In the modern scenario, with the passionate drive for possessing more and more unnecessary things, which is promoted by technological industrialization, one struggles very hard to maintain oneself and to provide for one’s family. In such an artificial lifestyle, where just for maintaining one’s gross body one has to spend a vast majority of life’s energy, one has very little time or energy left to cultivate one’s spiritual life, which is one’s most important responsibility. The extensive use of various machines, gadgets, etc. in one’s life makes one superficial in one’s dealings with other people and creates an artificial set-up of society which drains one’s energy.
“…overdependence on another's mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy.” – SB 1.1.10 purport.
Moreover the people in the modern cities do not have any pure thing in their lives. The air one breathes is heavily polluted, the food one eats is grown using many harmful chemicals, and the water one drinks is also treated with dangerous chemicals. It is indeed an outstanding example of an irony. People shift to the cities from the villages thinking that they will live more happily in the cities. But, however, the fact is the opposite; by leaving the life in the villages one actually gives up all the things for one’s happiness and by living in the cities one willingly takes on diseases, anxieties, stress and puts himself in a condition of perpetual unhappiness. The English poet Cowper once said, “The city is made by man, but the country is made by God.”
So, any reasonably intelligent person will understand that living in a modern city is detrimental to one’s bodily health and well-being and totally opposed to one’s spiritual well-being. It would be better for everyone to shift back to the villages and begin living there in the midst of nature where the air one breathes is pure and fresh, the food one eats is grown naturally and is full of nutritive value and the water one drinks is pure and tasty. Thus materially one will be very satisfied and happy by living in a village. For making one’s livelihood one does not have to work hard for 10-12 hours a day, throughout the whole year. One can attain the basic requirements of his family very easily by growing food from one acre of his own land. One does not have to work the whole year struggling and toiling hard; simply one has to work on the land for four months of the rainy season. All one’s requirement of food for the whole year can be easily achieved by just four months of work on only one acre of land. The remaining time of the year is free to be used for increasing one’s spiritual activities of chanting the holy names of Krishna, hearing and discussing Bhagavatam, etc. One simply has to remember one basic principle over here. Do not grow food for selling, only grow for your family’s requirement and for charity purposes. Never grow food for selling. Thus one will reduce one’s hard work by minimizing his greed for more.
In this way, by living according to God’s arrangement, one can be satisfied and happy in his material life. It is for the overall happiness of everyone that Lord Krishna has created the system of the four varnas and ashramas. By the scientific application of this institution of varnashrama the whole society in the village can systematically progress towards the ultimate goal of self-realization, realizing oneself to be the eternal servant of God. In the system of varnashrama-dharma every man and woman is trained for this purpose, to reinstate oneself in his original position. In other words, the system of varnashrama-dharma is known also as sanatana-dharma, or the eternal occupation. The varnashrama system offers every human being a proper framework in which one can remain peaceful and satisfied while executing devotional service to the Lord.
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