The questions of survival & livelihood have become very complex issues in the present day. However, the Vedic civilisation of our past followed a very simple & sublime socio-economic model that gave material fulfilment and yet facilitated spiritual growth.
A partial hint of that model is mentioned by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita (18.44):
Krishi, go raksha, vanijyam / vaishya karma svabhavajam i.e. "Agriculture, cow-protection & trade are the qualities of work for the vaishyas or the mercantile class".
The Vedic economic model provided for self-sufficiency of varying degrees at various levels from the individual household, through the individual village up to a group of villages. Sometimes there would be trade over larger distances.
The modern day economic model is progressively eroding the self-sufficiency of social units, making them more and more dependent on external, and hitherto unconnected, forces and situations. Indeed, in this age of globalisation and so-called 'free trade', individuals and social units are becoming enslaved rather than free. In this complex web of artificial inter-dependency and control, events in one place drastically affect the situations and destinies of people in distant places.
The Vedic model, by promoting self-sufficiency at the local level, insulates a region from disturbances in other regions. It gives humans an honourable measure of control over their own life & destiny. It nurtures and facilitates the spirit of cooperation, rather than competition; of hard-work, rather than indolence; of sensitivity to one’s environment - human and natural, rather than callousness; of sharing and giving, rather than grabbing; of refinement & upliftment of the human spirit, rather than its degradation. The benefits are numerous. But above all, it provides the perfect atmosphere & background in which people can practice spiritual life, individually and collectively, free from the pressures, impurities and needless struggles that plague modern life & make self-realization seem such a utopian and distant possibility.
Gokuldham avoids the use of electricity, cement, steel, plastic, modern household gadgets like mixers, TV, radio, telephone etc and indeed, anything that is a product of the modern industrial set-up for which we will have to be dependent on someone or something external to the community. Instead, we attempt to revive various forms of traditional technologies to meet our simple needs.
Extreme though its principles may appear to be to the modern eye, Gokuldham is intended to be a beacon light for a society that is obsessed with the enjoying & acquisitive spirit, wherein worldly pleasure and accumulation of more and more goods and wealth are considered to be the standards of success and happiness. Gokuldham as a template for an alternate, holistic paradigm - simple living, high thinking. It seeks to demonstrate that true happiness and success in human society is possible and indeed easily and genuinely achievable, when we live simply and in harmony with the world around us.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), was an extraordinary person who dedicated his life for teaching the world about Krishna consciousness, ancient India’s most noble message of spiritual wisdom. In 1965, at the age of 69, on the order of his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, representing a line of teachers dating back to Lord Krishna Himself, Srila Prabhupada sailed from India to New York to share Lord Krishna’s message, and founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
He desired, among other things, to see ISKCON set up self-sufficient Krishna Conscious farm communities to demonstrate the principle of "Simple Living and High Thinking".
Prabhupada intended such communities to be beacon lights for a society moving rapidly into artificial & destructive lifestyles. Modern civilisation, with its thrust on maximising worldly pleasure, has simply intensified the struggle for existence, leaving very little time, energy & inclination for people to pursue self-realisation, which is the goal of human life.
Gokuldham is a humble step in this direction, following Srila Prabhupada's simple and yet profound articulation of the principle of self sufficiency:
"Use only what you can produce, and produce only what you need."
