With good rains, the farmer's business in agriculture
5 flourishes. Agriculture is the noblest profession. It makes
society happy, wealthy, healthy, honest, and spiritually ad-
vanced for a better life after death. The vaisya community, or
the mercantile class of men, take to this profession. In the
Bhagavaa-gita the vaiSyas are described as the natural agri-
) culturalists, the protectors of cows, and the general traders.

When Lord Sri Krsna incarnated Himself at Vrndavana, He
took pleasure in becoming a beloved son of such a vaisya
family. Nanda Maharaja was a big protector of cows, and
Lord Sri Krsna, as the most beloved son of Nanda Maharaja,
used to tend His father’s animals in the neighboring forest.
By His personal example Lord Krsna wanted to teach us the
value of protecting cows. Nanda Maharaja is said to have
possessed 900,000 cows, and at the time of Lord Sri Krsna
(about 5,000 years ago) the tract of land known as
Vrndavana was flooded with milk and butter. Therefore
God's gifted professions for mankind are agriculture and

| cow protection.

Trade is meant only for transporting surplus produce to
places where the produce is scanty. But when traders be-
come too greedy and materialistic they take to large-scale
commerce and industry and allure the poor agriculturalist to
unsanitary industrial towns with a false hope of earning more
money. The industrialist and the capitalist do not want the
farmer to remain at home, satisfied with his agricultural pro-
duce. When the farmers are satisfied by a luxuriant growth of
food grains, the capitalist becomes gloomy at heart. But the
real fact is that humanity must depend on agriculture and

| subsist on agricultural produce. No one can produce rice
and wheat in big iron factories. The industrialist goes to the
villagers to purchase the food grains he is unable to produce
in his factory. The poor agriculturalist takes advances from
the capitalist and sells his produce at a lower price. Hence
| when food grains are produced abundantly the farmers be-
come financially stronger, and thus the capitalist becomes
| morose at being unable to exploit them.m=
| 28
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