Only Devotees protect Oxen

[Guest guest]

mark chatburn wrote:

 

> Dear Niscala Devidasi,

>

 

....With the HKDD comment I must say I thought the

 

> functional words were "only devotees". If not then I

> agree with your statement that cooperation is the

> function. I too believe picking apart speaches and

> emails to be enfuriating. The point is here that all

> the words that go on this conference serve to bring

> understanding that bring action. So taking apart

> semantics and ideas is the function here to allow

> action to come forth. I'm sorry my manner may be

> rough, but that is how I presently am, please forgive

> me. I do not attck HKDD's writings just for the sake

> of it, but because I believe she is wrong to preclude

> business and large centralised goshallas from the

> equation. Other than that I love much of her up front

> ways. In fact, I prefer people who are bold and up

> front.

>

> Mark

 

Niscala Prabhu, thanks for your words on my behalf, but in fact Mark is

correct, I actually did mean "Devotees." As far as I know, in spite of

their sometimes poor record, the Hare Krsna devotees are the only group

of people that I know of -- at least outside India -- who provide

life-time protection to oxen. Out of sentiment, some other groups

sometimes provide protection for cows, but I don't know of any group

which is systematically committed to protecting oxen.

 

There are exceptions for individuals of course. I know of a dairy

farmer in Maine who sold an team of trained oxen to a lady in New

Hampshire, and she plans to let them live out the rest of their natural

lives. So this is one individual case, and there are probably others.

But I know of no one who protects oxen on such a large scale as Hare

Krsna farmers around the world.

 

*** Am I mistaken about this? I'd be quite interested to hear about any

other groups which provide life-time protection for oxen and bulls.

Does anyone have information on this? ***

 

To me, the question of protecting oxen is central -- because, as we have

seen, when our cow protection programs fail, this seems to be one of the

most common points of failure. There is no use for the oxen, so they

are sold -- knowingly or unknowingly -- for slaughter. As the ISKCON

Farm News quoted Srila Prabhupada's statement in Heiderbad, "If you do

not work the oxen, soon you will be making plans to cut their throat."

 

Also, if you look in the Srila Prabhupada on Varnasrama book and read

Prabhupada's conversations at New Talavan, you will notice again and

again that Prabhupada expressed great concern that the oxen should be

engaged, not merely left idle (though idle oxen are certainly preferable

to slaughtered oxen). One important point about training the oxen to

work, is that Srila Prabhupada's vision of simple living and high

thinking is not possible to be fulfilled with out working the oxen.

Without ox powered agriculture, farmers will be forced to rely on

petroleum powered tractors -- not at all simple -- especially with

regard to ecological, sociological and even political concerns. Or at

best, they will have to rely on horse power. Again, why feed both

working horses and idle oxen -- a wasteful solution which will

eventually be abandoned through lack of enthusiasm.

 

Of course, I suppose if a group of people is not interested in

fulfilling Srila Prabhupada's vision of simple living and high thinking,

this admittedly would not be considered a valid concern by them.

 

-- Noma