via Mayapur TV Archives by ashok on 7/15/11

Janmastami dasa joined ISKCON in 1977 and for the next 16 years distributed books all over North America serving as the Sankirtana Leader in seven temples and then as the National Sankirtana Leader for the United States from 1988 - 1991. He served as the Temple President for the Denver temple from 1992 - 1996. In 1997 he moved with his wife, Samkalpa Devi Dasi, and two sons, Prahlada and Devala Rsi, to Mayapur, where he has been working in educational development ever since. In 1999 the Mayapur GBC gave him a mandate to start the Mayapur Institute, and he served as its Director from it's inception in 2000 until 2009. He is now focusing all of his energies on curriculum development, teaching, preaching and Vaisnava seva.

Srīmad Bhāgavatam 4.18.27-32
SB 4.18.27: My dear Vidura, chief of the Kurus, in this way King Pṛthu and all the others who subsist on food created different types of calves and milked out their respective eatables. Thus they received their various foodstuffs, which were symbolized as milk.

SB 4.18.28: Thereafter King Pṛthu was very satisfied with the planet earth, for she sufficiently supplied all food to various living entities. Thus he developed an affection for the planet earth, just as if she were his own daughter.

SB 4.18.29: After this, the king of all kings, Mahārāja Pṛthu, leveled all rough places on the surface of the globe by breaking up the hills with the strength of his bow. By his grace the surface of the globe almost became flat.

SB 4.18.30: To all the citizens of the state, King Pṛthu was as good as a father. Thus he was visibly engaged in giving them proper subsistence and proper employment for subsistence. After leveling the surface of the globe, he earmarked different places for residential quarters, inasmuch as they were desirable.

SB 4.18.31: In this way the King founded many types of villages, settlements and towns and built forts, residences for cowherdsmen, stables for the animals, and places for the royal camps, mining places, agricultural towns and mountain villages.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.18.32
prāk pṛthor iha naivaiṣā
pura-grāmādi-kalpanā
yathā-sukhaḿ vasanti sma
tatra tatrākutobhayāḥ

SYNONYMS
prāk — before; pṛthoḥ — King Pṛthu; iha — on this planet; na — never; eva — certainly; eṣā — this; pura — of towns; grāma-ādi — of villages, etc.; kalpanā — planned arrangement; yathā — as; sukham — convenient; vasanti sma — lived; tatra tatra — here and there; akutaḥ-bhayāḥ — without hesitation.

TRANSLATION
Before the reign of King Pṛthu there was no planned arrangement for different cities, villages, pasturing grounds, etc. Every thing was scattered, and everyone constructed his residential quarters according to his own convenience. However, since King Pṛthu plans were made for towns and villages.

PURPORT
From this statement it appears that town and city planning is not new but has been coming down since the time of King Pṛthu. In India we can see regular planning methods evident in very old cities. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are many descriptions of such ancient cities. Even five thousand years ago, Lord Kṛṣṇa's capital, Dvārakā, was well planned, and similar other cities — Mathurā and Hastināpura (now New Delhi) — were also well planned. Thus the planning of cities and towns is not a modern innovation but was existing in bygone ages.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fourth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Pṛthu Mahārāja Milks the Earth Planet."
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H.G. Janmastami prabhu speaks on S.B. 4.18.27-32
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