“No one within ten miles radius of ISKCON Mayapur temple should go hungry.” – Srila Prabhupada
Mayapur is situated 110 km North of Kolkata, and most of the people living in its surrounding areas are below poverty level, earning an average of less than $1 a day. Such people naturally find it difficult to survive with such very low income.
Despite the fact that we are living in the modern age with high technology (‘computer age’), is this age making any difference to the poverty stricken people? Rather we see that prices for all the provision, stationary, etc. are high. In any 6-member family, 70% of the earning goes for food! It is extremely difficult for people with very low income to properly cater to minimum necessities of family life and social intercourse such as proper shelter for living, medical needs, etc. This is their life, day after day. Generally, their children are also similarly poor, and due to insufficient education, lack of proper vocational training and good health, they are unable to adjust to the contemporary needs of the rapidly changing modern society.
Therefore, we humbly request you to kindly consider their situation and ask ourselves, “How can we tolerate this inequality between the affluent us and the poor them. Though it is impossible to mitigate the problem of poverty altogether, it cannot be denied that at least we should feed hungry members of our community. According to the scriptures, the civilized man considers the entire world to be his community and family: vasudhaiva kutumbakam. Feeding these persons is not only a charity to them; it is our duty and obligation to them. Vedic culture exhorts all householders to worship the Supreme Lord and feed others, especially the poor, to the very best of his capacity. Since all of us are Krishna’s children as spirit souls, it is our obligation to feed these financially incapable brothers and sisters.
Our village prasada distribution party goes by boat to surrounding villages once a week. This is organized by His Grace Shastra dasa Adhikari and his team.
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