India's Holy Cow--Becoming Extinct?

That's Advaita on the medanga He is very sincere We are in the middle of the universe Hare Krishna Welcome in Radhakund Radhakund is a small village Maybe 3000 people only But at certain times you will see like Big time was like one day 4 million people coming through this small town The beauty of a small town is that it still can see more about Vedic culture, Vedic way of living. And the main basis of Vedic lifestyle was that the cow is in the center. And it's a beauty here. You can see if you cross to the other side, most houses, they still have like one or two cows in the house.

And in the morning the cows, somebody comes and picks them up and cows go somewhere and they'll be milked. And if like now it's rainy season, they will go afterwards to the field and have some grazing. And then in the evening the person comes back with all these cows and every cow knows exactly where it lives. It goes inside the house.

He's milking his cow. First I will give the cow food, so it's relaxed. Calf comes, drinks, and then they start milking. Every morning this tree gives hundreds of flowers.

And if I don't pluck them now for Krishna, then the monkeys will eat them, because there's some milk inside. And in the morning monkeys are very hungry, so they have to eat something. So, they attack this tree, you know, destroy it. So, every morning this tree gives, I think, about 150 to 200 flowers.

So, we have a beautiful temple downstairs, Navinke shore, and they're from Manipur. Every morning I bring the flowers. You can see it's like Manipur style. And this is our worship now for three, four generations.

This is the road to Sudevi's Koshala. Sudevi is from Germany. She spent, I think, from before she was 20 years old, She came to India with her parents and never left. So she's now like 25 years in India, in Radha Kund.

And the last five years, she took very much interest in the cows. So she had a few cows, and it increased. But we will see when we come there. This is just a house with a cow.

Hare Krishna. So this is like typical village life, you know? They have a small house, a hut, and at least one cow or two cows and a buffalo. The ideal cow has two beautiful horns and a hump.

From the sunlight, the cow can make gold, and it is all done in this hump, and because of that, there will be always a yellow tinge in the milk, and that yellow tinge in the milk is gold. So if the cow has not a hump and nice horns, you will not find the goldish layer on top of the milk. So the Vedic culture, they say, there can only be peace if the cow has its right position in society and the brahmana. This is Sue Davies' place, Goshala, where she keeps her cows.

It's on the site of Radha Kunt. Hare Krishna. Mataji is here? The cows are very curious.

They all look at us and think, who are they? Most of these cows were just on the street in very unhealthy condition. She took them all to her ashram and took care of them. Let's see the other cows in the back. bringing cows inside.

Mr. Davey really has a big family. Just to manage 100 cows, 150 cows, you need a big workforce. The floors are continuously swept.

So many young calves also. So it means he has many cows that give milk? No, it's because the people, when the new cow is born, he gives milk for six months, maybe one year, and then it stops. So then he impregnates the cow again.

So the small cow is abandoned. So Sudiv takes all the small cows in the restaurant. The cows or the bulls, probably? Both.

Sometimes they keep, sometimes they don't. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. How are you?

Thank you. Can you tell us something about your... Yes, they are all collected from the street, nearly all of them. A few are born here, but most of them are from the street.

They are being abandoned when they are very little able to take care of themselves or when the mother has no not enough milk or no milk at all the cow often is abandoned also but most calves are just left to themselves somewhere and they most of them die I estimate from from my experience from maybe a hundred who are abandoned somewhere maybe one or two will survive if they're not so bad yes they're not in the street if nobody takes them in and nobody will take them in accepting myself and they are left to themselves they're left to themselves they find no food they get weak and sick they're undernourished anyway because they get no milk when they're still little the milk is expensive food is expensive so the milk will be sold and the calf which needs actually at least three liter in one day he will get maybe a half a He will mostly not be able to survive, some or other he may survive until the age of 4 or 5 months and then he'll get some illness some or other because he has no resistance After 4 or 5 months they are not able to eat solid food? Yes, they eat solid food but they eat solid food after 1 month, after 15 days sometimes But that is not sufficient, they need the milk, they need the vitamins, they cannot live without milk If I don't take them, they will be caught and taken to slaughterhouses.

Because a dead cow is much more worse nowadays than a living cow. Why is that? Because the meat is expensive. They export the meat into all the countries.

I never know what I shall feed them in the next month. Or maybe even after ten days in the winter, it was so difficult. I had no food at all. We had only this dry rice grass and they were getting very thin. very thin and then I had even given away some which I greatly regretted because I had to bring them back they were on the point of... it was even worse in another place but at the same time if you have to be realistic you have a limited space in it yes I'm sorry that I cannot be yes but I cannot be I don't know if it's the weakness or strength but I cannot be realistic because I cannot refuse I I cannot say no, as far as they are concerned, when they suffer in a bad condition, I have to take them in.

And I leave it to God to take care of the future. So many die also. They come in a condition when you cannot help them anymore. You can just relieve the suffering.

And when a cow dies, what is the procedure? What are you doing with them? Do you bury them? We bury them.

We have in the back there is a kind of jungle. It's not a jungle, but that's what people call it. it's a land which cannot, you cannot grow anything. Waste land. Waste land.

It's too salty. And there we bury them with flowers and agarbatti and mala. And when they... I sit with them before they die and chant the Maha Mantra.

So they may hear God's name when they leave the body and they get Chananamrit also and Chantulsi at the time of death, as far as I'm able, when I know it, in time, of course. So many I hope. I've sent quite a lot over there. How many?

A few hundred probably. So every week one dies? Often much more. Many die.

You can film in the room. You have light? I want to show you one. This is a very small calf.

He came from another gushallah. He was born after only eight months. He was born one month too early. And they brought him here because his mother rejected him and said she had no milk.

So only three days before he came, he drank milk in the beginning quite well, but since yesterday he drank no milk. His name is Dhamudar. Dhamudar, you gave him that name? Yes.

Nothing more we can do. If they are not meant to live, maybe he just had so much karma left over and now if I have time and sit with him and he leaves the body hearing the mantra, he may go straight over there. That may be much better than living a long life full of suffering because in any body and then he may die somewhere and nobody cares. So I don't regret it too much if I'm able to sit with them.

And I think it's not so bad that they leave the body. So the soul in this body will go back straight to Krishna? I believe that the Maha Mantra has an effect, at least I try to do it. And I hope it is so, because we do believe in our love.

And on top of that, he leaves the body in Vraj. Yes, in Radha Kumbh. In Radha Kumbh, which is, spiritually speaking, the highest place in the universe. So when you leave your body here, it is very, very auspicious.

And he also got many charan tulsi, pincharan amrit. He drank milk, in the beginning 2-3 liters, the first day. But then he got fever and I called the doctor. Whatever the reason, he is two weeks too late and he is now finishing his time.

Such a tender body and so beautiful. So tiny, yes. So they don't like the booth anymore, yes? Yes, tractors have replaced them.

Tractors are now everywhere. they do all the field work and the male calves which used to do the work before they're considered to be useless they are when they're little as they abandon on the street and they mostly die on the street if they don't die then they're caught later and sought to sold to the slaughterhouses because vedic civilization the bull had his purpose clearly yes he used to do the field work and he used to pull the cards but now there are very few cards in existence there are a few but very few most of the bull calves that die because nobody wants them and sooner or later when they're not lucky enough enough to stay in a goshala they will be sold to the slaughterhouses india is a big problem huh and there you can find hardly any cows and calves anymore When I came from Delhi last time, I could hardly see any cow until I came close to this place. There used to be cows everywhere.

And even now in the villages you find much less. I don't think in 10, 20 years there will be hardly any cows left. They will all be killed. I see that because I watched that since 30 years.

I'm here since 30 years. and I see how the number of cows keeps coming down and there are less of them and less. And there were so many, even here in this village in Ravikunda, there were so many cows before in Govardhan. Now they hardly have any left. They're all caught, they're all caught in the night.

They come with big trucks and they catch them and pull them in and they kill them. It's horrible. It seems like you don't personally get anything from this. No, only a kind of satisfaction of my soul.

Through all the difficulties, that is what keeps me going, because I see suffering relieved. Some get well and they start running around and some respond with gratefulness and with love. And that is what makes me happy actually. There is nothing else for me in this world.

Of course we need milk for the motherless calves without mother who are too sick or too weak. and if so I have sometimes I have to buy one because we have very few milk cows only and the milk is never sufficient so sometimes I have to buy one or other and I bought this one her name is Rajkumari you cannot find them on the street they're too beautiful this is our little one Gopal his name is Gopal we take milk because we need milk for the little ones who have no mother we take maybe half a liter and the rest is for the calf otherwise there would not be enough for the carver it's a problem with the cows they have not enough milk actually yeah nearly all at least those who are here well yes of course if there was more green grass the milk would increase and when when we have a cow who does not have enough milk to take we do not take milk then the calf will drink it all there are a few four five of this type of cows we just don't have enough milk which means that people nobody will be willing to feed them excepting in this place because if they cannot profit from the cows the village people will not keep them food is expensive and they need milk for themselves and their children also also to sell so that's a problem that the cows do not have enough milk i don't know how other kushalas manage selling milk they wouldn't allow the calf to drink so much no no not at all or the local people they will just give enough to the calf to keep it alive until the cow gives milk and it will die later because it's too weak to survive it has no resistance it's mostly happening so there are less and less calves and cows because they don't survive and those who survive and grow there will be taken to the slaughterhouse i think in 10 20 years there will not be not many cows will be left in this country only very few it's horrible you can't allow yourself to think about it He is from the street. His name is Ramdas.

I found him when he was 15 years old. Ramdas? He was tiny. He was tiny.

He is doing work now. He pulls the cart. He brings the green food. We have two, three of them.

Look, she is taking care of a motherless calf, which came from another Grosjean, she was on the point of dying. There's one who's drinking from the back side, that is from another Grosjean, and she came, she was lying flat. Her name is Uma, and this is her third calf. And until now, whenever she had a calf, she has adopted another one, she has taken care of another motherless, we have until now not taken milk from her, because she is the nursing mother of the motherless calves.

And this little one is from another Goshala. She had left, her mother died, and she was on the point of starvation and on the point of death. So she's still thin, but picking up compared with before. I want to say I got her from Brindavan, found her in the Sabji Mandi in Brindavan.

She was little and she had maggots in her food, in the hoof, and the blood was coming out. And I put her on a tonga and brought her. That was before this Goshala. Had a little place in the village. so she's one of the first ones and she's so good natured.

Uma. She was with me before the goshara started. Yes, one of my few best friends. She is actually the one who might protect me when the dacoits come.

We had dacoits two times. Really? And she will not, I wouldn't recommend anybody to climb the wall in the night. She will probably not we will probably not survive because if you we have a few here who will attack if the strangers climbing in the night uh it's a long time had the decades yes two times they got kind the first time i was alone and they took everything all the money and whatever there was worth more than 100 rupees and since then i need people to stay here in the night i have to pay people to sleep here otherwise i cannot stay alone because they say here a western woman is staying this they think of money there are quotes in this country when he came he was maybe already one year old and he had such bad experiences with people he would push you with his horns and kick you with his legs and i thought i'll not be able to keep him when he grows up but now he's very sweet now he's very sweet he does work with ramdas together with ramdas now you see this one she will feed her own and another one These are all on the point of starvation, these adopted ones, when we got them.

Only now they're getting well. She's a very rare cow that allows other calves to... Well, not if we don't watch her. She will chase her away.

Uma is the one who will allow anybody. But this one we have to... You have to trick. Now we have to use a little force.

Most calves don't want to feed others. She came two days before. She's an old cow who cannot stand up. She came from Song.

This one over there, the yellow one, has a broken leg. And I don't even remember where she was brought. I don't remember where from. And this one has three legs only.

She came from Aligarh or Alwar, something like that. So you're taking from all over the place? Yes, yes. And she's from Koshi and she cannot stand without help.

She needs to be put, one leg needs to be put in a kind of sling, this thing. She has to be pulled up? Yes. This one, she has come to die. come to die only she hardly eats and she will just finish her time here and this yellow one she will also she's also old and she does not stand anymore he has a broken leg she managed to stand with that broken leg for quite a few months actually she came in the winter and she survived but now she doesn't stand up anymore you put her in this machine kind of sling yes they're pulled up with a type of this they're put inside and then they're pulled up to on their feet she also this single cow she came from matura she had an accident both the hooves were cut up to the bones she couldn't stand for months we didn't know if she would live or die you can see here The food, it is very still, still short, and the other one, both, you can see, and it was big wounds, and she's still weak, she doesn't put up as she should.

Doctor comes regularly? No, I do most of the work myself, I've learned the daily work, like for fever, what to give for fever, or for wounds, antibiotic and pain. If there's something which I do not know, then I'll call the doctor. The doctor whom I call, he will take 100 rupees just for looking, and if he does something evil, kind of operation or whatever, he will take more.

He will take 200 or 500. So in this way, if you do it yourself, you save a lot of money? Yes, of course, and the doctor is not always available. So it's much more practical to learn at the minimum that you can take care of everyday needs yourself. special cases.

I've learned from experience. I've watched the doctor, what he does, and I went around with him and wrote down what he gives in which case. So I learned it. For years the doctor came every day.

It was quite some expense. In the beginning we had no medicine also. Then we spent maybe thousand rubies every day were spent on doctor and medicine. And now most of the medicine is given by donors, and doctors work, mostly I do myself, so some money is saved.

Sometimes we have 20 to 25 who need wound cleaning every day, broken legs, accidents, victims of dog attacks, but sometimes they are less, sometimes they are 5 or 6. Nowadays we may have 8 or 10, maybe, I don't count actually. I write down every day what injection we give, to whom, the wound cleaning. I used to do everything in the beginning myself.

You train somebody now? Yes, I train the boys, two of the boys. I can do that now because my own body is starting to give a problem with the knees. That's one of the consequences of living in India in a Western body.

You get trouble soon with your body. so the bridge buses they're born here i mean they're adapted to the disturbing stances to the climate they're appreciating i mean the people around with the local people oh yes they appreciate greatly with words of us i mean it doesn't change what they do but this place is greatly appreciated and respected so there's still a feeling to protect yes they know what should be done but it's by word of mouth not by heart They do not follow up on the words, they know very well that they are doing wrong and what should be done and what should not be done That's the problem with the whole of India, they have all the knowledge, God has given all the knowledge, the Bhagavad Gita They know actually, they know everything without being taught like us Yet they choose the wrong way, they choose to do the wrong thing So there will be consequences of course If you have knowledge, you are so lucky to be born in a place where you have all the knowledge, kind of together with the mother milk, without even having to study and to learn, and yet you're choosing out of greed. You may say they're poor.

Of course they're poor. It's true. So there may be a little excuse, yet there are limits to the excuse, because they cause huge suffering to these poor little ones. She would have died now.

There is no place for them to graze. There are only fields or desert, like a wasteland. They have really no choice then to put them on the streets. How to keep them?

Yes, very poor people. They may be excused. If they have to choose either to feed the children or to feed the cows, they may be excused. But there are quite a few who do have the money.

They could keep the cows. And yet they will abandon them and the calf, and will not feed the calf, and they do it out of greed for money. The villagers around, they just take a cow, and when the cow is dry, they bring the cow back. Yes, Ramesh Baba in Barsana, he does it also.

I can't do that because I know it will be the death of the calf. They will take all the milk, and because they have to give the cow back anyway, they don't care for the calf at all. They will just take all the calf and starve, and if he survives by some miracle, he will die later because he is so undernourished and so weak. So I can't do this.

Many people come and ask me for milk cows, or for a calf, but I can't, because it means the death of the calf. It's suffering, and they will be bound in one place, and they will be unhappy, and the cow will be exploited, and the calf will die. So I can't do this. I'm sorry.

I know I should, but I can't do it. People are very selfish. It's Kali yoga. I don't think you can improve on Kali yoga.

It's just the way things are at this time of age. I don't think it will improve. It may get even worse. I take them in without discrimination, without knowing what to feed them tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Nobody else does that, and that may get very difficult one day. one day and I may not have food in the winter to feed them all and there will be no place also. Place is limited. You're on your feet from the morning. In the morning I have two hours.

I take two hours until they finish the food and I do a little mahala and puja and then it's all day. Not even noontime there's time for it. If you see a calf drinking milk from the udder of the mother, simply by watching you make spiritual advance. So I think you are well situated, spiritually speaking.

Because this is what you see every day and in Kali Yuga it becomes very very rare to see it. It has to be taken away after birth immediately. Yes, they don't even see the cow ever. And the mother who doesn't like to give milk in this way is forced to give milk by injections by machines in the west like among humans you have they have all they're all individuals they have all their own his own character each little calf you may not believe it but each calf has his own character in his likes and dislikes so some cows are not all are sweeter not all are sweet you have some rascals also ungrateful unfriendly and actually aggressive also sometimes some cows they don't want their child they reject them then we have a few we had a few cases when the cow just went away from giving birth to the calf and went away he never came back and she will not be milked that happens yes she may be dangerous for strange people because she has a calf you're lucky actually that she didn't say anything to you Most of the milk I'll feed to the calves, and a little I give to people.

This is about the milk we get. And I'll feed a few calves with that milk. They drink from a little pot. Bagelot?

Oh, Bagelot. Bagelot? Come on. Actually, he's not the one who's supposed to drink, but he used to drink when he was little, so he likes it because he likes the milk.

He doesn't drink always. You should. There's another one. She will not refuse.

You can give her as much as you like. He came three days ago. He's blind from birth. His name is Surdas.

And he came two days ago. He was sick. He had fever. And she has a broken leg.

Old one. He was by the dogs. Dogs got him. He was swollen like that.

You should see her. She was... These are very weak. The little one over there, he also gets milk.

What he doesn't hear is to begin from the bottle. She's dying. She's sick, you see. Liver is down.

Liver is finished. He's from the street. That's how you find them, on the point of starvation. But he drinks from a bottle.

He does not drink from the pot. She has one look. One eye has come from an accident. We have some old tulsi leaves from yesterday.

She might leave the body any day. Some charan tulsi. And this? It's a sweet face, isn't it?

Yes. You don't want to drink your milk. He doesn't drink always. Sometimes he refuses.

He's too big now for milk. No, actually, they drink milk. If they get it, they'll drink until two years of age. But I don't know why he doesn't.

Sometimes they don't like their milk. You have children also who don't like their milk sometimes. Your bhajan has changed, has improved? No, I have no time for bhajan at all actually, to tell the truth, because I have to run after them all the time.

Only in the early morning I have maybe two hours I take out, and in the daytime there is no time, in the evening I am too tired. So your bhajan is for God's sake? Yes, that's it. Because I am dear to Krishna.

Yes, in this life I have to do this, and maybe I can do bhajan in my next life. No other chanting is as great as Dau Seva. They say, people say here, local people say, there is no greater bhajan than service to the cows. So when I tell that to somebody else, they say, well, show me where it is written in the Shastra.

You find many places where there is something written about the glory of the cows, You can find people also who say, without sadhana you cannot attain to God. Well, maybe this is sadhana. When Krishna was taking care of the 900,000 cows of Nanda Maharaj, he was chanting all their names. Yes, he knew all the names.

And on every beat he was chanting one name of one cow. Yes, there is a great difference between Krishna and us. So I think you probably do the same by calling the names of all your cows. That is your chanting.

Well, you may call it the mood. It may be.