Service to Go-Mata is greater than Service to Govinda!
Sri Krishna Purusottama Das: Padma Purana: “Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Viṣṇu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaiṣṇava.”
When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. And further, he says that serving the associates and servants of the Lord is greater than serving the Lord directly. Mother Cow is an eternal and dear associate of the Lord, who is addressed by the prayer namo bramhanya devaya go-brahmana hitaya ca…
The Sri Govinda Gau-gram Pracar Yatra began with guidance from His Holiness Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaja. During the first phase of this program, devotees reached 67 villages across Telangana state. As part of the second phase of this yatra, ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry (IDVM) has begun a tour of villages in Andhra Pradesh. On the first day, 22nd June 2016, Sri Harinadh Reddy, Director for Gau-Samrakshhana program of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams graced the occasion, joining us for a brief talk by His Grace Revati Ramana Prabhu on importance of village preaching and cow protection. His Holiness Sukadeva Goswami Maharaja blessed the program with his support, in the form of a vehicle for traveling between villages.
His Grace Revati Ramana Prabhu personally did Gau Puja and gave a brief talk before waving the green flag for the Pracar Vehicle, which headed out from Tirupati to Punganur, covering a distance of 100 kms. Punganur is a small town in Andhra Pradesh noted for the world-famous “Punganur” – a beautiful dark coloured breed of cows. Unfortunately, currently even these special cows are being sold by farmers for slaughter which is happening for beef sale in Kerala. One of the key aims of this Yatra is to educate village farmers to protect cows and increase cow-based agriculture, and to show the importance of all cow products.
On the second day, we held a mini Ratha Yatra with Sri Jagannath Baladev and Subhadra deities using a bullock cart offered by the villagers. One Mr. Krishna Reddy sponsored a function hall for a one-day village program, with Gau Puja and kirtana. During this program, we distributed more than 3000 cups of khichri and curd rice prasadam, and several pamphlets with information on cow protection. His Grace Revati Ramana prabhu gave another enlightening talk to the crowd. Reliving his childhood memories, he said he is from Bangalore , “At that time, every house in his city used to have a cow. Now, every house has a car!” He remembered a childhood instance that displayed the strong cow – human relationship. “Once, when many cows died due to a disease, the people who took care of these cows lamented beating their chests, out of separation from their cows whom them considered family. And today, the situation is so bad that farmers are sending their cows for slaughter!”
The Core team, His Grace Kirtiraja prabhu, HG Srirama Prabhu and Sri Krishna Purusottama das and team on the Sri Govinda Gau-gram Yatra delivered two video presentations on cow protection. His Grace Rupesh Chaitanya prabhu, Vice President of ISKCON Tirupati also gave a brief inspiring talk. Several local governmental officials and devotee representatives from south Indian ISKCON Temples were also present in this event. Two specialist Pancagavya doctors accompanied with HG Abhirama prabhu did check-up and Nadi Chikitsa for around 100 villagers, who received it quite appreciatively. There was a lot of activity around the book stall and cow products stalls that were set up for this event. We distributed 400 small books and cow products in this event.
On these two days, I felt Mother Cow on all sides, as everyone around was talking about cows! On behalf of the Yatra team I thank the local devotees,ISKCON IDVM, ISKCON Tirupati, His Holiness Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaja and His Holiness Sukadeva Goswami Mahraja and His Grace Revati Ramana prabhu for this program’s success. With the blessings and prayers of devotees, the Sri Govinda Gau-gram yatra is set to achieve its goal of covering 108 villages by Gopashtami, November 2016.