© 1998 VNN
| WORLD November 18, 1998 VNN2519 A Letter About Plastic BY SWAMI B.A. PARAMADVAITI INDIA, Nov 18 (VNN) — Dear Vaisnava Acaryas, Sannyasis, Math Commanders, Respected Prabhus and Matajis. Dandavat Pranams at your holy feet. Please excuse me for taking your holy time for a moment. In my recent visit to Sri Vrindavan Dham it came to my notice that a great danger is approaching us. The danger is the decay of Gaudiya Math standards of sattvic recycling material for distribution of Prasadam during Mahotsavas and Prasadam distribution. For lack of thought and information some very grave mistakes are being introduced in many temples. Here I give some details to transmit the urgency for immediate action: 1. Plastic bags have been banned from Vrindavan. 2. Cows eating the bags sometimes die. 3. These plastic bags and plastic cups do not decay. Their terrible contaminating influence will be with us for much longer then we and many generations after us will live. 4. Most of the plastic ends up in the holy Yamuna causing danger there. Later the plastic goes into the ocean which is already a plastic infested body of water. 5. Plastic is never clean or pucca. It is unacceptable to our Vaisnava culture for eating. Plastic is made from Fossil remnants with a hazardous chemical process. This turns the dead body fossil remnants into plastic, fuels and a host of other synthetic materials. Mahatma Gandhi would have made a revolution against all these plastic cups and plastic materials which steals the income from the simple farmers and khadi producers for some multinational company. Clay cups and leaf plates are perfect and give a high standards where Bell metal or Gold is not available. 6. We are traditionally environmentalists ever since Lord Krishna expelled the Kaliya serpant which had contaminated the Yamuna. Now we are becoming implicated ourselves to contaminate the holy river just to save a few paisas. 7. The parikrama path was virtually inundated with plastic cups which had been used to give yatris free treats as they walked by. The wind started blowing the cups into the Yamuna. 8. It is not possible to eliminate all plastics from our modern society, but none may go into the ground or the waters. We shall make arrangements all together to recycle all plastics and Never to mix organic waste with inorganic waste. I plead your cooperation with this. This is a call from the Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha World Vaisnava Association VVRS-WVA Environmental committee. In cooperation with the VVRS- WVA Vrindavan Dham Preservation Committee. Join this committee if you are concerned with our envirormental issueas in the world or in the holy Dham. You may contact Sri B.V. Sadhu Maharaj in the MungerMandir in Vrindavan , Mathura Road if you want to know more about our environmental actions and plans. I beg to be excused if I have offended anyone with this call for the return to our Gaudiya math standards of recyclable eating ware. Your fallen servant Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti Vrinda Kunja Vrindavan Please translate this message into Bengali and give a copy to all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas in Bengal Vrindavan and Jagannath Puri. |
