SRILA PRABHUPADA'S
"PROTECT A COW"
SANCTUARY & FARM TRUST
in Port Royal, Pennsylvania
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jnanena tu tad ajnanam yesam nasitam atmanah tesam aditya-vaj jnanam prakasayati tat param
SYNONYMS
jnanena--by knowledge; tu--but; tat--that; ajnanam--nescience; yesam--whose; nasitam--is destroyed; atmanah--of the living entity; tesam--their; aditya-vat--like the rising sun; jnanam--knowledge; prakasayati--discloses; tat param--Krsna consciousness.
TRANSLATION
When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up everything in the daytime.
PURPORT
Those who have forgotten Krsna must certainly be bewildered, but those who are in Krsna consciousness are not bewildered at all. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, "sarvam jnana-plavena," "jnanagnih sarva-karmani" and "na hi jnanena sadrsam." Knowledge is always highly esteemed. And what is that knowledge? Perfect knowledge is achieved when one surrenders unto Krsna, as is said in the Seventh Chapter, 19th verse: bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate. After passing through many, many births, when one perfect in knowledge surrenders unto Krsna, or when one attains Krsna consciousness, then everything is revealed to him, as the sun reveals everything in the daytime. The living entity is bewildered in so many ways. For instance, when he thinks himself God, unceremoniously, he actually falls into the last snare of nescience. If a living entity is God, then how can he become bewildered by nescience? Does God become bewildered by nescience? If so, then nescience, or Satan, is greater than God. Real knowledge can be obtained from a person who is in perfect Krsna consciousness. Therefore, one has to seek out such a bona fide spiritual master and, under him, learn what Krsna consciousness is. The spiritual master can drive away all nescience, as the sun drives away darkness. Even though a person may be in full knowledge that he is not this body but is transcendental to the body, he still may not be able to discriminate between the soul and the Supersoul. However, he can know everything well if he cares to take shelter of the perfect, bona fide Krsna conscious spiritual master. One can know God and one's relationship with God only when one actually meets a representative of God. A representative of God never claims that he is God, although he is paid all the respect ordinarily paid to God because he has knowledge of God. One has to learn the distinction between God and the living entity. Lord Sri Krsna therefore stated in the Second Chapter (2.12) that every living being is individual and that the Lord also is individual. They were all individuals in the past, they are individuals at present, and they will continue to be individuals in the future, even after liberation. At night we see everything as one in the darkness, but in day when the sun is up, we see everything in its real identity. Identity with individuality in spiritual life is real knowledge.
740702r2.mel Conversations Prabhupada: No, practically also we see. Formerly big, big saintly person they used to live in the forest, and their livelihood was fruits and milk. They used to keep cows and draw milk from them, and whatever fruits are available in the forest, and they have given us these literatures, Vyasadeva. So the... He has written Mahabharata, one hundred thousand verses and similarly, this Srimad-Bhagavatam, he has given us eighteen thousand verses. And each verse is full of so grave meaning that if you study, it will take months and months together. So they developed such nice brain simply by drinking milk and fruits. Yes.
68-06-14.Hay Letter: Hayagriva We have to maintain the animals throughout their life. We must not make any program for selling them to the slaughterhouses. That is the way of cow protection. Krishna by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban. Vrindaban is also known as Gokula. Go means cows, and kula means congregation. Therefore the special feature of New Vrindaban will be cow protection, and by doing so, we shall not be loser. In India of course, a cow is protected and the cowherdsmen they derive sufficient profit by such protection. Cow dung is used as fuel. Cow dung dried in the sunshine kept in stock for utilizing them as fuel in the villages. They get wheat and other cereals produced from the field. There is milk and vegetables and the fuel is cow dung, and thus, they are self-independent in every village. There are hand weavers for the cloth. And the country oil-mill (consisting of a bull walking in circle round two big grinding stones, attached with yoke) grinds the oil seeds into oil. The whole idea is that people residing in New Vrindaban may not have to search out work outside. Arrangements should be such that the residents should be self-satisfied. That will make an ideal asrama. I do not know these ideals can be given practical shape, but I think like that; that people may be happy in any place with land and cow without endeavoring for so-called amenities of modern life--which simply increase anxieties for maintenance and proper equipment. The less we are anxious for maintaining our body and soul together, the more we become favorable for advancing in Krishna Consciousness. Hoping you are well.
