Waiting women in front of a village well
Tamala Krishna, Los Angeles, December 16, 1968: “All purposes that are served by the small pond can at once be served by the great reservoirs of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.”
Prabhupada: Now try to understand this. The long-standing system in India in the villages… India is originally village life. City life very few. Perhaps there was only big city, New Delhi now. In those days Hastinapura, and next to that was Dvaraka.
So very big city, they were only two or three. Mostly people used to live in villages. Still ninety percent population of India is in the village. So in the village, the system is they have different kinds of wells. One well is meant for taking bath, one well is meant for washing clothes, one well is meant for taking drinking water, one well is meant for washing dishes.
So in this way, in the villages there shall be half a dozen wells. So here the example is given, just like one can take service from a particular type of well for a particular purpose, but if he goes to the river, ever-flowing river, then he can take his bath there, he can wash clothes, he can wash dishes, he can everything. All water purposes will be served in one river.
Because the water is flowing there. There is no contamination. Any water which is always flowing, there cannot be any contamination. A stagnant water which is not flowing, there may be contamination. Therefore the restriction is that you should take bath in this well, you wash your clothings in this well. So small wells, they are restricted for a certain purpose, but in the river, there is no restriction. Everything can be done there.
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