March 5, 2015. GOUR PURNIMA Adventures in New Jaipur, Prabhupadanuga Farm in Fiji
AGRICULTURE NEWS
I visited the Agricultural Station on the way to Labasa, but there were hardly any plants available in their nursery, and no grafted ones. I managed to pick up a few avocados and six passion fruits. The passion fruits thrive on organic manure, so I dug large holes and put over a gallon of rotted coconut stump and raintree wood in each before setting the vines and tying them up on the rack’s posts. Our first set of passion fruits have pretty much stopped producing, being over 5 years old (they last 5-7 years). Hopefully by next year we should have plenty of passion fruits, which when added to fresh lemon juice really makes the taste softer and more delicious.
Talking to Maleli, I discovered that the Ag Station has mature trees in their orchard of many fruit varieties from which I can obtain cuttings, or scions, for my own grafting. I have never grafted, but I do have a knife, tape, and have watched how-to videos on YouTube. I found some volunteer seedlings around the farm of “bush lemon,” the common rootstock upon which to graft developed citrus varieties. They have key lime, Ruby Red grapefruit, tangelo, Jaffa lime, and others. This is exciting, as finding such things in the far South Seas is almost miraculous. Our fruit orchards are doing amazingly well, growing quickly, and are the most developed trees I have had. Twice in Hawaii, then a third time in Panama we had planted extensive orchards but left them behind before they matured and gave fruits.
When Shyam Yogi visited recently, he brought 4 neem, 2 black sapote, and a Kafir lime from a new nursery in Nadi. The lime is already growing rapidly near the water tanks while the others are still in their pots growing to sufficient size to put out. The Ag avocados were planted on what we call the Oxbow Island, a couple of acres circled by an old river bed.
Kaimana Lychee: Prabhupada’s favorite fruit
Washington Navel Oranges
Our first harvest of avocados was this January, about 25 only, from just 2 out of 15 trees. They are about 4 or 5 years old. Avocados are not true to seed, meaning the quality of offspring of a tree with really good fruits is unpredictable. Many people keep planting avocados and cull the ones with less than desirable fruits. A friend in town has an old tree with huge delicious fruits, so I am planning a grafting experiment on this case. Perhaps before Kali Yuga began, there was no need for grafting, and all specimens were first class. But now, it is a constant battle against weeds, pests, deterioration, and the creep of the plain and ordinary in all aspects of life, including fruit trees.
Through January we harvested most of our second crop of dalo (taro), and even with high market prices, we will not do much better than break even with the crop’s expenses. Why? Because of poor advice from the workers as to where to plant, a 3 month drought from July through September, and not having much luck with one special variety which is difficult to get right (tausala dalo). But we are learning. In the future we are sticking to the river flats- most of last year’s crop was planted on hillsides or in the wrong type of soil. We have already started our third dalo crop, using only our own suckers (babies), with 2000 along the edge of the water cress stream (Karessi Creek), and another 1500 next to the orchard in soft moist soil from an old river bed filled with silt. We are planting once a year, Jan-March, to sell before and during Christmas time. Dalo proceeds go to defray the cost of our native laborers until enough devotees come to do everything ourselves.
Meyer Lemons…So Many !
Seedless Lime after 4 years
Although we are getting increasingly good quantities of Meyer lemons, seedless limes, and West Indian limes for two years now, this year we are getting our first Washington Navels, Satsumas, Valencias, and mandarines. I keep warning the workers NOT to take any ! Some sapadillos (chico, Krishna’s favorite fruit) are setting fruit again(last year we only had a few). A few of the rambutans are finally branching and filling out, a few lychees (Kaimana variety good for tropics) are forming their gorgeous round-crowned shape, a jackfruit is adorned with our first a ten-pounder fruit. Kumquats are heavily laden, branches bending over. Our first few sandalwoods were planted with valuable grafted citrus hosts, and the sandalwood zoomed up while the citrus withered, its life sucked out. Now we plant sandalwood alone and they seem to do almost as well.
One of the Orchards
At first we planted some remote hillsides with banana and papaya, but they were too hard to reach and maintain. Now we only plant along the farm roads so we can see whatever is ready whenever we pass by, and it is easy to collect ripe bunches with the pickup.