690511AD.COL Lectures So our program is to live there, depending on agriculture and cow, cow protection and agriculture. That should be the economic solution. And peacefully be in Krsna consciousness, chant Hare Krsna. That is the Vrndavana scheme. Yuktahara-viharasya yogo bhavati siddhidah. This human form of life is not meant for increasing artificial needs. We should be satisfied just to maintain the body and soul together, and balance time we should save for enhancing our Krsna consciousness, or spiritual consciousness, so that after this body we haven't got to make another material body, but we go back to home, back to Godhead. That should be the motto of human life.
761110SB.VRN Lectures So Rsabhadeva is teaching us what is the value of brahminical culture. Human society without brahminical culture is animal society. We offer our obeisances to the Lord, namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. Krsna is first of all interested to see whether in the society the brahmana and the cow is properly respected. Namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. His first business is to see that the brahmana and cow is being properly honored. Then jagad-dhitaya. Then automatically the whole world will be peaceful. This secret of success they do not know. Nobody is prepared to become brahmana, and so far cow protection is concerned, it is in the oblivion. This is the whole world position. Therefore it is in chaotic condition. It must be, because this is animal society. When these two things are neglected, it is animal society, and then other animal qualities and paraphernalia follow.
750716SB.SF Lectures Everyone is trying to become fortunate. Now, Canakya Pandita gives three things, formula, "If you want to be fortunate, then do these three things." What is that? Murkha yatra na pujyante: "Do not give any credit to the rascal." That is first qualification. Don't be carried away by the rascal. Murkha yatra na pujyante. If you worship a rascal, then your life is spoiled. You must worship a really learned representative of God. That is very good. And dhanyam yatra susancitam: "Food grains, they are properly stocked." Not that for your foodstuff, getting your food grain or earning your livelihood, you have to go hundred miles, fifty miles. No. At home, you produce your food grain and stock it. In India still, they work for three months during this rainy season, and they get their food grains for the whole year. You can save time so nicely. So these things are required for happy home. There must be food grains. You cannot be happy without eating. That is not possible. Annad bhavanti. Krsna also says in the Bhagavad-gita, annad bhavanti bhutani. If you have got sufficient anna, eatables, foodstuff, then you become happy.(The third item for happiness is no quarrel or dispute between husband and wife.
Jayatirtha's previous name was Dhondo Pantraya Raghunatha (Dhonduraya, Raghunatha was his father's name) of either Visvamitra gotra or Bharadvaja gotra. He was the son of a high ranking military man and had two wives. Dhondo Pant, being like a local prince, was seen often dressed in full armour, breast plate, helmet and all, riding his mighty war horse around the area. He was a great horseman and would ride sometimes on journeys all over the district, accompanied by his men. On one such occasion, a hot summers day at noon, he stopped at a stream for fresh water, but his drinking of water was not an ordinary sight. Unlike most persons taking water, Dhondo Pant would enter into the river fully dressed (with armour, sword, shield, helmet, plume, etc), then, whilst still mounted upon his horse, he would drink water at water level directly into his mouth, being up to his neck in the water as an animal would.
On this day an incredible meeting took place. On the other side of the stream was Aksobhya Tirtha, watching this extraordinary sight. Aksobhya called to the horseman, "Hey, you drink water just like a bullock," and these few words put the horseman into a strange, deep, all-revealing state. Suddenly philosophical questions, which made the young horseman's mind spin into thoughts of his previous births, came to mind. Dhondo Pant could now remember his time spent with Acarya Madhva, but he had been covered for so many years thinking that he was the son of a nobleman. Now he could remember all kinds of incidences that made his hair stand upon end. He gained some intense realizations which enabled him to see quite clearly how previously he was actually the bullock who was used to pull around Acarya Madhva's books as Madhva traveled and preached all over. He could actually remember Madhva, his commanding but sweet voice elaborating upon the various kinds of Vedic literature.
