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Today Raju the street bull came for a visit to his old bull friends in our goshala. Previously when he was a baby we called him “Maaah Shanda” because of the sound he would make whenever he would see us. Later we met his previous owner who told us his name is Raju, and he released him to be a free roaming bull.
Tonight this injured dog died under our care after spending three days with us. He wasn’t supposed to be here with us, but another one of those strange arrangements happened. Three days ago, late in the night around 1 am, I went outside our main gate to check on some of the regular dogs who visit our temple, because one had appeared sick earlier in the day.
Recently someone asked me to explain the form and significance of Panchamukha Hanuman. The following is the answer that I gave to summarize who is Panchamukha Hanuman.
On the morning of Balarama Jayanti a sick baby calf appeared near the back gate of our ashram. His entire body was covered in open sores with maggots inside them. One of his legs was completely rotting and the flesh was hanging off. One of his eyes was swollen extremely large. Seeing the critical state he was in we tried to bring him inside the ashram where we could begin treatment. He was scared of us but I was able to lure him inside our compound by showing some food. He was very skinny and hungry as well.
This is one of the saddest miracles I have witnessed, nevertheless it is another miracle performed by Lord Jagannatha for his dear devotee and should be narrated. Not all miracles have externally happy endings.
Here is one of our favorite bulls we were trying our best to save for many months. Because of his extreme skinny condition when he first arrived we called him “Boney Cow” when talking amongst ourselves, and the name stuck. It was not the best name, but it was the easiest way to understand who we were talking about visually. If I asked someone “Have you seen boney cow,” everyone knew who I was talking about even if they didn’t pay attention to all the cows and bulls who come through each day.
The word gotra literally means “that which protects cows”, and in general refers to a stable that protects a herd of cows from the weather and from wild animals. Likewise the family lineages of rishis and forefathers are also metaphorically called as “gotras”, as they are “protective stables” that guide and watch over humanity, which is likened to a herd of cows.
Kapila Muni is a young golden coloured bull calf who has been coming to our ashram for around 7 months now. When very young Kapila Muni’s mother died from a snake bite and he was abandoned on the street all alone. Somehow he found our ashram and has been sleeping here every day since. From the first day he came we have made sure to feed him extra so that he could become healthy and strong.
Here are three of the smaller street bulls we have been locking up for the last week so they don’t end up being sacrificed during the Eid festival. Today we finally let them free to be back on the street. They did not like being locked up in the day, but it was for their own good.
This is the last photo I took of Dayalu Baba, 14 days before he departed. Seeing it makes me sad because it foreshadows what was to come, with him walking away as he leaves us.