COW NEWS
The three cows are doing fine, and gradually becoming more tame. Lakshmi and Sushila both had ropes they drag around all the time and are easy to catch and lead wherever we want to take them. Tungi needed a rope too, and the boys lasso-ed her and did it nicely in half an hour, although it must have hurt her nose a bit. She goes through barbed wire fences without a scratch- her Brahman hide is so tough. One morning one of our workers, on his way from the village, found all three on the main road about 5 km from their pasture. He brought them back and we were tying up Lakshmi (the leader of the pack) every night. It turned out that they made their way through two foot deep mud and crossed the river at low tide. We will have to put a fence along the river since it doesn’t stop them as we had hoped. They are a mischievous bunch.
Tungi, Lakshmi (the boss leader), and Sushila (the tamest) on a hot summer March day
Two cows were supposed to be pregnant, but when the vet from Savusavu Agriculture Department came out to do a physical exam (with longggg disposable gloves), none of them were found to be expecting. This means four things:
we will not anytime soon be milking our own cows,
we will need to continue buying our fresh mixed-breed cow milk from our neighbor Jayapal,
we must get our Guernsey artificial insemination program underway right away, and
our first calves will be 50% Guernsey.
Everything is going along according to Krishna’s plan and the trick is to know what it is…
Newsflash: We just found a nice semi-dairy-type cow near town that will calf next month or so, and we will be bringing her to the farm this week. The white nectar will flow soon…
NEW ARRIVALS
Madhumangalah and Jenny Prabhus are due March 9th from Australia. They are quite experienced with cows, gardens, and intentional communities.
Benjamin Prabhu and family are due to arrive from Germany on March 13th with wife Anika and two little boys, Tibo and Jaro, 5 and 3.
Braja and family from Europe are successfully tying up loose ends in Europe and hope to arrive here by mid-May. They have a little girl aged 5 named Zulie.
On top of the agenda is solar arrangements, starting a garden, and schooling. Of course the children will be learning English quickly in their new environment, the land of endless summer and sea breezes.
Other devotees around the world are also very interested in participating in Srila Prabhupada’s Fiji varnashrama project.
COTTAGE INDUSTRY
To reach a point where the New Jaipur Vedic Village will begin to develop its cottage industries such as cloth weaving, brick-making, soap production, and so on, we first need to accommodate the resident devotees who will make these things a reality. Therefore, as I was thinking recently, our first cottage industry is to build cottages…!
The first six cottages are progressing gradually, in small fits of daily advancement. The first one is all done and ready for Benjamin’s family, and he’ll just need to set up his solar photovoltaic system with the components coming by sea freight in April.
The second cottage is practically complete- just a little more painting, a gutter, and some cleanup. A rear retaining wall was necessary to hold the hillside from crumbling more with each rainfall. It looks nice and could make a nice back yard garden box when filled with good soil.
The third cottage has a finished roof and facers, the window and door frames are ready to install, and then the plaster work starts inside and outside (about two weeks work for 2 men). It is all roughed out, now comes the finishing work.
For the last three cottages, we made eight ridge beams that we were lacking from a dongo (mangrove) tree that fell across the river last year- a very hard wood! And we made about 50 more rafters from a huge vusavusa tree, but the workers miscut some of them, so they will be used instead for purlins. Quality control is an ongoing challenge.
IT’S SUMMER HERE !
The cool weather persisted right into early January, but the warm season then began in earnest, setting record countrywide temperature readings, including 35 C at Savusavu. The humidity compounds the effect of course, and one gets used to dripping sweat (it’s healthy). It’s usually between 83-88 F. The rains are heavier now, and we were getting a shower almost every day, except for this last week. Twice we were stopped at flooded bridges on the West Coast Road, waiting for the muddy water to recede enough before plowing through a foot or two of swift waters.
No need for bedcovers at night. Amazing scenes of rain falling out on a patch of ocean, or rainfall in the sunshine, a full moon with a bright star close by, and half a dozen types of clouds scattered around. Krishna is kind, and His creation is beautiful. Hare Krishna!