There is an interesting story in this connection. Madhva would quite often glorify this bullock by saying to the assembly that actually this bullock listened better and assimilated the philosophy quicker than any of Madhva's students. Wherever Madhva would preach the bullock would turn up, ears pricked up and forward in an attentive mood; his faithfulness and loyalty knew no bounds. Madhva could sometimes be heard saying that simply by his attentive hearing this bullock was making great advancement. These kind of statements made some of Madhva's sannyasa disciples quite envious, so much so that they cursed the bullock to die from snake bite. Madhva heard about the curse and blessed the bullock that he would not be harmed. As per the curse, the snake came and bit the bullock, and amazingly the snake died! Everyone was awe struck, but could at once appreciate the motive and kindness of Madhva. He was protecting his dear devotee who had surrendered his life to the service of Madhva's preaching mission. After some years the bullock passed away of natural causes - old age.
Tradition has it that in actuality this was no ordinary bullock in the first place. He was reputed to be a partial incarnation and joint expansion of both Indra, the King of the demigods and Lord Ananta Sesa. So again it was no ordinary thing what had happened - the bullock taking his birth in a family of greatly pious ksatriya kings in Karnataka and being further brought up to know the Vedic literature according to the teachings of Madhva. Obviously the Lord deemed it now the right time for his real self realization to again be invoked.
730508SB.LA Lectures This is king, that... Not that animals should not be given protection, only man should be given protection. No. Praja. Praja means one who taken birth in the kingdom. That is called praja. So animal is also American, man is also American, but there is no protection for the animal by the government. So that kind of government, rascal government, was not there. Equal right. Your country says equality given. Why not equality to the animals? That is defect. It is due to, I mean to say, absence of Krsna consciousness. A Krsna conscious person will not distinguish like that. For eating animal, they will philosophize that animal has no soul; therefore it can be killed. No. This is nonsense. Everyone has got soul. Even a small ant has got soul. But they have to kill. They have to eat. They are philosophizing different way. Lord Jesus Christ said, "Thou shalt not kill," and now they are interpreting, "Killing means murdering human being." But that is not in the Bible. So they are manufacturing their own ways of understanding Bible and ethical principles. Therefore it is becoming valueless. It is becoming valueless. No value. One cannot change the words of the authority. If you believe in Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot make any change to your convenience. This is rascaldom. You cannot be a Christian if you violate the orders of Lord Jesus Christ. But they are doing so. Now the Christian priests... We had a meeting in Sydney. One priest asked me, "What we have done that they are not anymore caring for us?" I told him that "You are always violating the ten commandments, and you say what you have done? Lord Jesus Christ says, 'Thou shalt not kill,' and you are killing, expert in killing. And you are still Christian? So you cannot understand what you have done? You have always misguided people." I told him. So he was not very happy to hear this straight answer. (laughter) But he admitted...
670106BG.NY Lectures So unless there is development of God consciousness, this universal ideas, oh, these are nonsense. There cannot be. It is all false, jugglery of words. So first business is to understand your identity, identity of God, your relationship, and your action reformed in that way. Then there is question of universal, brotherhood, universal... Otherwise it is simply jugglery of words.If you are thinking of universal way, how you can give protection to a human being born in America, and send a cow to the slaughterhouse. What is your reason? Guest: This would be a personal love. Prabhupada: Universal means all. You have to love everyone. Guest: If I didn't love the cow as equally with a child, then it is a personal love because I'm defining qualifications. Prabhupada: But how can you avoid this personal? Guest: Because to love the child only, I have to exclude other things, meaning the cow. Prabhupada: But personal, child is the person. How can you avoid person? Guest: How can what? Prabhupada: How can you avoid person? When you love, how can you avoid a person? What do you mean by love? You cannot discriminate, "Oh, this is not universal. This is universal." Universal means all-including. So how you can avoid this person or imperson? You have to love everyone. That is universal. Guest: If I don't do that, then I have a love with limitations, and this is false. This would be... Prabhupada: No. Not limitation. The point is: if you love the root, then you love everything. Just like if you pour water on the root of the tree, then the branches, the flowers, the leaves, the fruits, and