Last night one of our temple bulls named Baladeva passed away after having been sick for the last month. Among all of the bulls in our goshala he was the only one who was born here, and had lived here for 10 years since his birth. He had been born the day after Balarama Purnima and was fully white, so we gave him the name Baladeva.

For several years he had been the strongest in the herd and was accepted as leader of the herd by the other bulls. Over the last month he had become thinner and started to look weak, but over the final three days other symptoms began to show like diarrhea, and finally last night he became unresponsive and passed away a few hours later.

Baladeva as a baby 10 years ago.

We had Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan playing for him as he passed away, and we put charanamrita in his mouth from Lord Jagannatha. We applied tilak on his body with mud from Radhakunda, and placed prasadam flowers on his head. Around midnight last night he left his body.

In the morning we chose the location for his burial in the goshala, and began digging the pit. We bathed his body in Ganga water from Kashi, then applied tilak and turmeric to his body. It was very difficult to carry him to the pit for burial, but with the help of a few devotees it was slowly accomplished.

I asked my friend Butu, who is seen digging the pit in the photo below (he spent all day digging it in the hot sun), whether we should try to carry him ourself or if we should call laborers to carry him to the pit. He replied, “He is our own person. For our own person its best we carry him ourself.” And that was the final decision, we had to carry him ourself, something that was almost impossible considering how big he was. His logic was sound, so I had to agree with him.

After placing Baladeva in the burial pit, prasadam flowers from Lord Jagannatha were placed on his head, and additional flowers were brought to decorate his body. We wrapped his body in a new dhoti and placed a harinama chaddar on top of him, while raw camphor (Bhimaseni Karpura) was spread over his body. Arati was performed to him, and then devotees filled the pit with dirt while offering their final obeisances to him.

He spent his entire life as Lord Krishna’s own cow, born in Lord Jagannatha’s temple, so we are certain he has returned to the spiritual world to serve Lord Krishna eternally.

Baladeva with his mother Yamuna in 2016.

Here I am in 2016 trying to teach baby Baladeva how to headbutt. When he was born the goshala was full of beautiful guava trees, and since there were fewer cows, they had a lot of space to run around and enjoy. It was a very nice childhood for him. My desire was to one day again get them proper farm land where they could graze and roam freely in grass fields, but unfortunately he has passed away before I could arrange it. Still 8 more bulls remain in our care, including his father Vasu.

Here is a short video of Baladeva from 2016 when he was born:

Every cow and calf at our sanctuary has a story of rescue, healing, and hope. Your generous support provides them with food, shelter, medical care, and a lifetime of protection. Together, we can give these sacred animals the love and safety they deserve.