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RE: Save the Cow


>PAMHO AGTSP!

>

>This is Sada Ruci das contacting you from New Vrindavan. I was just browsing 

>the web

>to get some ideas for doing our web page. That's when I noticed yours. Are you 

>getting

>many responses from people asking about the cow protection? Or just devotees 

>like

>myself curious as to what's going on with your cows? What kind of strategy do 

>you use

>after they get a little interested to make them into members? We usually send 

>them a 

>newsletter ourself.

>

>Hoping to hear from you in the near future.

>

>Yours in the service of lord Krishna's cows,

>

>Sada Ruci 

>



Dear Sada Ruci Prabhu



Hello. Hare Krishna! 



Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!



Thanks for visiting the "Changing the Face of the Earth" site which contains 

the "cow protection" page. Actually you are the first devotee to write to me 

about cow protection. I have had many, many letters from the "karmis", but cow 

protection is not something on most devotees minds. It is a great tragedy. We 

are not at all serious in this regard. I have never visited New Vrndavana, but 

I have visited many other ISKCON farms and it is a sad state indeed. I was 

staying in N.Y. for some time and they had bottles of ghee with "New Vrndavana" 

written on them... So perhaps it is going on seriously at New Vrndavana, I 

sincerely hope so.



I have had some experience with the cow protection program at Gita Nagari, it 

is not a cow protection program actually, it is a fund raising program with the 

funds spent for so many other things... not cow protection... Before we start 

taking the public's money for cow protection we have to be serious about doing 

it...



Anyhow, as it happens, I received a letter about cow protection from someone 

yesterday:

>To: madhudvisa@krishna.org

>Subject: Cows are special

>

>

>I believe there should be a movement to make more people realize what they are 

>eating when

>they walk into Mc Donalds and order their hamburgers .

>

>  Mc Donalds , Burger Kings  and similar franchises target the young with  

>their happy meals,

>bright colored interior and their carefully marketed  toy collections from the 

>latest Disney Films.

>They want to get the children hooked on beef at a very young age.

>

> I believe if there is a movement then the movements main objective should  be 

>to open the

>childrens eyes to what they are eating. This could be  very tramatic for a 

>child if he or she saw

>actual footage of what really goes on behind the closed doors of these 

>slaughter houses.

>

>The killing of innocent calves or lambs is what really tears me up inside.

> The person that takes a calf just born and locks it in a tiny dark room for a 

>period of time until it

>is ready for slaughter is a monster.

>

>Not 1 day goes by that I do not shed a tear for the suffering animals in this 

>world.  The animals

>that are bred and raised for food.

>

>I do not eat cows,pigs,lambs and will eventually give up chicken and fish

>

>I will always remember an article I read about Paul and Linda Mc Cartney they 

>said " We do not

>eat anything that has a face" I believe all humans  should share this belief.

>

>Thank you and Regards,

>Deena

>

>



So I replied as follows:



>Dear Deena

>

>Hello. Hare Krishna! Thanks for visiting my home-page and sending your letter 

>on cow protection. It is a very important thing. Of course killing any animal 

>is a great sin -- but killing cows is even more sinful. The Vedic (Indian) 

>culture protects cows over any other animal. Even if one is a meat-eater he 

>cannot kill cows. The reason is Krishna (God) is a cowheard boy. It is hard to 

>believe -- God is a cowherd boy!! By why not? His business is enjoying, he is 

>eternally youthful and he is engaged in loving pastimes with His  cows, 

>parents, boy friends and girl friends in Vrndavana... Krishna is the supreme 

>enjoyer... 

>

>The movement you suggest to stop the cow-killing is nice... Showing the young 

>people the suffering and torture that goes on in the slaughter-houses. But it 

>is a negative thing. They have a taste for blood, you have to give them some 

>better food, a "Higher Taste"... So in Krishna consciousness we offer sumptuous 

>vegetarian foods to Krishna and in that way they become spiritual and very 

>delicious. So much so that once tasting such nice food one looses his taste for 

>the disgusting rotting corpses of dead animals. I was a meat-eater before I 

>came to Krishna consciousness and I had heard the arguments of the vegetarians 

>but it didn't have much impact on me at all... But when I started eating 

>Prasadam (spiritual food offered to Krishna) at the Hare Krishna restaurants in 

>Australia I automatically lost my taste for meat and McDonnalds. That was over 

>10 years ago -- now and I would never dream of eating meat again. So I am 

>convinced that this is the real way to get the message across to people. Give 

>them Prasadam (food offerd to Krishna), let them chant Hare Krishna and read 

>Srila Prabhupada's books and very soon they will be vegetarian, but not only 

>that they will be very happy and understand the purpose of life, to reestablish 

>our lost relationship with God, Krishna.

>

>We have to give a positave alternative, you can't just stay "stop killing". You 

>might like to use the "search" function on my home-page <http://w

>ww.krishna.org/balarama> (the magnifying glass on the button-bar on top of the 

>screen) to search for vegetarian, vegetarinaism, etc -- there are quite a few 

>other letters and articles there so have a read and write back with your 

>thoughts...

>

>Thanks for writing. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

>

>Madhudvisa dasa

>

>



So you can see my opinion is that Cow Protection is not some sentemental 

fund-raising program. The only way people will protect the cows and the bulls 

is if they become Krishna conscious. So we have to preach, to make people 

devotees. Give them prasadam, let them hear the Holy Name chanted by pure 

devotees, let them read Srila Prabhupada's books, let them live in the 

assocation of pure devotees serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna... That should 

be the goal...



Thanks for the letter. I almost came there to New Vrndavana a month or so ago 

but it didn't work out. I have seen photos of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha 

Vrndavana-Chandra and I am so attracted to Them. They are so beautiful. So I 

will make it there one day surely if I can somehow get Their mercy... and the 

mercy of Their servants...



(By the way I don't have any cows personally nor am I attached to a farm, I am 

just travelling and trying to preach a little.)



Anyhow looking forward to hearing from you. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!



Your servant 



Madhudvisa dasa
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Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!