Clean the Dham Clean your Heart
The “Zero Waste Mayapur” initiative launched by ISKCON Mayapur has its philosophy rooted on two important principles of Vedic wisdom:
- Proper utilization of everything in Krishna’s service
- Keeping the Dham clean
Utility is the principle:
In Vedic times, all human activities were strongly affiliated with devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Today the same eternal principle applies: everything must be utilized in the Lord’s service. – Śrila Prabhupāda in his book Renunciation through wisdom
True to this eternal principle “Zero Waste Mayapur” we are striving to convert the so called “Waste” into useful products which can add value human life. At the same time we are avoiding usage of products that have low utility or those which can cause harm to the environment.
Our philosophy is that everything in this world is a manifestation of Sri Krishna’s energy. Therefore everything has its utility in His service. Even the so called “Waste”.
For instance in Mayapur daily we serve out tens of thousands of plates of Prasadam to visitors and pilgrims. We do not use plastic foam plates in spite of “One time convenience”. Rather we use dry leaf plates. Then we also take the discarded plates and convert them into rich Bio-compost which actually adds value to local farming and agriculture.
We also complete the cycle by using part of this compost to grow our own organic Veggies, which are supplied to community. Devotees in turn cook nice dishes and offer it for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and relish it as Prasadam – the sanctified food.
This is one of the many ways we have utilised every “Waste” product to make a product of value and offered it back to the local community.
A natural consequence of such utilitarian approach is that everything remains clean.
Cleanliness:
Furthermore, the temple should always be as clean as glass. Everyone remarks that the temples of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are very clean, and they must be very clean. The more one cleanses the temple, the more one’s heart becomes cleansed. This is the process of devotional service. – Śrila Prabhupāda in Teachings of Queen Kunti – Crossing beyond Illusion’s Currents
ISKCON Mayapur is arguably one the cleanest community in whole of India. Our philosophy of keeping the environment clean and adopting a zero waste life style is coming from our practice of Krishna Consciousness as taught by our Founder Acarya – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Cleanliness – a vedic perspective:
Cleanliness is rooted in Vedic tradition as an integral necessity for human life. According to the Vedic hyms ultimate cleanliness is achieved by practice of Krishna Consciousness. This is stated in ancient hymn:
om apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthāṁ gato ’pi vā yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ sa bahyābhyantara-śuciḥ.
“Whether one is pure or contaminated, and regardless of one’s external situation, simply by remembering the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead one can internally and externally cleanse one’s existence.” – Garuda Purana
The inspiration from Srila Prabhupada:
Srila Prabhupada, the modern Acarya who introduced vedic knowledge of Krishna Consciousness through out the world, repeatedly insisted on the importance of clean lifestyle both externally and internally.
That is Vedic civilization—cleanliness. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”… So the first business is cleanliness. Everything should remain clean. – Srila Prabhupada in his lecture on Bhagavad Gītā 16.10 Huawei 6 Feb, 1975
It is natural that ISKCON Mayapur has taken this major step to responsibly recycle the solid waste produced within its campus and the vicinity to ensure that no unclean garbage is left behind to pollute the surface of Mother Earth.
Website: zerowastemayapur.com