Lord Śiva Mahādeva riding on his bull carrier Nandi

Reposted from ISKCON Alachua Temple Newsletter

Rajani, 2009

Rajani, likely the longest-lived cow at New Raman Reti, passed away peacefully sometime during the night of Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja day. Arriving as a resued calf in 1996, she lived for 24 years (the human equivalent of 120 years!) as a member of the Save the Cow herd. Originally purchased with the idea of breeding her as a milking cow, Rajani’s independent spirit and strong will to remain fairly feral ultimately thwarted that plan. Only in her later years, she became approachable and quite a sweetheart.

Royal Rajani wears her hay crown in style, December 2016

Afflicted with arthritis in her hind legs, daily medication and care, plus sheer determination, kept her going for years. However, when one of her front legs went out at the knee Rajani was no longer able to stand on her own. The vet came, examined her, and prescribed some anti-inflammatory and pain-relief medicine for Devaki to administer. But due to her advanced age, recovery was not expected. We then went into hospice-mode: providing hay bales for sitting support, setting up a shade tent, regularly bringing water and whatever food she would eat (soon Rajani was only interested in carrots), and playing Srila Prabhupada chanting. As we’ve seen time and time again with other cows, Rajani accepted her fate and patiently waited for the auspicious time to pass on. So it was that she held on through Janmastami and Vyasa-puja day, leaving us and going onto greener pastures before the next morning’s sunrise.

In her winter coat, January 2018

On behalf of Rajani, Save the Cow would like to thank all those who donated funds over the years for her care, especially Nalini Kanta and Ratnesvari Hopke, and Brahma Tirtha and Bhakti Cohen.

Baby Gopal was born in the spring of 2003 on Deer Run Farm in nearby Columbia County. He was rejected by his mother for some unknown reason. So his owners, Al and Barbara Bluhm, called him “Baby” and lovingly raised him as their pet. A decade later and retired from farming, they needed to find a new home for their 10-year-old, 1800-pound Baby. They contacted Save the Cow, an interview was conducted, and everyone agreed that Baby was a good candidate to join the herd. He arrived just before Christmas 2013 and, Baby, soon “initiated” as “Baby Gopal,” fit right in.

Baby as a “baby”

The Bluhms regularly visited Baby Gopal over the years and financially contributed to his care. Others sponsors included Balavanta and Ballavi Ogle, Naren Godugula, and Anusha Surapaneni. Baby Gopal was a mellow fellow and got along well with other cows including new calves such as Surabhi and, more recently, Madhva.

Baby Gopal and Surabhi, 2014

As he aged he naturally slowed down but remained in relatively good health until just a few weeks ago when Devaki noticed he was eating a lot less than normal and became uninterested in treats. The vet came out, examined him, and found evidence of a heart condition, not unusual for a bovine of 17+ years (equivalent to an 88-year-old human). Soon after that Baby Gopal couldn’t stand up on his own and the vet prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine, which also provided some pain relief. Hospice care ensued under shade trees in the pasture, which involved keeping him sitting up, making him as comfortable as possible with hay bedding, providing him with fresh water (by this time he stopped eating), spraying him to keep the flies away, and setting up a digital player of Srila Prabhupada chanting.

Waiting for the reunion

The Bluhms were contacted and they came to visit Baby Gopal in the late afternoon. As they said goodbye it was obvious that Baby Gopal recognized them. By the next morning, Baby Gopal peacefully passed on to his next destination having lived a long, good life, much of it in the dhama of Krishna- Balarama, Radha-Shyamasundara, and Gaura-Nitai.

Baby Gopal, the gentle giant

Devaki dasi, of Save the Cow, who was his main caretaker reflects on his passing: Baby Gopal was a gentle giant. Despite his size he was very shy and could be frightened easily. In all the years I cared for him he never once made an aggressive move toward me. I would often go up to him and place my forehead on his (which is a cow’s way of showing affection) and he would stand very still as long as I wanted. When we put little Madhva in with Baby Gopal he was always very tolerant of all of Madhva’s crazy antics and I’m sure Madhva will miss him as much as I do.

