The traditional system of responding to nature outdoors leads to so much unhygienic and dirty situations? How is that superior to the modern system of indoor washrooms?

Transcript

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Question. Question. I have often heard in classes that.
In the Vedic culture. People would respond to nature. Outdoors.
And. I have also said that. This is considered to be more hygienic.
But we see that. In today’s cities. In places like Mumbai.
On many other railway tracks. And even in villages. Along the roadways.
People responding to nature. Creates such a. Stench filled. Repelling and.
Unhygienic situation. So. How can.
Such a situation be. Unknown in the name of hygiene. As superior to the modern system.
Of responding to nature. Indoor washrooms. Answer.
The culture of Krishna consciousness. Is primarily centered on. Spiritual principles.
And. The way that culture will be expressed. Will vary according to time, place, circumstance.
So there is no doubt today that. The. Way people.
Soil roads and railway tracks. And pathways. By responding to nature.
In outdoor places. Extremely unhygienic. And.
That is not at all. The traditional way. Here traditionally.
People would go to a distance. Away from the houses. Near the forest.
And then dig holes. And then. Respond to nature within the holes.
And then cover the holes. So. The result of this would be.
That. The human feces. Would directly go.
Under the earth and serve as a manure. So. The litter is not on the surface.
But then it doesn’t. It doesn’t give any stench. It doesn’t look bad.
It doesn’t cause any. Health hazards. Because flies and other germs will not come over there.
But if it is. Put underground. Then there is a natural recycling system.
That for example say cows. The waste product of the cows. That is a cow dung.
Has a lot of cleansing effects. It has antiseptic properties also. So similarly.
Now it is well known. In cultures all over the world. That human manure.
That human excreta. Has capacity to. Act as a good manure.
So. The traditional system was efficient. In terms of.
Utilizing this manure. In a. In a natural process of recycling. By.
Using it for the crops. So. Over the generations.
As Indian culture has become. Contaminated and. Perverted even.
So a general. Tendency towards sloth. Apathy and lazy lethargy.
Has come up. So. That’s why.
We will see that at a material level. Many places. India.
Is much more unclean. Than. Many of the western countries.
And. One general aspect of this. Uncleanness is.
The way. People respond to nature. Along the roads and along the railway tracks.
And this is certainly not something which. Is the. Traditional system.
That is actually recommended in the Vedic culture. So. Sometimes.
In some classes. There is a. Modern culture and everything about modern culture. Is made into a whipping boy.
Just made into a. Target like punching bag. But. That is not a very balanced or a. Intelligent way of looking at things.
In today’s situation. Especially in situation. In places like congested places like cities.
There has to be. A proper system of. Sanitation and hygiene.
And. Outdoor. Responding to nature.
Is done. By today by people. Not because of any conscious awareness of.
How that will be. That is more hygienic or how that is. Utilizing.
Human excreta as a manure for soil. But it is done. Because out of necessity.
Say there are poor people who do not have. Access to. Washrooms.
Or. It’s done because. People.
Are too lazy. To find a private place. And to dig a hole and to do the needful.
So the system. Is definitely not recommended. And when we talk about.
The. Aspects of Vedic culture. That were in many ways.
Superior to what is then modern culture. That doesn’t necessarily imply. That the distorted.
Expressions of those. That Vedic culture which are present in today’s society. Are superior.
First of all the distorted expressions themselves. May not be good. And they may not be good in today’s situation.
So. The fact remains. However that the modern system.
Of. Having indoor washrooms. Is not.
The most efficient. In terms of overall utilization. Of resources.
It may be. Most efficient in terms of. Convenience.
In. Today’s. Fast paced.
And congested. Social situation. But.
If we look at it from the point of view of. Utilization of natural resources. Then the manual.
The human excreta. Far from being used as a manual. It just gets wasted.
And not only is it wasted. But a huge amount of water. Also gets wasted in.
Flushing it away. There are devotees even today. Who live in farm communities.
Eco friendly farm communities. And then the amount of water. That is required.
For. The whole process of responding to nature. Is for.
Flushing the human excreta is much lesser. When. One is going outdoors.
And is. Actually they give you a pool. But now.
So much water is wasted. For. It may be a necessary thing today.
So we cannot say that it is wasted. It has to be used. We cannot avoid flushing.
After we respond to nature. But the point is that. So much water gets lost in this.
Particular method of. Disposal of human excreta. And there are several surveys.
Done. And of course the surveys are not even required. It is just a matter of objective observation.
That in the same water. That is used for. Flushing the.
Toilets in the city. That could be made available for irrigation. In the villages.
Much of the water shortage. Problems would be solved. So of course whether this can be done.
In today’s society. That is a different issue. The point simply that.
That I am making over here is that. The current system. Is may be convenient.
And may even be essential in today’s society. But it is not. It is not at all an efficient way of.
Utilizing. The water. Or the.
Excreta as a manual. So it is not necessary that. It is definitely not a. Fully advantageous system.
There are very serious disadvantages to it. So. We have to have a balance between.
When we see. The vestiges of. What was our traditional culture today.
And those vestiges. Look appalling. That should not make us.
Reject. The original Vedic culture. Of which these are distorted vestiges.
On the other hand. We. Although in principle.
We understand. That a simple. God centered culture.
Is better. Not just for spiritual advancement. But for also.
Materially harmonious and. Satisfying living. That does not mean that.
Everything modern. In modern situations. Is necessarily.
Inferior. To the. Distorted vestiges.
Of the traditional culture. So. If we hear.
Blanket criticisms. Then we have to understand. The underlying principle.
And learn that. Not focus on. Not consider.
That. The Vedic culture. As it is distorted expressions today.
Is actually. Superior to. Or a replacement for.
The current arrangement.