helpers to others

4. Duties According to Ashrama
Brahmacari: students who are dedicated to learning and studying, according to Vedic
instructions. Brahmacaris remain celibate throughout this learning and training period,
after which they may marry.
Grhastha: householders who are dedicated to taking responsibility for family and community members.
Grhasthas produce children only within the sanctity of marriage, and aim to raise children who will become
God-conscious.
Vanaprastha: retired, elderly citizens who are dedicated to going on pilgrimage and engaging in religious
activities. Typically they live away from the comforts of home and family, absorbing themselves in religious
and spiritual activities intended for their purification.
Sannyasa: the renounced order of life. Sannyasis engage only in devotional activities, intended to please
the Supreme Lord. Sannyasis do not pursue worldly goals, nor endeavour for worldly gain. They act only to
benefit the complete whole of society, according to sastric guidelines.

5. … alternatives to varnashrama?
Capitalism: endeavours for material wealth. Exploits resources.
Communism: endeavours for national strength. Exploits resources.
Socialism: community-based endeavouring for material wealth.
Exploits resources.
Altruism: endeavours to mitigate human suffering, whilst ignoring the
suffering of animals. Exploits resources.
Anarchy: endeavours to create social equality and prosperity, without the
presence of a ruler. Exploits resources.
Srila Prabhupada: varnashrama is naturally inherent
and the only God-conscious social structure (SB, Canto 3)

6. … alternatives to varnashrama?

7. How Do We Implement
Varnashrama?
Come to the platform of brahman realization.
Come to the platform of Vaisnava behaviour.

9. “Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence,
tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona
fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness
and self-control; renunciation of the objects
of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the
perception of the evil of birth, death, old age
and disease; nonattachment to children, wife,
home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid
Bhagavad Gita As It Is 13.8-12
pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting
to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the
importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth- all
these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance”.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead (Krsna) said:

10. Guidelines for New Govardhana to Expand Srila Prabhupada’s
Preaching in Australia
1. Live within our financial and natural resource means
2. Generate income e.g. prasadam distribution,
festivals, markets, book distribution, donations
3. Other sources of income: guest-houses, yoga training
courses, bus tours, seminars, workshops, retreats
4. Cow protection: to serve, worship and protect cows
5. Agriculture: produce vegetables, fruits, seedlings, grains
6. Endeavour to reduce mechanisation/artificial industrialization
7. Engage our broader congregation e.g. temple projects, deity-worship,
preaching, cow protection, kirtan melas, festivals, arts and crafts,
landscaping and gardening

11. Administration
Regional Secretary/Temple President: Ajita Dasa
Coordinates with the head of each farm department
Consults with Advisory Board, primarily through the Internet
Finance Committee
Regulates Expenditures and approves financial investments
e.g. new goshala, reception building, roads maintenance,
new ashramas, grhastha accommodation, outreach programs
Next year: New big kitchen
and prasadam hall
Five year plan: New Temple

12. Departments on the Farm
1. Temple Complex
2. Goshala/Cow Protection
3. Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula School
4. Krishna Eco-village
5. Guest-houses and other Accommodation
6. Brahmacary/brahmacarini Ashramas
7. Govindas Restaurant
8. Agriculture: Vegetable and Fruit Crops
9. Prasadam Distribution at Festivals
10.Construction and Maintenance
11.Treasury
12.Community Services: Child Protection, Women’s Protection, Mentoring
13.Preaching/outreach

13. Krishna Village- Eco Village
World-wide opportunities on organic farms (wwoofers):
6 days per week volunteer work, 4-6 hours per day
Approximately 80 residents:
35/40 volunteers
15 residents/staff
25 yoga teacher trainees
Yoga Teacher Trainees:
5 week intensive course in hatha yoga
Krishna Village is financially self-supporting,
with 15% of its gross income being donated to
New Govardhana temple.

14. Interaction on New Govardhana Farm
Approximately 300 people come and go from the farm every day
150 people sleep on the farm every night
* Early beginnings of daivi varnashrama

15. What to Do With Our Cities?
Srila Prabhupada: “…honest citizens
will be forced to leave the cities”
2017
Rents cost prohibitive
Access choked up
No schools
Unsafe environments
Pollution of all types
A new international study shows that
two distinct brain regions that regulate
emotion and stress are affected by city
living. Being born and raised in a major
urban area is associated with greater
lifetime risk for anxiety and mood
disorders.
(Nature, 2011; 474(7352):498)

16. What is Happening in ISKCON Lithuania?
Govardhana Farm in Lithuania

17. New Gokul Farm in Lithuania

19. Brahmacari Farm in Lithuania

20. Questions or comments?