After a long life on the farm, Chandrika passed away on the Appearance Day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita. She was 18 years old (equivalent to 90 years in human longevity). As we’ve observed over the years, this was another occasion of a member of the Save the Cow herd departing on an auspicious day.

Happy Radhastami

from Save the Cow

and Holy Cow Alachua

Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, the divine cowherd couple

Happy Janmastami

from Save the Cow

& Holy Cow Alachua

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there from Save the Cow / Holy Cow Alachua!

Mother Padma Gandha and her new calf, Nimai, born at the Eco Teaching Farm, New Raman Reti in February. (Photo taken just after Nimai made his grand entrance)

Happy Gaura Purnima from Holy Cow Alachua! And welcome its newest member, Nimai, a bull calf born of Padma, on February 19.

Nimai, the future ox, enters the scene . . .

Nimai has his first drink . . .

Puja visiting Padma and checking Nimai out. Is she thinking, “Hmmm, maybe I should have one, too?”

Click here support Holy Cow Alachua.

Rajani in her new winter coat — very chilly weather is forecast for the next few days (in the 20s at night).

All glories to Krishna, the son of Mother Yasoda, the cowherd boy Gopal, Govinda who gives pleasure to the cows! All glories to the conqueror of Cupid, Lord Hari, who takes away all inauspiciousness, who is unlimited, and the awarder of liberation!

(Gitavali, Sri Krishner Vimsottara-Sata-Nam, Song 6, Verse 1 Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Trans. Dasaratha-suta dasa. Nectar Books, 2002.)

Shri Balarama at New Raman Reti, ISKCON of Alachua

(Photo: Krishna Katha Dasi)

May Lord Haladhara bless us all with increasing desire and strength to serve Lord Govinda and His beloved cows. Happy Balaram Appearance Day!

(Prayer: ISKCON GBC Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture)

Nrisimha (shown here in his younger days) recently passed away at the age of 21

Nrisimha was born on the farm in 1996 right before Lord Nrisimhadeva’s appearance day. He was the son of our Holstein Yamuna, the result of a secret visit from the neighbor’s bull. We had no idea that Yamuna was pregnant until she started showing signs and our vet confirmed it.

Nrisimha was always a force to be reckoned with in the pasture and showed this even when he was small. When he finished nursing he would clamp his mouth on one of his mother’s teats and back up stretching it until she kicked him. She nursed him a lot longer than we thought she would. If fact we thought she would never wean him but finally one day she had had enough. Needless to say he was very upset so we put him in with our elderly bull Dharma. They instantly bonded and Nrisimha would playfully bounce around Dharma and beat him on the neck with his head. Dharma would stand stoically for Nrisimha’s playful poundings like a doting grandfather.

As long as there were bigger cows in the pasture Nrisimha wasn’t too bad but when he became the biggest and strongest he was a quite the bully to the other cows and people. He stabbed me in the leg one time when I was trying to put a halter on him and he would swing his head at visitors who were trying to feed him. He didn’t have many cow friends but that didn’t seem to bother him as long as he got what he wanted.

When Nrisimha was about two years old he developed this lump under his jaw. The vet was called but the prognosis wasn’t good. It was cancer. He gave Nrisimha a couple of shots and we gave him some homeopathic medicines but Nrisimha started growing thin and we thought we would lose him then. But slowly he started to get stronger and the lump dried up. It went into remission for 18 years until a few months ago when it came back with a vengeance.

He left this world a few days after Lord Nrisimhadeva’s appearance day this year at the age of 21. That would be equivalent to 105 years for a human. He lived a good, long life of doing whatever he wanted. It was the only way he would have it.

Thanks go out to Nrisimha’s sponsors who provided support for his lifetime care: Mahavira and Jaya Gauri Roberts, Madhava and Guruseva Barsaleau, Kirtan Rasa  Mausert and Family, and Premendra Shivhare .

