Even If We Lose Money, We Will Still Protect The Cows

Giriraj Swami: Once, Hamsaduta Dasa came to meet Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. He had been having difficulties with the other leaders of the ISKCON Hyderabad farm project, and he wanted to share his grief with Srila Prabhupada, who listened patiently and with sympathy. I was struck not only by how kind and compassionate Prabhupada was but also by how much time he had to spend with us to smooth our rough relationships and heal our hurt hearts.

As I sat there listening, and marveling at Srila Prabhupada’s deep care and expertise, the topic turned to cows on the farm. Hamsaduta explained his strategy, that the devotees would create such a superior breed of cow that produced such large quantities of milk, that they would have more than enough milk for their own needs and would be able to sell the surplus for a good profit. This way, he reasoned, people would see that keeping cows was profitable and they wouldn’t kill them. Having listened carefully, Srila Prabhupada responded, "This is not the idea, to keep cows and get milk and produce yogurt and cheese and ghee and by selling them to become fat, rich capitalists. The idea is to please Krishna. That is bhakti. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.44) Krishna says, krishi-go-rakshya: 'agriculture and cow protection.' We protect the cows because Krishna wants it, for Krishna’s pleasure - whether we make money or not. Even if we lose money, we will still protect the cows - and depend on Krishna. Our interest is to please Krishna. That is bhakti."