Live in the Lap of Material Nature & Depend on Krsna

[Guest guest]

I think Srila Prabhupada would have agreed with Ananta Krsna prabhu's position.

Here's an excerpt from a 1982 ISKCON Farm Newsletter (vol. 2, no. 1) article

called "Live in the Lave of Material Nature and Depend on Krsna." In the

article, Paramananda prabhu (ISKCON Minister of Agriculture) is interviewing

Tejiyas das, at that time the head of ISKCON Buhaneswar, and previously head of

the Hyderabad farm project. Tejiyas is reminiscing about the cow protection

instructions that Prabhupada gave when he visited the Hyderabad project. Note

his reference to Prabhupada's response to accepting "donated" cows at the end

of the excerpt:

 

*************

Tejiyas: In the Hyderabad farm every day we would go for a walk when

Prabhupada was there. Prabhupada would point to the ground sometimes and say

"There is gold here." He kept saying that. He kept on asking that he wanted to

see every inch of the place green.

 

One thing he used to say every morning, he would be walking with his stick and

he would put out his hand with his palm up and he would say, "I am going to

show here how we should just live in the lap of material nature and depend upon

Krsna. That is what we want to teach people here. They can come and live with

us. They can chant Hare Krsna and they can be happy. And we will live in the

lap of material nature and depend on Krsna."

 

....One of the things he said was that living on the farm was austere. And he

said that the opulence of living on the farm is to eat very nicely.

 

Paramananda: Yes, he said that at New Vrindavan too. He said, "If you live in

the country, at least you can eat opulently."

 

Tejiyas: He said that will make everyone happy and attract people...

 

Paramananda: Do they have cows here in Hyderabad? [interview is being

conducted at Mayapur.]

 

Tejiyas: Yes, they have cows. When we took over the farm it was a goshalla.

They start a trust and when their cows get old, they just give them to the

trust. They have ulterior motives plus there is a sentiment of taking care of

the cows nicely.

 

They would set up these goshallas with a lot of land, and when they were well

managed, they would have a large income from properties plus land pls the crops

off the land, so they could maintain the cows very nicely. Now it has become

very deteriorated. so there weren't any very good milking cows there. Now it

has become very deteriorated. So there weren't any good milking cows there.

There were many controversial points about milking cows.

 

Paramananda: They had the Haryanas there?

 

Tejiyas: No.

 

Paramananda: Small cows like in Orissa?

 

Tejiyas: No. They are not small. They are white cows. All together there

were 100 cows. Someone once sold some of them and it was a big scandal. [sound

like a familiar problem? -- I guess there were problems even back in the old

days.]

 

Prabhupada told us not to take any more donations of cows unless the person

gave a donation of 5,000 rupees to cover the maintenance of the cow. He said,

"Our business is not to take old cows."

 

That wasn't the idea of the goshalla. That was these men's idea. You know, they

have a good sentiment plus an ulterior motive mixed together. Sentiment plus

some motive. so it doesn't come out to be the varnasrama system.

 

Prabhupada once told me in Vrindavan, he was telling myself and another person,

he said, "We should establish this varnasrama in America," and he said, The

varnasrama is centered around the cow."

 

*************

 

So it seems clear that Prabhupada did not want devotee farms just to accept

more and more cows based on sentiment alone. He wouldn't have wanted us to

accept more cows than we can maintain nicely.

 

Just having a sentiment of wanting to protect cows is not enough -- when the

actual effect is that it means that the cows we already have cannot be

adequately taken care of. The decision to expand a herd should be based on the

availability of resources -- pasture, feed, housing, man-power, funding, etc.

-- not on sentiment alone.

 

If the community has well-formulated plans to expand it's cow protection

manpower and resources, that is one thing -- but if not, it is better to stick

within the limits of current resources and take excellent care of the cows at

hand.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

 

-

Ann Fletcher <ann (AT) akn (DOT) quik.co.nz>

Thursday, January 1, 2004 4:30 am

Responsibiltiy of Cow ownership

 

 

> ...But as an Iskcon farm, I cant accept these sweet calves. I am

> approached by

> members of the Indian community all the time, wanting to donate a

> calf.sometimes already pre purchased. I have to turn them away.

> Not only do Radha

> Giridhari receive no side benefit of the milk but it just puts

> extra strain

> on us that have to care for that calf albeit very sweet and

> pretty, still

> needs care and maintainence for the next 15 years.

 

> ...we are not some open house dumping ground for others whimsical

> sentimentalrash descisions. If someone wants to protect a cow,

> thats exactly what it

> means - for her whole life. They cant just expect to be able to

> dump her

> onto an Iskcon farm and carry on with their life. That is not

> proper cow

> protection. Strict rules must be in place.

> ...your servant

> Ananta Krsna Dasi.

> Ann Fletcher

> ann (AT) aucklandinsulation (DOT) co.nz

> -

> "Rosalie Malik" <labangalatika (AT) vsnl (DOT) net>

> "Mark Middle Mountain" <gourdmad (AT) ovnet (DOT) com>; "Noma Petroff"

> <npetroff (AT) bowdoin (DOT) edu>

> Cc: <Ekabuddh (AT) aol (DOT) com>; <Dasgopal (AT) aol (DOT) com>; <d_4h (AT) hotmail (DOT) com>;

> <doctorox (AT) pa (DOT) net>; "Cow (Protection and related issues)"

> <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net>Thursday, January 01, 2004 5:31 AM

> Re: Giving up on Commercial Milk saves cows?

>

>

> > Haribol Hrimati well said

> > He saved Ekadasi from the butcher so he deserves only praise not

> harsh> words. The temple shouldnt gripe about taking care of

> unproductive cows.

> > They should be glad to serve them. They are getting so much

> benefit from

> > the cows, more than they can ever give and even the overworked

> cowherd> should be happy the poor cow is alive and safe.