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According to the vedic culture there are seven kinds of mothers for everyone human being. Mother Earth is one of them. Therefore, it is incumbent up on everyone to treat Earth respect and love. Mother Earth is described in different ways in Vedas. She is called:

Dharani – One who holds everyone and everything

Dhatri – One who nurses everyone

Vasudha – One who gives a place for living

and so on. Every morning when we get up from bed and before placing our feet on Earth, we chant the following prayer for forgiveness to please Mother Earth.

samudra vasane Devi
parvata sthana mandite
Visnupatni namastubyam 
pada sparsam samaksva me

O Mother Earth, who’s breasts are the mountains and who is dressed by the oceans, O consort of Lord Visnu, I am touching you with my feet, please forgive me.

Our Zero Waste lifestyle is a natural consequence of such personal understanding of Mother Earth. As practitioners of Krishna Conscious philosophy we understand that we should live in such a way that we are in harmony with nature.

Therefore, responsible handling of all types of waste and converting it to value which enriches Mother Earth is a logical extension to our life style.

ISKCON Mayapur has launched this unique community cleaning project to give an opportunity to every one to render some service to Sridham Mayapur.

One may wonder, what this clean the dham is all about and why one should be involved.

Cleaning of Vaikunta:

Vaikunta is the Abode of the Supreme Lord Narayana. It is spiritual world where everything is perfect. However it is observed in description of Vaikunta in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 3 Chapter 15 Verse 21 that the attendants of Goddess of Fortune are found sweeping the floor of Vaikunta. Srila Prabhupada in his purport to that verse elaborates:

“These millions and trillions of goddesses of fortune who reside in the Vaikuṇṭha planets are not exactly consorts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but are the wives of the devotees of the Lord and also engage in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is stated here that in the Vaikuṇṭha planets the houses are made of marble. Similarly, in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that the ground on the Vaikuṇṭha planets is made of touchstone. Thus there is no need to sweep the stone in Vaikuṇṭha, for there is hardly any dust on it, but still, in order to satisfy the Lord, the ladies there always engage in dusting the marble walls. Why? The reason is that they are eager to achieve the grace of the Lord by doing so.”

Other references to cleaning service:

In Caitanya Caritamrta, the scripture which chronicles the pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is none other than the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself, there is an elaborate description of “Gundica Marjana Lila” – The Pastime of cleaning of the Gundica Temple.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarthy Thakura, an eminent Acarya in our line of Acaryas in his famous prayers to spiritual master has mentioned specifically about the service of cleaning the temple.

… and this is your chance:

We therefore invite members of our community, visitors and pilgrims every Saturday between 10:30 am to 12:30pm to wield the broom to clean the holy dham of Sridham Mayapur for their own benefit.

The participants are treated with delicious Prasadam at the end of their service.

Next time when you are here in Mayapur, drop into our Eco Center, roll up your sleeves and render some service to Sridham Mayapur.

Remember – Clean the Dham Clean your heart.