News and Events

At the VCF Campus, due to intermittent rains in these last few days, the temple renovation work has been delayed however the Srivas Bhavan Guest House work continues with steady progress.  We also plan to put up a boundary fence around the VCF Campus to ease circulation and regulate access as gradually more people are visiting us.

Our VCF Campus will also be setting up its VCF Directorate to be conveniently located on the Ground Floor of the Srivas Bhavan as one enters the complex. Regular office hours will be maintained as well as permanent staff to provide various services both online and physically to those visiting our VCF Campus. More details will soon follow.

Bhakti Raghava Swami travelled to Africa, Europe, North America, the Far East Asia and Bharat.

TOUR UPDATES

JUNE 6  Hyderbad, BHARAT 🇮🇳: This morning I read from Canto 11, the last two verses wherein Lord Krishna concludes His discourse to Uddhava on the topic of Varnasrama. The words “authorised tradition” caught my attention. We are not meant to blindly follow any tradition but specifically tradition that is bonafide or authorised by sastra.

JUNE 1 Penang, MALAYSIA:  Class at ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Krishna Kanhaiya Temple followed by the opening of the Gopal Krishna Preaching Center at Kelang Lama Square in the area of Kulim.  Evening program on the importance of Mother Cow giving examples of the spiritual and material benefits of cow.

“According to the three gunas and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me.”- Lord Krishna, in Bhagavad-gita 4.13

Vaishnava devotees follow the Varnashrama Dharma as elaborated in Vedic scriptures. Devotees residing in New Mayapur abide by them. In the Vedic culture, society is organized as per varna (social divisions), depending on their tendencies to work and ashrama (stages in life), related to family and relationships, which is a natural system and not a man-made system. 

There are four varnas namely Brahmana (priestly class), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants) and Shudras (laborers) and four ashramas such as Brahmachari (student life), Grihasta (householder), Vanaprastha (retiree) and Sanyasi (renounced). 

Practically all countries or nations in the world have original residents called indigenous people or for Bharat called Adivasis or for Canada, called First Nation people.

It is most important for us to connect with these people who still have much knowledge in relation to natural resources and practice self-sufficiency. Many of these original tribes and adivasis have Ksatriya natures and still maintain various practices in connection with Mother Nature whom they respect. Much of the land in different countries still belongs to them.

Bhakti Raghava Swami blessed the Vedic Eco Village & Ahimsa Goshala in British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦 with his association this spring. During the week we explored Vedic Culture & Sociology, Cows Care & 
Ox training, Traditional
 Vedic Technologies, Food & Seed Security, Forestry & Natural Building.  

Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees to make Vrindavan Villages for people to experience the wonderful atmosphere of a cow-centered agrarian community.   

Around the world ISKCON maintains ethical dairy farms in the Vedic style that are completely different from modern day factory farms, built to produce meat and milk. ISKCON dairy farms are not run for profit, nor for meat. Cows and bulls are protected and taken care of until their natural death and never sent to slaughterhouses when they are old. 

These Vedic model dairy farms, or “goshalas” as they are called in Vedic India, are built to promote humane treatment of cows and bulls, to give them peaceful lives and render service unto them. In exchange, they supply nutritious milk and help the devotees in fertilising the land. Cow manure is used as fertilisers for agriculture and bulls help to plough the fields. 

One of the seven purposes of ISKCON is to teach people to return to a more natural way of life. To fulfil this aim, ISKCON helps people realise their innate connection with Krishna, the Supreme Lord, Who owns this planet we live in and teaches them to respect the environment and all living beings, all of which is a part of the Lord. The Vedas teach that the world is one family and we are all connected. 

The Vedic teaching Vasudeva kutumbakam, means that the whole world is the family of Vasudeva or Krishna, forms the basis of ISKCON’s sustainability, underscoring an undeniable relationship with all living and non-living beings. Thus ISKCON promotes care, protection and love for Mother Earth, knowing all her wonders and resources to be the blessings of the Divine.