Our MISSION
The Krishna-dairyian initiative was started with a desire to improve the standard of dairy used inside ISKCON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness), otherwise known as the Hare Krishna movement, by enlightening their members about the issues surrounding dairy products purchased from the supermarket and making the case that only excess milk offered by their protected cows should be used in their worship of Krishna and for their personal consumption.
The founder of the Hare Krishna movement, Srila Prabhupada made it clear that he desired that his society become self-sufficient and be able to produce their own food and milk, however, 50 years since his departure the movement he founded is far from reaching this idea, with just a few examples around the world. Most ISKCON temples still purchase dairy from the supermarket and thus indirectly support the atrocities of this industry. Many members claim that the cows whose milk they use in the worship of Krishna are liberated, however, there is no actual scriptural reference nor quote from their founder to back this statement.
Furthermore, Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter to his disciple Krishna das on Christmas day, 1968, “Regarding purchasing things in the market, these items are considered as purified when we pay the price for them. That is the general instruction. But when we know something is adulterated, we should avoid it. But unknowingly if something is purchased, that is not our fault. Things that are suspicious, however, should be avoided. No, it is not very good to use yeast in preparing prasadam. Since it is offensive to offer anything to Krsna that He will not accept, one should be extremely cautious not to offer (or eat) anything questionable.”
It is abundantly clear that he desired that only the best quality foods be offered in worship to Krishna, and the fact is, milk products sold in the supermarket are inferior quality and contaminated physically and subtly. So in my personal opinion and the opinion of many senior devotees inside ISKCON, including some gurus, commercial-grade milk does not meet the strict standards of purity and integrity necessary to be offerable to Krishna.
It is our hope that all the leaders of the ISKCON society take this matter seriously and institute a strict policy in all temples that only the purest milk, free from violence and chemical additives; milk that has been offered to us by a protected cow, should be the only milk used in the worship of Krishna.
To this end, this website was created.
Priyavrata das