Make Vrindavan Villages
The teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, beautifully preserved in the Caitanya-caritamrita by Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, continue to be the guiding light for devotees for the next ten thousand years. We are still in the very early beginning of Lord Caitanya's movement, which means all of us have a great responsibility to help spread this mission of the Sankirtana movement.
The Five Powerful Items for Spiritual Success
Lord Caitanya explains that there are five aspects which, if nicely applied and followed, will very quickly help one achieve the desired goal of developing love of God. Even a small amount of association with any of these five activities will tremendously accelerate one's spiritual progress:
- Residing in the Dhama – Those who are fortunate can physically reside in Mathura-Vrindavan
- Deity Worship – Householders especially should have the archa-vigraha form of the Lord in their home
- Daily Hearing – Hearing Bhagavatam on a daily basis in the morning
- Chanting the Holy Name – The most powerful way to purify consciousness
- Associating with Devotees – Sadhu-sanga is essential
But realistically, how many can stay permanently in the dhama? Very few people. So our acharyas provide a second option: make our home like Vrindavan.
Understanding “Make Your Home Like Vrindavan”
When we perform devotional activities on a daily basis in our homes, that is as good as residing in the dhama. When we invite the Lord into our home, we come to understand that actually our home is not our home, it is the Lord's home. We are the Lord's servants, and we are trying to render service to Him.
But there is a third, even deeper understanding of this instruction that deserves careful consideration.
We know that five thousand years ago, Lord Krishna appeared in Vrindavan and performed His pastimes. These pastimes are referred to as “nitya-lila”, eternally going on. When not manifest on this particular planet, they become manifest in another planet, moving eternally from one planet to another.
The Lord descends into the material world to reveal to us His lifestyle. Under the guidance of Nanda Maharaja, who possessed vast amounts of land and nine lakhs (900,000) of cows, the main activity for the residents of Vrindavan was very much centered around cows.
The Model of Simple Village Life
All of the residents of Vrindavan centered their livelihood and maintenance on two things: producing from the land in a simple, natural way, and that simple and natural way is best accomplished by keeping cows.
Unfortunately, in modern-day society, we are forgetting this. Even people who are living in villages are forgetting why they are living in villages.
We should understand that this lifestyle, what we call Krishna's lifestyle or Vedic lifestyle, teaches us that when we agree to live in this manner, we can more easily develop our Krishna consciousness. Not only that, but we can more easily meet all of our material necessities of life as well.
This lifestyle was present in India even up to about 200 years ago. Historical accounts from when the British came to India describe how the villages were very neat and clean, and how the people were very respectful and friendly with one another. The British officers visiting different parts of India documented all the benefits and glories of the villages at that time.
Srila Prabhupada's Vision for Villages
India is one of the few countries where a large percentage of the population still lives in villages. This represents a great opportunity. Srila Prabhupada, when he was physically present, once wrote to one of his disciples that he wanted to come to India and travel in the villages to remind the residents of the great opportunity they have to create this type of model—like in Vrindavan.
This is why one of the small books we have is titled “Make Vrindavan Villages.” Living in villages, we should know that the simple village lifestyle is meant to be the norm, the natural way in which we are living, where we are very closely connected with the land and the cows. In this way, our life is more simplified, and it becomes much easier to remember Krishna and practice Krishna consciousness.
Two Levels of Dharma
When we speak of dharma in our Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, we understand it to be Sanatana Dharma—the dharma for all living entities as described in our Vedic shastra. There are two important levels to understand:
Spiritual Svadharma: This is directly connected with our original nature as eternal servants of Krishna. It is easily understood as stated by Lord Caitanya—this is the definition and full understanding of Bhagavata Dharma, our spiritual prescribed duties.
Material Svadharma: In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna speaks about our prescribed duties in terms of varna and ashrama. This is the material system Krishna has created for those living in the material world, still influenced by the three modes of material nature.
Varnasrama is the system given by Krishna for Vaishnavas who are still in their conditioned state, who are still not yet fully liberated. Just as there are different levels of devotees—kanistha, madhyama, and uttama—varnasrama provides the framework for gradual elevation through proper engagement according to one's nature and circumstances.
The Essence: Chanting and Consciousness
If our consciousness is not sufficiently purified, the most powerful way to purify it is by chanting the holy name. This is the essence of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission: that we take up the chanting of the holy name, and in this way, we regain our original consciousness and our original, natural way of living.
Without purified consciousness, it is not possible to understand these subject matters. A beautiful verse in the Bhagavatam explains that by constant hearing—constant hearing of the holy name and constant hearing of the teachings in the Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavatam—gradually, automatically, the heart becomes purified.
These two things go hand in hand and will very quickly purify our consciousness. This was the request of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He sent Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura door to door, simply begging and requesting people to take shelter of the holy name. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting, everyone can start practicing.
The primary objective of householder life is not merely material maintenance, but spiritual advancement through proper engagement. By establishing our homes and communities on the model of Vrindavan, centered on land, cows, and devotional service, we create the ideal environment for developing Krishna consciousness while also meeting our material needs naturally and simply.
This is the vision our acharyas have given us: Make Vrindavan villages. Not in the dhama alone, but wherever we are, we can create environments conducive to spiritual life by adopting the principles that the residents of Vrindavan demonstrated: simple living in connection with the land and cows, high thinking through hearing and chanting, and community centered on service to the Lord.
Article based on lecture by Bhakti Raghava Swami: Primary objective of Grihastas Life | Village Program