everything is nourished. So you have to know the technique, how to love the whole. If somebody is loving the tree--he is putting water in each every leaf, every branch, every flower--he is spoiling his time. Another intelligent man goes and he pours one bucketful of water on the root. Oh, it is distributed. This is foolishness, that without knowledge of the root, you want to love the branches. Your body. You love your body. Why do you supply your food in the stomach? Why not to the eyes, to the ears, to the nose? Why not individually, every finger, every hand, every part, every hair? No. As soon as you put the foodstuff to the stomach, the energy is at once distributed everywhere. Similarly, universal love means to love God. They do not know the technique. Just this man, this hunter, he loved God, and he became lover of the ant automatically. There was no need of separate education that "You love this ant, you love this cow, you love this tree, love this country, love this man, love white man, black man, this man..." No. As soon as you love God, and you understand what is God, then you love everything. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that
People are accepting Bhagavad-gita as something Indian or Hindu, but actually it is not. It is universal. Krsna says that there are so many forms of living entities. There are 8,400,000 different types of bodies. "And all of them are My sons." So if you love Krsna, then you love white man, you love American, you love European, you love Indian, you love cow, you love dog, you love serpent--everything. So you have to know the techniques. Simply by theoretical knowledge you cannot make any improvement. And these are practical examples. Because there is no love for God at the present moment, all this nonsense universal love, fraternity, are going to hell. Therefore we are interested in this Krsna consciousness movement. You have to change your consciousness, make it full with Krsna or God. Then everything will be all right. All right. Thank you. And if you kindly come and inquire in this way, we shall be very glad to answer as far as possible.
TQK 26 Enchantment by Krsna' s Glories Why is cow protection so much advocated? Because the cow is the most important animal. There is no injunction that one should not eat the flesh of tigers or other such animals. In the Vedic culture those who are meat-eaters are recommended to eat the flesh of goats, dogs, hogs, or other lower animals, but never the flesh of cows, the most important animals. While living, the cows give important service by giving milk, and even after death they give service by making available their skin, hooves, and horns, which may be used in many ways. Nonetheless, the present human society is so ungrateful that they needlessly kill these innocent cows. Therefore Krsna comes to punish them. Krsna is worshiped with this prayer:
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah
"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world."For perfect human society there must be protection of go-dvija--the cows and the brahmanas. The word dvija refers to the brahmana, or one who knows Brahman (God). When the demoniac give too much trouble to the brahmanas and the cows, Krsna descends to reestablish religious principles.
abhisecanikah--paraphernalia required for installing the Deity; bhumih--the land; aharat--collected; sakala--all kinds of; ausadhih--drugs and herbs; gavah--the cows; panca--five different varieties of products from the cow, namely milk, yogurt, clarified butter, cow dung and cow urine; pavitrani--uncontaminated; vasantah--personified springtime; madhu-madhavau--flowers and fruits produced during spring, or in the months of Caitra and Vaisakha.
TRANSLATION
The land became a person and collected all the drugs and herbs needed for installing the Deity. The cows delivered five products, namely milk, yogurt, ghee, urine and cow dung, and spring personified collected everything produced in spring, during the months of Caitra and Vaisakha [April and May].
PURPORT
Panca-gavya, the five products received from the cow, namely milk, yogurt, ghee, cow dung and cow urine, are required in all ritualistic ceremonies performed according to the Vedic directions. Cow urine and cow dung are uncontaminated, and since even the urine and dung of a cow are important, we can just imagine how important this animal is for human civilization. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, directly advocates go-raksya, the protection of cows. Civilized men who follow the system of varnasrama, especially those of the vaisya class, who engage in agriculture and trade, must give protection to the cows. Unfortunately, because people in Kali-yuga are mandah, all bad, and sumanda-matayah, misled by false conceptions of life, they are killing cows in the thousands. Therefore they are unfortunate in spiritual consciousness, and nature disturbs them in so many ways, especially through incurable diseases like cancer and through frequent wars and among nations. As long as human society continues to allow cows to be regularly killed in slaughterhouses, there cannot be any question of peace and prosperity.
