New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Janaka Mahajana invited me down to Sri Sri Radha Vrindabancandra’s water and sewage treatment facility, just a short way down the road from the temple. We met up with Tejo Maya Prabhu and his son Gopal, who have been maintaining these services for quite some time.

It was amazing to see how much energy was put into the required process of purifying the sewage water. First the water flows down the hill and splashes into the primary pond. Air is constantly being pumped into this pond, some swampy moss is collected at the same time and then the water is pumped into a big box which captures undesired particles.

In a second pond the water is once again aerated/treated and then it is pumped into a sand pit, which captures a majority of the remaining waste. This sand pit is scraped clean from time to time so that more unpurified water can pass through.

That water then flows into a series of cemented chambers and is treated with a chemical to remove the finer particles, finally ending up dumped into a flowing stream. These devotees are actually down here daily taking water quality samples for both the potable and discharged waters. They then run tests and file the results with regulative agencies. Additionally, they are tending to broken pipes, run down motors, rewiring something or cleaning out the various filters.

One interesting thing Gopal and Tejo Maya noted was that a cardinal regularly follows them around and takes shelter in that area. After a few minutes, sure enough, we spotted the cardinal relaxing in the shade of a nearby bush. There used to be a group of geese down here too, but now only one lone survivor remains. “probably attacked by other animals,” Gopal said.

The temple also has two wells just around the corner from the sewage facility. Unfortunately, the well which usually pumps over 10,000 gallons for the temple daily has a busted pump. Right now the temple water needs are all being supplied by the small 5,000 gallon per day well, which actually is not enough. Considering that we have many festivals coming up, it is a priority to get the larger well repaired, but it will be no small task. In fact we may have to dig another well, as sediment has collected on the bottom, one of the reasons why our water has the sea-like smell to it.

I now have a whole new appreciation for water in the dhama. I pray to Sri Sri Radha Vrindabancandra that I will never waste another drop of that precious well water. Similarly we are appealing to the community to be very conscious of the water situation and do their part to properly utilize the resources Krsna is providing.

raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya
rabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu
śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaḿ nṛṣu

O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oḿ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

PURPORT (Segment)

The taste of water is the active principle of water. No one likes to drink sea water, because the pure taste of water is mixed with salt. Attraction for water depends on the purity of the taste, and this pure taste is one of the energies of the Lord. The impersonalist perceives the presence of the Lord in water by its taste, and the personalist also glorifies the Lord for His kindly supplying tasty water to quench man’s thirst. That is the way of perceiving the Supreme.

Your Servant,
Arya Siddhanta dasa