The devotee bull.
Sacinandana Swami: Welcome to today’s Kartik inspiration.
In Vrindavan, two things are always going on: that which is visible and that which is not always manifested to our material senses. But sometimes, the spiritual reality becomes visible to the material senses, often leaving us very surprised.
The other day I had an amazing realization of how, in the spiritual sense, everyone in Vrindavan serves Krishna. I was going to one small temple, the Radha Damodar temple. In the courtyard were a few cows, but I did not pay much attention to them. I passed by them and directly sat before the golden forms of Radha Damodar to chant my rounds.
I closed my eyes, and after some time, I heard a heavy snorting. It was so loud that I thought, “Oh, my God, who is that, or what is that?” When I opened my eyes, I saw a huge big hull. These bulls sometimes weigh a few tons. He looked at me and lowered his head, and I was not sure if he was going to attack. He was snorting and tapping the ground with one of his hooves. Intuitively I understood that I should make a little space, so I went a little bit more back, and then the bull seemed to be satisfied.
He first kneeled on his left front elbow or half of the leg, then he came down with the right, and then he put his massive body on the ground and, believe it or not, looked at the deities. And as he looked, you could see there was some type of communication going on. At least I could see that the eye of the bull, which was close to me, was filled with some tears. Some emotion was going on. He then put his head down, still looking at the deities and paying his obeisances. Then after a long time, it must have been an hour or so, when I kept on chanting my japa, his darshan was complete, and he got up. First on his right and then on his left front leg, and then the rest of the body followed. He looked at me one more time, this time not making a loud sound, and then peacefully went away.
These animals in Vrindavan are sometimes great, great souls who take a little pause from the human form of life where they might be engaged in the welfare of others, and due to their attachment, they stay in the earthly Vrindavan. Or it could be that they are human beings who made a mistake and took one last birth as a cow or bull or also monkey before they return back to the eternal Vrindavan.
I felt very peaceful next to this bull, and I could focus my mind very nicely on chanting and understanding: I now have a rare opportunity in this human form of life. The days and hours run by like a river of time entering the ocean, and before my death, I should make the best possible use of it. It was a very moving experience, and I still remember it.
Wishing you all the best and see you for the next Kartik inspiration.