SB 1.17.1 Chapter Seventeen Punishment and Reward of Kali
TEXT 1
TEXT
suta uvaca tatra go-mithunam raja hanyamanam anathavat danda-hastam ca vrsalam dadrse nrpa-lanchanam
SYNONYMS
sutah uvaca--Sri Suta Gosvami said; tatra--thereupon; go-mithunam--a cow and a bull; raja--the King; hanyamanam--being beaten; anatha-vat--appearing to be bereft of their owner; danda-hastam--with a club in hand; ca--also; vrsalam--lower-caste sudra; dadrse--observed; nrpa--a king; lanchanam--dressed like.
TRANSLATION
Suta Gosvami said: After reaching that place, Maharaja Pariksit observed that a lower-caste sudra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a bull with a club, as if they had no owner.
PURPORT
The principal sign of the age of Kali is that lower-caste sudras, i.e., men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation, will be dressed like administrators or kings, and the principal business of such non-ksatriya rulers will be to kill the innocent animals, especially the cows and the bulls, who shall be unprotected by their masters, the bona fide vaisyas, the mercantile community. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.44), it is said that the vaisyas are meant to deal in agriculture, cow protection and trade. In the age of Kali, the degraded vaisyas, the mercantile men, are engaged in supplying cows to slaughterhouses. The ksatriyas are meant to protect the citizens of the state, whereas the vaisyas are meant to protect the cows and bulls and utilize them to produce grains and milk. The cow is meant to deliver milk, and the bull is meant to produce grains. But in the age of Kali, the sudra class of men are in the posts of administrators, and the cows and bulls, or the mothers and the fathers, unprotected by the vaisyas, are subjected to the slaughterhouses organized by the sudra administrators.
sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; imam--this; vivasvate--unto the sun-god; yogam--the science of one's relationship to the Supreme; proktavan--instructed; aham--I; avyayam--imperishable; vivasvan--Vivasvan (the sun-god's name); manave--unto the father of mankind (of the name Vaivasvata); praha--told; manuh--the father of mankind; iksvakave--unto King Iksvaku; abravit--said.
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.
PURPORT
Herein we find the history of the Bhagavad-gita traced from a remote time when it was delivered to the royal order, the kings of all planets. This science is especially meant for the protection of the inhabitants, and therefore the royal order should understand it in order to be able to rule the citizens and protect them from the material bondage to lust. Human life is meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge, in eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the executive heads of all states and all planets are obliged to impart this lesson to the citizens by education, culture and devotion. In other words, the executive heads of all states are intended to spread the science of Krsna consciousness so that the people may take advantage of this great science and pursue a successful path, utilizing the opportunity of the human form of life. In this millennium, the sun-god is known as Vivasvan, the king of the sun, which is the origin of all planets within the solar system. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated:
yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
"Let me worship," Lord Brahma said, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person and under whose order the sun, which is the king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat. The sun represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its orbit in obedience to His order." The sun is the king of the planets, and the sun-god (at present of the name Vivasvan) rules the sun planet, which is controlling all other planets by supplying heat and light. He is rotating under the order of Krsna, and Lord Krsna originally made Vivasvan His first disciple to understand the science of Bhagavad-gita. The Gita is not, therefore, a speculative treatise for the insignificant mundane scholar but is a standard book of knowledge coming down from time immemorial. In the Mahabharata (Santi-parva 348.51-52) we can trace out the history of the Gita as follows:
treta-yugadau ca tato vivasvan manave dadau manus ca loka-bhrty-artham sutayeksvakave dadau iksvakuna ca kathito vyapya lokan avasthitah
"In the beginning of the Treta-yuga [millennium] this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty in which Lord Ramacandra appeared." Therefore, Bhagavad-gita existed in the human society from the time of Maharaja Iksvaku. At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was the Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple, the sun-god Vivasvan,a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krsna. It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan because he is also a ksatriya and is the father of all ksatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-vamsa ksatriyas. Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is apauruseya, superhuman. Since the Vedic instructions are accepted as they are, without human interpretation, the Gita must therefore be accepted without mundane interpretation. The mundane wranglers may speculate on the Gita in their own ways, but that is not Bhagavad-gita as it is. Therefore,Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted as it is, from the disciplic succession, and it is described herein that the Lord spoke to the sun-god, the sun-god spoke to his son Manu, and Manu spoke to his son Iksvaku.