Author : Srimati Vrindavan Lila d.d. (Dr. Vrinda Baxi) E-Mail : vrindavanlila.brs@gmail.com Date Produced : January, 2016 – Updated September 2016 Serial No. : 40 of 54

2. Author : Srimati Vrindavan Lila d.d. (Dr. Vrinda Baxi)
E-Mail : vrindavanlila.brs@gmail.com
Date Produced : January, 2016 – Updated September 2016
Serial No. : 40 of 54
Sri Govind Gau
Gram Prachar Yatra

3. By Vrndavanlila Devi Dasi (Dr. Vrinda Baxi)

4. ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry-India’s
offering of a garland of 108 villages covered by
its initiative of Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar
Yatra at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada on the
occasion of the international celebration of
ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary.

5. THE REAL India lies in the 7,00,000 villages. If Indian civilization is to make its full
contribution to the building up of a stable world order, it is this vast mass of humanity
that has….to be made to live again.
***
I would say that if the village perishes India will perish too. India will be no more India.
Her own mission in the world will get lost. The revival of the village is possible only when
it is no more exploited. Industrialization on a mass scale will necessarily lead to passive
or active exploitation of the villagers as the problems of competition and marketing come
in. Therefore we have to concentrate on the village being self-contained, manufacturing
mainly for use.
***
The future of India lies in its villages.
- M.K. Gandhi (Father of the Nation)

6. The simple living and high thinking which revolved around land, cows and Krsna is slowly
disappearing.
• Village life is exemplified by the Supreme Lord Himself.
• The simple village life of a devotee is exemplified by His most exalted devotees – the
cowherd girls of Vrindavan or gopis. Those simple gopis give the highest philosophy of
Krsna Consciousness. They are epitome of perfection in bhakti.
Unfortunately that model is slowly disappearing…

7. • Faulty notion of economic progress
• Loss of traditional occupations
• Loss of indigenous breed of cows
• Farming hit by usage of fertilizers, of mechanisation, of GM
/ HYV Seeds, of pesticides, green revolution, misplaced
objectives of farming (mono-cropping and cash cropping)
• Discouragement to village technologies
• Urbanisation of villages in the name of progress
• Infiltration of cash money in the village fabric

8. • Disappearance of cows (backbone of any human
society), especially the desi cows
• Depletion of soil fertility (Exploitation of Mother
Earth)
• Recession of water level
• Sowing the seeds of greed, consumerism, spiritual
hollowness in the farmers through TV, internet etc
• Breakdown of local governance

9. • Reduced the farmers or the suppliers of food to the world
to a mere labourer, dependent on the mercy doled out by
others
• Rising incidents of suicide in the farmers
• Divested of both go-dhan and bhumi-dhan
• Loss of spiritual prosperity
… and many more nightmarish consequences have ultimately
led to mass exodus of villgers to cities and thus,
GRADUAL DEATH OF VILLAGES IN INDIA

10. No wonder, Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON desired
to focus on villages, the REAL India.
Prabhupada:... Iwantto preach little inthe village. Forthatpurpose inthe big bus likethat, we
shall gowith ourtents, andwecampinaplace where there iswater,andbegin ourpreaching.And
Hindi book weare getting.Inthiswaylet metryinIndia, inthevillage, not inthe city.
…Hamsaduta:For usthere isnoproblem Prabhupäda, but itmaybedifficult foryour Divine
Grace.
Prabhupada:No whatis difficult? (laughter)ButIwanttodosomethingforIndiainthe
village...
[Conversation, October 31, 1976, Vrndavana dhama]

12. Indian villages which:
• Are viewed as blots on the face of modern industrialized India
• Are in state of utter neglect & exposed to urban distortions
• Are exploited to cater to the needs of Urban India
envisions to offer
holistic care by addressing the spiritual, material, social
and emotional needs of our villagers
Through its multi-pronged approach.

13. IDVM-India’s Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra is an attempt to restore their old glory by:
Revive their cow protection culture
Revive their dying fields by encouraging them to follow the traditional
methods of farming, village technology, simple lifestyle …
Instill new confidence to encourage them to stay in the villages
Reverse the trend of migration from the villages to cities
Inculcating the spiritual culture of Krishna Consciousness
Connecting the villagers to the local ISKCON temple
Thus, SAVE THE DYING VILLAGES .

18. - Conviction & determination to fulfill acarya’s desire
- Surrender to the Lotus feet of Sri Guru & Gauranga
- Detachment to comforts & luxuries
- Unassuming, readiness to face any kind of difficulty
- Adaptability to new place, people, situation…
- Willingness to take austerities
- Good sadhna

19. - No place to retire at night or day time (many
times under the shade of tree in chilly nights…)
- No water, bathroom or toilet facility
- One devotee bitten by scorpion in the wee hours
and no medical assistance was available
- Breakdown of vehicle at a deserted place
- And many many more…

25. “Yatraworksat thegrassrootlevelofcowprotection.No cowprotectioncan
take placeingoshala,citiesor general masses.Themosteffectiveoneisthat
whichtargetsthepersonwhoactuallydealswiththecows–thefarmers, the
villagers.Weare targettingthem.Further,we arenottalkingaboutspiritualityin
vacuum.Wetake care oftheir material needstoo.Wetrytocuretheproblem
fromitsroots.What ourYatraisofferingisa completepackage.That isitsbeauty
anduniquepoint.”
-HG JananivasDas

26. This Yatra is unique as wesimply don’t talk about the villagers’ problems but also offer them
solutions; spiritual solutions totheir practical day to day material orany kind of
problems. It is a very personalised approach.It is just not about go-raksha it is also about
the rakshaof their lives, their farms, food, culture, traditional technologies… as everything
is inter-related.
When it comestowhat weget, I personally find it very purifying, spiritually invigorating
which also makes a personvery detached and spiritually focused.
-HGGourGopal das

27. “Earlierwe wereinthecomfortzoneofhouse, butinthisyatrawewere allthetime
dependentontheLord.Wewere travellingtounknownvillages.Becauseofthe
changesinthestyleoffarming,famersare frustratedandhavetakentobadthings
andtheir responseswerevaried. Atoneplacewe gotan ovatingwelcome,while in
othertheywere indifferent.However,theYatra devoteeswere doingtheirduty
very sincerely.”
-HGRasamandalDas

28. With the blessings of vaishnavas, under the aegis of
HH Bhakti Raghava Swami, Minister, IDVM-India, Sri
Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra was launched on
October 25, 2015 at ISKCON Hyderabad.
HG Basu Ghosh prabhu, HG Vedanta Caitanya
prabhu, HG Anandmaya prabhu and Sriman
Sanskritananda Acarya were a few of the dignitaries
present to flag off the Yatra bus.

29. Initially, the Yatra was planned to intensively traverse the two
states of Andhra and Telangana as the core Yatra team
belongs to this part of India.
• The first phase planned to cover Andhra belt.
• Second phase comprised villages in the Nalagonda district.
• Third phase was relatively nearer to Hyderabad in Telangana
Then winter break, but the divine plan took them beyond &
more
• Fourth phase of coastal Andhra got added.
• Fifth phase of Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh also happened.

30. VI Phase
(Tirupati
zone)
25 villages

32. • Generally includes gram-sankirtan with/
without Lord Jagannath’s chariot
• Repeated announcements of the evening
program along with its highlights
• Invitation to assemble at the specified venue
for the evening program
Note: Complete program is conducted in the local language of the area

33. • Beginning the program with go-puja
• Invoking blessings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,
who wanted the Holy Name to reach every
town and village and also bringing in the right
humble attitude in the Yatra devotees, by
reciting Shikshashtakam

37. • Lecture, video on the importance of chanting
the Holy Name and question-answer session
• Lecture, video on the evils of modern farming
and its alternatives & question-answer session
• Lecture and video on cow-protection and go-
seva & question-answer session

38. Villagers hearing the lecture and watching the documentary movie with
great interest

39. Lecture and video on the importance of
chanting the Holy Name, on the evils of
modern farming and its alternatives, and
on cow-protection/go-seva
Villagers taking vow to protect cows and
adopt sustainable farming methods
Note: Lecture and video are in the local language of the area.

40. Free distribution of the:
• Holy Name
• Prasadam
• Methods of sustainable
living with Bhu-devi &
gomata
• Dignity to villages
• Transcendental literature

41. Sowing the seeds of bhakti, dignity and conviction
in the hearts of villagers
Follow-up program through:
* krsi-go raksha sangha
* samskara patra
* Harinam sangha
Concluding to begin afresh at a new village…

42. 1st villager : Since 40 yrs many people have come to our village in
the name of religion and expected so many things in return of
their activities. But it is only you people who have come to us
to GIVE us something very precious, directly related to
farmers, soil, cows and food without asking anything in
return.
2nd Villager: Your Yatra has given hope to depressed farmers.
3rd Villager: Now we can see some bright future for agriculture.
… and many more

44. Post the program, without exception, every
village expressed the desire of having a
permanent connect with the Yatra devotees
and more such programs. This was
facilitated through registering their villages:
Hari Nam Sangha: It would allow them to
receive basic spiritual training- chanting &
following the four regulatives.
Krsi Gau Raksha Sangha: It is registration
under the IDVM-India. It’s wider in scope and
allows both the varnasrama and spiritual
training.

45. In a period of just a few months,
* Took ISKCON to remote villages
* Covered 92 villages
* Reached out to 18000+ villagers
* More than 17000 villagers pledged to gau-raksha
and take spiritual training
* Conducted 14 consecutive Jagannath Rath Yatras
* 6000+ villagers offer lamp during Damodar Mas
Campaign of the Yatra
* Distributed prasadam to 23000+ villagers
* Distributed 3450+ books
* Distributed Harinam to countless souls… 
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krshna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

54. IDVM-India is making real history through
this most crucial grass-root village program
and setting the stage for colossal changes
and innovations as we enter ISKCON’s
GOLDEN JUBILEE Era, an Era of continued
bold initiatives and highly effective
outreach touching the hearts and lives of
thousands of crying souls.
- HH RP Bhakti Raghava Swami,
- Minister, IDVM-India

56. For further information:
Please visit www.iskconvarnasrama.com
& www.srisurabhi.org

57. Srimati Vrindavan Lila d.d.
(Dr. Vrinda Baxi)

58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Name Srimati Vrindavan Lila d.d.
 Age and Gender 44, Female
 Country/Province of Origin India, Uttar Pradesh, Ayodhya
 Educational Degree and Year Ph.D. English, 1998
 Educational Institution Panjab University
 Professional Work/Experience Writer/Editor
 Affiliation with ISKCON Since 2001
 Present Service in ISKCON Editor in VBT, SVC Member