By: HH Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaj
In practically all documentaries or articles that endeavour to address the various aspects of the global agricultural crisis the authors inevitably miss the point.
Their various schemes and elaborate plans to revive or create a sustainable and natural agriculture will all fail. Until and unless they understand the fundamental principles that govern both agriculture and cow culture, these attempts are futile.
First Principle: SYMBIOSIS
Cows and land go hand in hand; they form a natural symbiosis. Symbiosis is defined as “a mutually beneficial relationship between two entities”. We cannot speak of one without the other. We cannot separate the cows from the land for the sake of innovative agriculture. When we do so, we should know that the venture will not succeed.
Closely related to this is the need to grow crops under both natural sunshine and natural moonlight. Growing food without these two natural sources of energy is also going against the laws of nature and will also fail to produce wholesome food.
pusnami causadhih sarvah
somo bhutva rasatmakah
“I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.” Bg 15.13
In the Purport to this verse Srila Prabhupada elaborates:
“Due to the moon’s influence, the vegetables become delicious. Without the moonshine, the vegetables can neither grow nor taste succulent… Everything becomes palatable by the mercy of the Supreme Lord through the influence of the moon.”
Hence, in the long run, all such schemes that deviate from the established order will not be sustainable.
Second Principle: PROFIT
When we cultivate the land primarily for personal profit and when we keep cows also primarily for personal profit, both ventures are also destined to fail.
In such a scenario, both the land and the cows are regarded as commodities that can be exploited for our personal or extended self.
Modern Dairy Industry and modern agriculture (coined as agribusiness) are major deviations from what they are meant to be. Dairy has become an “industry” and agriculture a “business” increasingly devoid of the human touch.
Governments allure farmers to shift to organic farming promising them greater profits. Modern organic farming is but a continuation of this deviation.
The root problem lies is not knowing or not understanding “yajna-arthat”, or activities meant to be done only for the sake or interest of Yajna or Vishnu.
Because most governments follow secularism, being devoid of the principles of dharma, they cannot understand this fundamental principle.
But this is the basic science given in the Bhagavad-Gita:
yajnarthat karmano ‘ nyatra
loko ‘ yam karma-bandhanah
“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world.” (Bg 3.9)
Unless we as devotees live by these principles by practically demonstrating them, we will simply not succeed in convincing others to follow.