BALANCING INDEPENDENCE AND COOPERATION
There are basically two general approaches to devotee communities that I can understand from Prabhupada’s legacy- one model is the city temple where all live together closely, surrender all money, time, even family to service chosen by management. This is a Gita Nagari model, and requires the participants to be very detached and advanced. All residents are fully engaged in the service of the overall community, without salaries or much if any independence. It might be termed as ideal communism. Engagement is prioritized according to communal needs. Varnashram is transcended by all members acting as fully surrendered Vaishnavas. The ISKCON farm in Hungary, I think, is based on this model.
The other model is the Vedic village where one can also practice full surrender, but it is about regulating and gradually training conditioned souls in Krishna consciousness according to their nature and talents. New Jaipur aims to attract those who would become productive members of a Vedic village. In this model, the project does not provide all necessities to the members, but provides an attractive opportunity in which participants can establish their independence, simultaneous to cooperative pure devotional service with their village neighbors. In this village model, the members support the project by activities in their varna and ashram. Vaishyas are taxed 20% of their production and income by the administration, and brahmanas are supported by communal charity and work without charge for the community benefit (education, preaching, puja, medicine). Ksatriyas are engaged by the administrator in administrative work or defense. Sudras work under the guidance and care of the administration or someone in one of the other varnas.
In the Vedic village, everyone can be content and have all necessities of life while making rapid advancement in spiritual life as well. It is a Vedic model, and is not recently invented- the pages of shastra describe a world history of civilizations of Vedic villages and towns. They were based on the land, the cows, and natural bounty. Grow food, live simply, chant and be happy. Our Western conditioning needs unwinding where we tend to think in terms of economic development ad infinitum, when our needs are actually limited and simple. More association, sadhana, festivals, preaching… it is easy to be swallowed up by modern life where there is no time for Krishna consciousness.
The Vedic village recognizes all four varnas rather than everyone being brahmanas. The purpose of the village is to work INSIDE, not outside. Need for money can be almost eliminated by growing our own food and milking cows, trading our extra production. The key ingredient is the 20% tax on all production, it goes to the village management to use for the benefit of the project and preaching. Each family has to have their own cottage, their own varna engagement (vaisyas need leased land)-this is daivi varnashram dharma (DVD). Vaishnava first, varna next.
The balance comes automatically whereby individuals and, more especially, families work according to the varna and ashrama system created by Krishna Himself- cooperating with His plan and design for human society, allowing us also to prosper and independently (to a large extent) pursue our talents, careers, ambitions, inspirations, and desires. A Vedic village with productive hard-working participants who are happy in their natural and unpretentious positions in society will thrive. Fulfilling the duties of each varna and ashrama is a balance of independence and cooperation with Krishna (and the local project). Free will and surrender, hand in hand. In New Jaipur, everyone also gives an hour a day service to the community, and is required to regularly attend the temple morning program, follow certain rules and regulations. This is required cooperation, but there is no limit to further voluntary service or cooperation.
Any further discussion, thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
PRABHUPADA DREAMS
Mahabhagawat, pure devotee, empowered representative of the Supreme Lord, Krishna’s Kali Yuga ambassador of mercy, fully self-realized, authorized Yuga Acharya, disciplic succession’s current link, personal associate of the Personality of the Absolute Truth, shaktavesh-avatara, mahajana of mahajanas, topmost of the exalted ones, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
He is non-different from his picture, his deity form, his divine instructions; he is present in his service, in his books, and in the uncorrupted Krishna consciousness movement. And in dreams he can also sometimes appear to his followers. A new book, PRABHUPADA NOW, explores the ongoing spiritual presence of Srila Prabhupada even after his physical departure in 1977, including in dreams as recounted by fortunate devotees.
A few days ago I had a dream that Srila Prabhupada told me he wanted to visit New Jaipur in Fiji, and instructed me to buy plane tickets for him and eight assistants who also would come. I was in anxiety trying to find the money for so many tickets. Then it was time for mangal artika…
NAMAHATA
Every home should be a Temple and should resonate with the sound of the Holy Name and preaching of Krishna Consciousness. As many homes, as many preaching centers.
QUOTES:
►750401mw.may Conversations
… don’t distribute. You live only, till the ground and take your food. Where is the question of distribution? Whatever you can till, you take so much land. God has enough land. Why do you possess more? One acre of land is sufficient for producing your food. Why do you take more?
