There is a mantra for the worship of the cows. There is a mantra for herding the cows. Krsna was a cowherd, that is why He has names like Gopal and Govinda. Krsna protected all the cows Himself. He and His friends would shout, “Hoy, hoy” at the cows to make them go in the direction they wanted.
I have often said no one should think that serving the cows is an ordinary kind of job. There is a very famous pandit in Vrndavan – I even have some of his books here – Haridas Shastri. He gave up everything to serve the cows. If we can serve the cows then we will give pleasure to Krsna. We have an expression, go-manyu. Manyu means anger. If the cows are displeased with our behaviour, then there will be inauspiciousness in the household. All the gods dwell in the heart of the cow; that is why she is called sarva-deva-maya.
This is why I say that service to the cows is not a common place activity. One of Krsna’s names is Gopal. This is a special aspect of Krsna’s pastime. He has so many cows, black ones, white ones.
There are seven notes on the scale that Krsna plays on His flute-sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni. So when He plays sa, then all the syamali or black cows would come running. When he plays the dha note, all the dhavali, or white cows come running to Him. They would come up to Him and start licking Him, and Krsna would rush and scratch them.
When Krsna left for Mathura, the cows completely lost their appetite. They stopped eating altogether. The mothers of the cowherd boys said to their sons – Sudama’s and Sridama’s mothers said to them, “Go and take the cows out to graze a little. Eat a little something yourselves and then go.”
Then they answered, “Mother, we stopped feeling hunger and thirst the day that our brother Kanai left us. You’re telling us to take the cows into the fields, but they won’t even look at the grass. They simply look up and moo for our brother Kanai to come back. Tears pour out of their eyes in torrents. That is the state the cows are in.”
Krsna’s friends go on, “And what will we eat? We cannot feel either thirst or hunger.”
Everyone is feeling the same way.
- Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaja, taken from the book Samadhi, Serving The Cows, page 121.
I have often said no one should think that serving the cows is an ordinary kind of job. There is a very famous pandit in Vrndavan – I even have some of his books here – Haridas Shastri. He gave up everything to serve the cows. If we can serve the cows then we will give pleasure to Krsna. We have an expression, go-manyu. Manyu means anger. If the cows are displeased with our behaviour, then there will be inauspiciousness in the household. All the gods dwell in the heart of the cow; that is why she is called sarva-deva-maya.
This is why I say that service to the cows is not a common place activity. One of Krsna’s names is Gopal. This is a special aspect of Krsna’s pastime. He has so many cows, black ones, white ones.
There are seven notes on the scale that Krsna plays on His flute-sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni. So when He plays sa, then all the syamali or black cows would come running. When he plays the dha note, all the dhavali, or white cows come running to Him. They would come up to Him and start licking Him, and Krsna would rush and scratch them.
When Krsna left for Mathura, the cows completely lost their appetite. They stopped eating altogether. The mothers of the cowherd boys said to their sons – Sudama’s and Sridama’s mothers said to them, “Go and take the cows out to graze a little. Eat a little something yourselves and then go.”
Then they answered, “Mother, we stopped feeling hunger and thirst the day that our brother Kanai left us. You’re telling us to take the cows into the fields, but they won’t even look at the grass. They simply look up and moo for our brother Kanai to come back. Tears pour out of their eyes in torrents. That is the state the cows are in.”
Krsna’s friends go on, “And what will we eat? We cannot feel either thirst or hunger.”
Everyone is feeling the same way.
- Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaja, taken from the book Samadhi, Serving The Cows, page 121.
dharmah padaikena caran
vicchayam upalabhya gam
prechati smasru vadanam
vivatsam iva mataram
(Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Ch 16, text 18)
“The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who appeared to grieve like a mother who has lost her child. She had tears in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as follows”
Purport
by Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja
The emblem of moral principles, and the cow is the representative of the earth. When the bull and the cow are in a joyful mood it is to be understood that the people of the earth are also in a joyful mood. The reason is that the bull helps production of grains in the agricultural field, and the cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate food values. The human society, therefore, maintains these two important animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness. But at the present moment in this age of Kali, both the bull and the cow are now being slaughtered and eaten as foodstuff by a class of men who do not know the brahminical culture. The bull and the cow can be protected for the good if humane society simply by spreading brahminical culture as the topmost perfection of all cultural affairs. By advancement of such culture, the morale of society is properly maintained, and so peace and prosperity are also attained without extraneous effort. When brahminical culture deteriorates, the cow and the bull are mistreated, and the resultant actions are prominent by the following symptoms.
vicchayam upalabhya gam
prechati smasru vadanam
vivatsam iva mataram
(Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Ch 16, text 18)
“The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who appeared to grieve like a mother who has lost her child. She had tears in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as follows”
Purport
by Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja
The emblem of moral principles, and the cow is the representative of the earth. When the bull and the cow are in a joyful mood it is to be understood that the people of the earth are also in a joyful mood. The reason is that the bull helps production of grains in the agricultural field, and the cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate food values. The human society, therefore, maintains these two important animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness. But at the present moment in this age of Kali, both the bull and the cow are now being slaughtered and eaten as foodstuff by a class of men who do not know the brahminical culture. The bull and the cow can be protected for the good if humane society simply by spreading brahminical culture as the topmost perfection of all cultural affairs. By advancement of such culture, the morale of society is properly maintained, and so peace and prosperity are also attained without extraneous effort. When brahminical culture deteriorates, the cow and the bull are mistreated, and the resultant actions are prominent by the following symptoms.
Cows always give milk. They have no envy. They do not only support themselves. Their life is always for others, and especially for Krishna, to all Vrajavasis and for the whole world. If anyone is surrendered to Krsna, and is always engaged for the welfare of the whole world, not caring for their own life, then Krsna has to manage them. He also supports the cows, and nourishes them, always following them when they go grazing during His sweet pastimes. With cows He does all this. Without cow-herding, how will all these pastimes manifest?
(Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja)
(Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja)