November 2015 Special Edition In Memory of Kurma Rupa dasa Jaya Sri Guru! Jaya Sri Gopala! Jaya Sri Go Mata! History of Care for Cows By Kurma Rupa dasa With both joy and sadness we present a special memorial edition of the Care for Cows newsletter in honour of Kurma Rupa dasa, the founder and inspiration behind Care for Cows. All of the articles and most of the photographs in this edition were written or taken by Kurma Rupa and were found amongst his personal effects. Most items are in a cow protection context, and some are of a more personal nature. Care for Cows International To continue the legacy of Care for Cows is inspired by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada we humbly request supporters to consider Founder-Acharya International Society for Krishna Consciousness providing a donation in memory of Kurma Rupa. The most beneficial option for both the cows and the donor is the Life Adoption Program whereby $3,333 Inspiration Kurma Rupa dasa is placed in a fixed term deposit that generates enough interest to maintain a CFC Trustees Kesi Nisudana dasa cow for its lifetime. When the cow passes Hansarupa dasa on, the funds remain in our account When I retired from teaching in the Gurukula, I in front of my house until morning when they Amit Duhlani Krishna Mohan dasa to maintain another cow, and so on moved to Madhuvan Colony where there were knew I would feed them again. This continued Harivallabha dasa perpetually. several abandoned cows begging door to door until the end of Kartika when I offered them a Radha Govinda dasa for their maintenance. Along with the neighbors I special feast including atta and gur to announce CFC Staff To donate, please go to http://www. would offer them capatis and vegetable cuttings and celebrate the completion of my vrata. Kesi Nisudana dasa careforcows.org/how_can_i_help or when ever they came to the house. I had been Braja Gopal dasa (Switz.) contact Keshi the Go-sadan manager on told by an astrologer that it would be beneficial After the feast they settled in to rest and in the Puri Maharaja [email protected]. Vivek Sharma for me to feed a white cow rice or flour on Sunday morning were all standing at the door waiting Syam Hari, Vijay, and this was a practice I followed. In this way the for me to continue. Obviously they had not Ajeet, Dadu, Tej Prakash We hope this memorial edition serves as abandoned cows in Madhuvan Colony marked understood that I had only intended to feed inspiration in your service to Sri Gopal and my house as a good place to visit. them temporarily. As they looked at me intently the cows. and raised their noses to sniff me, I felt they had Care for Cows is a Charitable Trust registered in India, USA, and Switzerland. In 1999 when Kartika arrived I decided that part elected me as their protector and I felt honored Your servants at Care for Cows of my vow would be to would purchase one and decided to keep up the practice. mund of fresh grass each day and feed it to the One of the many neighbors who also offered left- abandoned cows. Each afternoon I would bring over capatis and such then announced that he the 40-kilo bag of grass to my house by bicycle had a vacant plot in the colony which he would and feed half of it to the cows at 5:00 pm and let me use to host the cows. Another neighbor the other half at 5am. In a few days the cows offered to let me use their water supply and Care for Cows understood my schedule and after filling up with with the purchase of some bricks and cement, a international fresh grass in the evening, they would camp out small cowshed to host the 9 regulars was born. careforcows.org History of Care for Cows Last Wish The following was found in Kurma Rupa’s personal documents. I am Kurmarupa dasa a lowly servant of His Divine Krishna I have been able to stay here for 30 years Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and now want to go to Goloka Dhama. who by the kindness of his disciples was allowed to visit the holy land of Sri Vrindavan and live here My last request is that you assist me in for 30 years serving Vaisnavas and cows. accomplishing this. Only enemies will obstruct my last desire. My last request is that I abandon this body here in Kiki Nagla amidst the cows we have served. Cows at the Yamuna River Please do not, in the attempt to save this body, take me out of Sri Vrindavan only to arrange that I die in Delhi or Mumbai. Nothing could displease Other neighbors, after making the bhoga offering tend to the abandoned cows in Vrindavan. We are me more than this. to their Deities in the morning, would bring the centered around serving cows rather than getting first plate to feed the cows before serving their milk and accepting service from them. Our vision The goal of my life is to serve Srila Prabhupada families. Others came and brought grass and busa is that cows are valuable in all circumstances as and Sri Sri Krishna-Balarama in Vrindavan until my for the cows or offered funds to help maintain serving them pleases Bhagavan Sri Krishna. last breath. Those who are real friends will assist them. Food for Life Vrindavan, a charitable Our goal is to follow the statements of Srimad me to accomplish this. society, then offered to host our herd on a Bhagavatam: “Life’s desires should never be property near by and gradually we expanded our directed toward sense gratification. One should I am lucid, clean and have never been more herd to 130. In 2006 Care for Cows was registered desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, peaceful. No pain and no discomfort. It has never as a charitable trust in Mumbai and we are now since a human being is meant for inquiry about been more easy for me to control my tongue, functioning independently. the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the belly and genitals and focus on the Holy Name of goal of oneís works. It is therefore concluded Krishna. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri The uniqueness of our project is that besides the that the highest perfection one can achieve is to hired laborers all other participants are volunteers please Lord Hari.” (SB 1.2.10,13) who freely offer their talents and resources to Of course there are many ways to please Lord Gopal but we are most inspired by these two statements, “O Uddhava, I can be worshiped within the cows by offerings of grass and other suitable grains and paraphernalia for the pleasure and health of the cows” (SB.11.11.43); and, “Worship of the cow is accomplished by gently scratching, by the offering of green grass, and by circumambulating. By pleasing the cow, Sri Gopal is also pleased.” (Gautamiya Tantra) Our hope is to render selfless service to the cows of Vrindavan with the hope that Sri Gopal will be pleased, for if He is, there is nothing left to be achieved. Dying Where Cows Reside What if I Were to Say ... ? From Brahma-vaivarta Purana By Kurma Rupa dasa At 8.45am on June 28th, 2015 (Padmini ekadasi If I were to say that fifteen years ago I had a promise that He preserves what one has and of Purushottoma masa) Kurma Rupa left his body desire to offer Sri Giriraja pure milk...but it was carries what one lacks, my eyes grew cool and while staying amongst the cows at the Care not available. my vision blurry... for Cows Go-sadan at Kiki Nagla. The Brahma- vaivarta Purana 21.91-93 states the results of But I got off my duff...rounded up some Would you think it possible? passing away in a place where cows reside. abandoned cows from the street, got kicked in If I were to say that I now understand Queen the process, picked the maggots out of their Kunti’s request for further calamities more wounds, brought them food by bicycle, fed them, deeply... sarve deva gavam ange nursed them back to good health, begged from tirthani tat-padesu ca a benevolent neighbour a place for them to stay, Would you think it possible? tad-guhyesu svayam laksmis and in a few months I had enough milk for a tisthaty eva sada pitah meagre offering... What would you think were I to speak all those lies? That I’m arrogant, proud and full of conceit? gos-padakta-mrda yo hi If I were to say that after making that sacrifice, I That I think myself an Eighteenth Chapter Arjuna? tilakam kurute narah felt warm and satisfied within. And after honoring And better than everyone else? tirtha-snato bhavet sadyo that prasada my palms became moist and my bhayam tasya pade pade hands trembled upon reading, “That which in the What would you think? beginning may be just like poison but at the end When we say, “Better to offer Sri Krishna milk gavas tishthanti yatraiva is just like nectar, and which awakens one to self- from protected cows,” and they answer, “It’s not tat tirtham parikirtitam realization is said to be happiness in the mode of available,” I think it means, “My dear Sri Krishna, pranams tyaktva naras tatra goodness.” (BG.18.37) I’m not willing to do the necessary to get it sadyo mukto bhaved dhruvam for you.” Would you think it possible? If I were to say that upon reading Sri Krishna’s What do you think? “All of the demigods live in the bodies of cows.