Adopt a Holy Herd

Introducing Holy Cow Alachua, Sri Sri Krishna-Balarama’s goshala, at New Raman Reti’s Eco Teaching Farm (ISKCON of Alachua in North Central Florida).

Holy Cow Alachua’s mission is to practice and promote sustainable cow protection by showing the practical value of providing lifetime care and service for a small herd of milking cows and working oxen and to educate the surrounding community members of all ages through school collaboration and workshops.

Please sponsor the herd by making a monthly donation.

Your support helps pay for a year’s supply of hay, feed grain, and dietary minerals, hoof trimming and veterinary care, pasture fertilizer and grass seed, fence maintenance and repair, tractor fuel and maintenance, office and outreach supplies, and cowherd maintenance.

Sign up for automatic recurring payments at one of three levels of support:

Pandava Sahadeva – ($31.00/month = $372.00 annually)

$31.00 per month

Maharaja Nanda – ($51.00/month = $612.00 annually)

$51.00 per month

Gopal Krishna –  ($108.00/month = $1296.00 annually)

$108.00 per month

Currently, you can help care for Surabhi, Padma, and Puja. 

Surabhi

Padma

Puja

Nimai

To make a single donation online:

-OR-

Send checks or money orders to:

ISKCON Save the Cow

P.O. Box 93

Alachua, FL 32616

All contributions are tax deductible (in the USA).

ISKCON Save the Cow’s Federal Tax ID#: 59-2710464

Questions? Email us!

Read the rest of this entry »

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

“In My last birth I was born in the family of cowherd men, and I gave protection to the calves and cows. Because of such pious activities, I have now become the son of a brahmana.”

PURPORT
The words of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the greatest authority, herein clearly indicate that one becomes pious simply by keeping cows and protecting them. . . .  Heeding this instruction by the Lord, people should serve cows and calves and in return get ample quantities of milk. There is no loss in serving the cows and calves, but modern human society has become so degraded that instead of giving protection to the cows and serving them, people are killing them. How can they expect peace and prosperity in human society while committing such sinful activities? It is impossible.

—Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.111

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year from Save the Cow.

‘Tis the season to celebrate, whether it’s the Winter Solstice, Festivus, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or New Year’s Eve . . . Happy Holidays from Save the Cow!

Please send RSVP to: jeevjago@gmail.com

Bhakti and Rukmini

We have some sad news to report. Rukmini, the Jersey cow, passed away on July 4 after being down for a few days. She was almost 18 years old (equivalent to 90, in human terms). Rukmini, like many older cows, was afflicted by arthritis, for which she was being treated. She had been receiving injections for the past six months that seemed to help alleviate her condition so that she was able to get up and down, as well as walk around her pasture.

She passed away peacefully under the trees in her favorite spot on the morning of an auspicious day on the Vaishnava calendar: Gundicha Marjana (cleaning of the Gundicha temple) and the disappearance day of Gadadhara Pandit and Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

Rukmini was born at New Raman Reti in 1998 to Bhakti, a Jersey cow that was purchased for Save the Cow by Stoka Krishna and Shyama Priya Torgersen. While Rukmini was never bred, she served as the ceremonial heifer for at least one wedding and at the installation ceremony for Sri Sri Krishna Balarama. She had a spunky personality and stood up for herself, despite being one of the smaller cows in the herd.

Her lifetime care was sponsored by the following donors: Nalini Kanta & Ratnesvari Hopke, Jasmin Ackermann, Ervin & Shirley Hiney, Radha Gopinath & Tapasvini Peattie, and Kanupriya Tavri.

