Some of us have experienced life in a desert. Statistics reveal how increasing desertification is a sign of deteriorating environment. This is written in the Srimad Bhagavatam as part of the sinful reaction land had to accept in an exchange with Lord Indra. “Since the land accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, a portion of the land turned into desert.” (from the summary to Srimad Bhagavatam chapter nine, canto 6.) In the purport to text seven chapter nine of the sixth canto, Srila Prabhupada writes: “Because deserts are manifestations of the earth’s diseased condition, no auspicious ritualistic ceremony can be performed in a desert. Persons destined to live in deserts are understood to be sharing the reactions for the sin of brahma-hatya, the killing of a brahmana.”