►Canakya Pandita has given, real comfort means, arni akyavad(?): “One who is not out of home and one who has no debts, he is happy.” Nowadays people are going out of home, and everyone is debtor to the bank and so many… The economic machine is so made that one is put always in debts for some so-called comforts, and he’s full of anxiety. The whole month he has to work to pay debts.
►760802r3.par Conversations
And they can make hundreds of devotees. In this way we can expand. Are you realizing that there is no civilization? Actually civilization we are introducing. Except Aryan civilization, Vedic civilization, there is no civilization–animal society. What do you think? Are you convinced about it?
►750304mw.dal Conversations
Just like in the prisonhouse you have to work. Eh? So they think this working is civilization. This is avidya. So therefore they have created more work. From early morning, five o’clock, till ten o’clock, simply working. They do not know that “This working is our punishment.” But because ignorant, they think that “Working is life.” This is called ignorance. He does not know, “This working is my punishment. How to get out of this work?” No. To increase the work more, complicate, that is civilization. This is called avidya. Avidya-karma-samjnanya. Our tendency is not to work but get things. Therefore he has asked that question. Because he has to get cloth by working, therefore he asking, “Why God has not created?” That means tendency is not to work. That is spiritual tendency. Everything, necessities, automatically available. That is our… Therefore as soon as one man becomes rich, he does not work. He gets his thing by working others. The tendency is there, to retire from work. They go to a solitary place. They retire. They do not go out. Weekly, at least, they want to stop worker, working. So why this tendency? He does not want to die. He does not want to work. This is spiritual. Why man should work like… Therefore real civilization is that minimize work. Minimize work, save time, and go back to your spiritual life. That is civilization. And this is not civilization, to get the necessities of life, sense gratification, and work like hog and dog. That is condemned.
Looking from the forest down on the temple site and ocean
►SB 7.14.5 P Ideal Family Life 2/5
A wise man, however, learns from the sastras and guru that we living entities are all eternal but are put into troublesome conditions because of associating with different … under the laws of material nature. He therefore concludes that in the human form of life he should not endeavor for unnecessary necessities, but should live a very simple life, just maintaining body and soul together. Certainly one requires some means of livelihood, and according … is the basic principle of Vedic civilization. One should be satisfied with whatever means of life comes automatically. The modern materialistic civilization is just the opposite of the ideal civilization. Every… the so-called leaders of modern society invent something contributing to a cumbersome way of life that implicates people more and more in the cycle of birth, death, old age and disease.
SUMMARY
New Jaipur is a positive alternative to the rapidly devolving situation in the modern civilization. Nuclear war approaches, and humanity is due for much turmoil which can only be alleviated by establishing Prabhupada’s varnashram Hare Krishna farms. Our Vedic Village farm project retains Srila Prabhupada as the sole diksa guru, via rtvik representatives. As an affiliate of the Hare Krishna Society, we are part of Prabhupada’s transcendental ISKCON which is situated beyond the now-corrupted original institution. There are 857 acres of titled, fully-paid land in a pristine South Seas rainforest environment on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island. We have openings for a few qualified devotees based on adherence to certain conditions as contained in our Village Constitution (available by email). Anyone who might like to participate, please inquire. Our standard is: chant 16 rounds daily, follow the four rules, contribute 8 hours community service a week, attend regularly the morning program, and become a productive participant, one fifth of produce and income going to the deities, Sri Sri Radha Govinda. Some western-standard cottages are still available for whatever donation you can easily afford, even if it is just token. Vedic villages are the future of the world.
Please consider a visit to New Jaipur, and be our guest in paradise. Several families are preparing for their journey to take up life in New Jaipur, as the invitation is open to Prabhupadanugas everywhere. Life here is simple but not particularly austere, with pure Fiji running water, full bathrooms, Hawaii climate, tiled floors, screened windows, although solar power is not included (however costs on solar equipment have dropped greatly recent years). We also welcome temporary residents who would like to serve Prabhupada with any skills they may have, to further their spiritual credits and help the Vedic village too.
Yours in Prabhupada’s service,
Nityananda das
If you would like to be added to our regular mailings of Vedic Village Reviews or make a donation, please send us an email at srigovinda@gmail.com. Hare Krishna! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
NEW JAIPUR FIJI WEBSITE (in progress): www.vedicvillage.org
Speak Your Mind