Sri Sri Gaura Nitai

Nityananda Trayodasi: Appearance Day of Niytananda Prabhu

Happy Govardhana Puja from Save the Cow

The cowherd men then inquired from Krishna how He wanted the yajna performed, and Krsna gave them the following directions. “Prepare very nice foodstuffs of all descriptions from the grains and ghee collected for the yajna. Prepare rice, dhal, then halava, pakora, puri and all kinds of milk preparations, like sweet rice, sweetballs, sandesa, rasagulla and laddu, and invite the learned brahmanas who can chant the Vedic hymns and offer oblations to the fire. The brahmanas should be given all kinds of grains in charity. Then decorate all the cows and feed them well. . . .  After giving nice grasses to the cows, the sacrifice known as Govardhana-puja may immediately begin. This sacrifice will very much satisfy Me.”

Krishna Book, Chapter 25

This year, the auspicious month of Kartika runs from October 27 to November 25. In Alachua, Florida, at New Raman Reti, the festival of Govardhan Puja will be celebrated on Sunday, November 8. Click here for more information.

Anyone who meditates on Lord Krishna’s birth, His protecting the cows, His singing charming songs with the gopas [cowherd boys], and His other pastimes, will find himself overcome with bliss and love.

Gopala Campu by Jiva Goswami

Given charge of the cows, Krishna and Balarama traversed Vrndavana, purifying the land with Their footprints. Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krishna herded the cows and played on His flute through the forest of Vrndavana, which was full of flowers, vegetables, and pasturing grass.

Krishna Book, chapter 15

Nandini. after a bath

We have the sad news to report that Nandini, passed away earlier this week. She had been ill for a few days and the veterinarian treated her, but she didn’t recover. Nandini was 17 (equivalent to an 85-year-old in human terms), so she led a good, long life at New Raman Reti. She was a very mild, sweet-natured cow and she will be dearly missed.

Krishna Gopala

Cows and Krishna have always been together. In His original form in the spiritual world, Krishna is a cowherd boy in the agricultural community of Goloka (“cow planet”) Vrindavan, where He keeps unlimited, transcendental surabhi cows.

When He descends to earth, Krishna brings a replica of Vrindavan with Him, and He spends His childhood tending cows and calves while playing in the pasturing grounds with His friends. His example shows the importance of cows to human society, the practical benefits of caring for them, and the advantages of an agrarian economy based on cooperation between man and cows.

Read more here: http://www.krishna.com/info/cows-and-krishna

Radhastami (left) and Krishna Kripa (right)

Radhastami, the ox, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 17 (Saphala Ekadasi). While he had been showing his age and had become quite thin, he was up and getting around until the day before his departure. On Tuesday, he was found lying under the trees in his pasture unable to stand up. The vet came and gave him some fluids and vitamins via iv, but Radhastami didn’t respond to the treatment. He was moved into a more comfortable sitting position and bolstered with hay, but he still refused to drink water (a usual sign of imminent departure). A CD player was set up for him so he could hear Srila Prabhupada chanting. Radhastami went on to greener pastures sometime after sunset on the auspicious Ekadasi day, probably to join his “team-mate” Krishna Kripa, who left us in 2011.

Radhastami, the last surviving progeny of Dharma, the bull, and Yamuna, was born at New Raman Reti on Radhastami day, September 22, 1993. He lived his entire life of 21+ years (equivalent to a human centenarian) under the care of Save the Cow. He, along with Krishna Kripa, were trained by Bhakta Mauri and gave many an ox-cart ride, including in local parades.

Alachua Christmas Parade 2009

Over the years, his care was sponsored by the generous support of the following donors:

Balavanta and Ballavi Ogle

Kardama Muni Mink

Radha Jivan and  Gaura Bhakti  Poddar

Brahma-tirtha and Bhakti Cohen

Radhastami in his new blanket

While Save the Cow makes its home in the Sunshine State, Alachua is in North Central Florida where temperatures do go below freezing a few nights every year. Generally, this is not a problem for our cows, who actually enjoy the cooler weather more than the summer heat. On cold nights, cows, who can see in the dark, usually stay awake and eat hay, and then take afternoon naps in sunny pastures.

