03/29/98 - 1720

New York Times Features Vrindavan Widows

USA (VNN) - Today's New York Times front page article, "Once Widowed in India, Twice Scorned", tells of the plight of Govind dasi in Vrindavan, India. She was married at 12 and became a widow at 14, when her husband died of tuberculosis. She then was forced to work as an unpaid servant of her mother-in-law for about 35 years, the article reports. As many widows in India, she traveled to Vrindavan 15 years ago to devote her life to Krishna.

Focusing on the plight of some 5000 widows in Vrindavan and their "social death" the article tells of the Urmila Dasi, 35 married at 11 and became a widow with 14. The community she lived in did not allow her to remarry or she would be outcast.

Also mentioned is the, inconceivable for western minds, ancient ritual of (in)voluntary burning of the widow with the deceased husband, which is still expected from many widows in India. The vedic scriptures tell of widows who follow their deceased husband into the funeral fire to be able to be with him in his next life. The Indian government has outlawed this practice long ago, but reports of sporadic incidents and sometimes forced suicides are common. Also other forms of abuse suffered by some widows in India is described.

Excited to read in this New York Times feature article how ISKCON and it's wealth has had a positive influence on the plight of these Vrindavan widows, we have to read:

"For most, survival is assured by meager handouts of rice and lentils, coupled with a stipend of 2 rupees - about five cents - if they chant for four hours in the evening, on top of the four morning hours of choruses. Some live beneath stairwells, on verandahs or in makeshift shelters, using old jute matting or discarded clothing of bed covers. But even those with a bit of money fear eviction. Slum landlords are eager to join a housing boom that has been driven partly by the young Westerners who come in the thousands as Krishna devotees." the Times reports.

This in contrast to reports of ISKCON sannyasa gurus setting up landscaped villas in Vrindavan as their residences. Sources have told VNN that one such sannyasi is said to have installed a system in his Vrindavan residence by which he can press different buttons in his suite, which in turn flash different light signs in the kitchen, signaling which kind of beverage is to be served next. It comes at no surprise that today the sannyasa ashram has earned nicknames like "Sannyasta" or "Sannyamedi" in the Vaishnava community and some sannyasis have to remove graffiti, ridiculing the sannyasa ashram, from the walls of their villas in Vrindavana.

The article otherwise reflects the clash of modern western societies with the ancient traditions of Indian society and illustrates one of the great challenges of today's Vaishnava organization in the West and India: how to adopt to modern standards of freedom and human rights without abandoning the timeless instructions of the Vedas.