Vrindavan: The Human Sanctuary: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

This critical essay explicates several key ideas associated with Vrindavan environmentalism and the hypothesizing of the holy pilgrimage town as a Human Sanctuary. The nature and rationale of environmental fieldwork spanning more than 17 years is
outlined along with the foundation of the resultant philosophy which is labelled the Vrindavan Ecological Concept (VEC). Several connections between idealized scriptural depiction of the town of Vrindavan as the center of Vraj pilgrimage and actual modern environmental manifestations are made which lead to a posing of Vrindavan as place and ecological idea(l) as a reconciliation of past, current, and possible environmental futures. Self-introspection (sadhana) lies at the (human focused) center of this resolution and
harmonization.