Our oldest ox, Radhastami, however, requires some extra care—he is over 21-years-old (equivalent to 105+ years for a human!) and has become rather thin due to his advanced age. With a hard freeze forecast, the largest horse blanket available locally was purchased. And with some grains to keep him occupied, Radhastami offered no resistance to being outfitted in his new winter wear. So now, when freezing weather is predicted, Radhastami will be chillin’ in Alachua in style.

Happy Govardhana Puja from Save the Cow

Happy Diwali from Save the Cow

Srimati Radharani honoring a cow.

goloka-vasini gopi

gopisha gopa-matrika

sananda paramananda

nanda-nandana-kamini

“She is a resident of Goloka Vrindavana and is a cowherd damsel. She is the queen of the gopis and the divine mother of the cowherd boys. She is joyful and always experiencing the highest bliss, and She incites lusty desires in the heart of the son of Nanda (Lord Krishna).”

Happy Radhastami from Save the Cow!

Happy Janmastami from Save the Cow!

All glories to Krishna, the son of Mother Yasoda, the cowherd boy Gopal, Govinda who gives pleasure to the cows! All glories to the conqueror of Cupid, Lord Hari, who takes away all inauspiciousness, who is unlimited, and the awarder of liberation!

(Gitavali, Sri Krishner Vimsottara-Sata-Nam, Song 6, Verse 1 Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Trans. Dasaratha-suta dasa. Nectar Books, 2002.)

Govinda

Govinda was the son of Nandini. The two Holsteins came from upstate New York, where they were cared for by Jagannatha and Vrinda. Around 2004, when their caretakers planned to move overseas, Govinda and Nandini were brought to Save the Cow at New Raman Reti.

Govinda loved to eat and was always enthusiastic to go to the temple on Sundays or on festival days to perform his service of being fed cow cookies. He visited the Bhaktivedanta Academy on several occasions and gobbled up all the treats the schoolchildren could supply. He was a gentle old guy who wouldn’t hurt anyone.

In May, Govinda started having incidents of not being able to sit up on his own. After being helped into a sitting position, he would stand up within a half hour and then resume his normal activities as if nothing had happened. The vet examined him and had some diagnostic tests done, but initially found no particular problems. Then in early July, he apparently had a heart attack, which left him unable to stand up. When Govinda went down, he was provided hay bedding, water, and whatever food he would eat, along with pain medication prescribed by the vet. Every night the rest of the cows in his field would sit near him and during the day they would stop by and visit him. Even Nrisimha, who can be quite pushy sometimes, stayed near him but wouldn’t try to eat any of Govinda’s special food.

For the first two days, Govinda refused to drink much water and would only eat carrots, lettuce, and the apples used to give him his pain pills. Then, for a couple of days, it seemed like he was improving—he was drinking more water and even eating some grains and hay. With the help of a group of devotees (Govinda weighed at least 1800 lbs!), he was shifted from one of his sides to the other to give him some relief. But, by Monday morning when the vet came Govinda had taken a turn for the worse and was refusing to eat or drink. The vet diagnosed him to have a heart condition for which there is no cure available for cows. He did prescribe some additional medicine to help alleviate some of his symptoms, but it became apparent that Govinda would soon be departing. A shade tent was erected since the weather was turning sunny and a sound system was set up to play Srila Prabupada chanting bhajans. Then on Tuesday morning (Ekadasi), with his caretakers and a number of devotees present, Govinda breathed his last.

Govinda, like all of Krishna and Balarama’s cows and oxen who live and die in the holy dhama of New Raman Reti, was no ordinary animal. He had the good fortune of rendering service, honoring Krishna prasad, and hearing the Holy Name. And like many of his predecessors, he gave up his bovine body on an auspicious day. He will be missed by his herd mates and caretakers, but has surely gone on to greener pastures.

Save the Cow would like to thank his “adopters,” whose regular donations over the years paid for his care while he was with us at New Raman Reti:

Kirtan Rasa Mausert and family

Radha Jivan, Gaura Bhakti and Poddar family

Bhuvana Pavani Diehl and family

Thanks also go to the devotees who came forward to help care for Govinda during his final days, especially Ramananda Raya.