Cow Protection

&nbsp &nbsp I have often been asked how to grow vegetables without using violent methods. The short answer to that question is there is no such thing as non-violence, ahimsa, in Horticulture and Agriculture. The short answer according to Srila Prabhupada is that “eating vegetables is violence.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.15.) From the text and from … Read more

    When I was engaged at Bhaktivedanta Manor during the 1980’s I was given the duty as Department Head. As such, my responsibility was to run the day-to-day activities at Bhaktivedanta Manor Gardens, Grounds and Cow Protection. From an earlier time when I was at Chaitanya College, a group of us would come to … Read more

After having visited my devotee friend’s Cow Protection farm near where I live in Wales, the great simplicity of this project is apparent. The farm scenario is grouped with a Vaisnava ashrama in idyllic rural Wales that is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The reminder from the Jaya Radha Madhava mantra springs to mind conjuring up that all-attractive transcendental mood of the village of Vrndavana, and so that mood is captured here in the grove like meadows and rivulets of this Cow Protection project. Here we find ramshackle buildings echoing back to times gone by, integrity in the buildings: built without concrete and metal, just carpentry joins and pinned together with wooden “nails”, all locally sourced materials, and that all attractive friendly nature of devotees engaged in devotional service to Lord Krsna.

That all embracing sweetness of the rural picture that is painted in Srimad Bhagavatam of Vrindavana, where Lord Krsna kept hundreds of thousands of Cows, indeed in Goloka Vrindavana is it possible to count Lord Krsna’s Cows. Here in the heart of Wales that feeling and mood are sought after. The Cows and Bulls are housed simply, they are kept in a relevant place beside the devotees, the Goshalla is full of character and their environment is like the groves in Vrndavana with sweet water rivers freshly running by in the valleys between the meadows, accessible for the Cows. The picture is painted and the appreciation is beheld, and we just add Krsna Consciousness to this adorable haven of tranquility and we are on our way back to Godhead by chanting Hare Krishna. Saved by the Cows who just stroll along without a care in the world.

The Cows’ protection plan is master-minded in the most simplistic of ways. Cow Protection is sublime. Their needs are simple, a Goshalla that is clean and tidy with fresh bedding on top of a wood chipping foundation. Wood chippings and saw dust are both hygienic because they both absorb fluids and naturally have antiseptic properties. Many commercial farms use wood shavings and sawdust for bedding. It can be replaced up to three times a day for good animal husbandry techniques and a preventative technique against mastitis. Many sawmills will give you the waste product but even paying for it is economical, especially the harder wood shavings, which are really good for absorbency and hygienic qualities. As my devotee friend is looking after these Cows independently, he is able to maintain the Cows based on a symbiotic relationship with his neighbours, where bartering is the way they trade.

  Following is the response to a question that was asked of Kurma Rupa Prabhu about the sustainability of Cow Protection. This was published in the May Care for Cows newsletter. It is a wonderful answer. “If a family keeps a cow and calf and has a few acres of land, a vegetarian diet is … Read more