The following is floating around the devotee email circuit:
Hare Krishna. Thought you might find this interesting. I just heard a clip from the BBC news service confirming the Vedic injunction that everything about the cow is auspicious and beneficial. It was a piece on research being done in Australia on a particular bacteria found primarily in cow dung or “gobar” as they call it in India.
Turns out that this bacteria, when inhaled (as would happen naturally in a rural setting or village life) helps generate serotonin, a chemical which acts in the brain to regulate moods and creates a sense of well-being. Even more so, this bacteria is found to reduce the effects of asthma and a host of other diseases and bodily distresses.
The commentator said “The benefits are especially true for children who grow up playing in such natural surrounding, where they would inhale this bacteria. That children are increasingly cut off from this type of natural environment may well be one of the major causes of the growth of allergies and attention deficit disorder in children”.
So once again, research science is playing catch-up to the eternal wisdom of the Vedas. Krishna playing with the cows in His childhood lila is showing the best standard for health for all children.
(end quote)
Here is a link that confirms the basis for the above.
So it is nice that some devotees are starting to be aware that Krishna was a cowherd boy. Unfortunately, most devotees still buy industrial milk and don’t offset it by supporting cow protection programs.
They justify this on the basis of ajnata-sukrti, that the cow they drink the milk from benefits from unknowing devotional service.
Unfortunately, the “knowing” part of a cow’s life can be something else.
May 28, 2010 at 9:08 am
What is your suggestion?not to dring milk? what can I do for the good cause of cowprotection far away from an Iskcon -farm?
May 28, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I cry for those cows…my weakness is that I have no mercy for those ‘humans’ involved in that brutality. Perhaps Krishna’s unlimited mercy will afford them forgiveness..perhaps, and this is my wish, that karma will come full circle for them. God that was painful to watch.
May 28, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Try finding out farms in your area that provide “raw” milk. In many cases you can see the milking taking place. These are really small farms, that make cheese and some other products from the milk. Some also kill the cows for beef, so you will have to make that decision. There are some (few, but there are some) that will not kill the cow.
The other option is goat milk…. but that is another topic alltogether.
There is this growing movement for “local” meat. So I think you should be able to get some milk around the area, if you are willing to drive a little bit. Ofcourse its best if you can hook up with fella devotees and get larger quantities.
May 28, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Hare Krishna!
First of all a couple of reservations need to be addressed:
a. Once one offers milk to Krishna all the bad karma will be taken away and the
mis-treated cows also benefit. We can easily envision a scenario here where
all the customers of a karmi-farm are devotees. Unless it’s by “force of circumstance”,
the sincerity of the offerer should be questioned here, and where it’s by choice,
this directly becomes an offense committed on the strength of the holy name.
In other words, city dwellers and such cannot escape making the offense unless
there’s a “force of circumstance”, such as traveling/full-time preaching, unable to
afford and such, that precludes them paying the rightful due. This “unable to afford”
will have to be explained to Guru and Krishna since one can perhaps take up an
additional job and such in the city to help pay for the rightful due.
b. Srila Prabhupada used the same karmi-milk.
This is a case of selective listening/application. No one is saying stop consuming
karmi-milk. Keep offering karmi-milk but also simultaneously pay heed to Srila
Prabhupada’s other instructions in regard to cow protection and switch to offering
protected-cow milk wherever/whenever it’s available.
In the old days in India, large joint families used to be there keeping cows. In the modern world,
if there are 4 or 5 families interested in doing cow protection, in the spirit of sankirtan, they can move off of regular subdivisions onto a farm and get a couple of cows. They can then share in the responsibility of taking care of the cows, say one family a week while also teaching their children and other vaishnavas about cow protection. If there isn’t enough land for pasture, they can always purchase hay and grain. See http://www.real-food.com/ for the book “Keeping a family cow” for info.
Haribol!
May 29, 2010 at 4:40 am
hare krsna,I heard that uncooked milk is dangerous because of possible sicknesses is it true?I thing the government forbids saling of unprepered milk.one friend told me that homogenisirted milk (long duration milk boilt for 20 sec.at 100 Degree Celsious)is not healthy because the fat is made very fine so it goes trough the cellswall ,which normaly takes the fat and breaks it down.Can you comment?
May 29, 2010 at 7:15 am
We advocate milk offsets, which is based on the concept of carbon offsets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_offset
While it is best to get milk from protected cows, in most cases, in the current economic climate, that is not feasible. So continue to buy necessary milk, offer it, but also make contributions to cow protection programs so even if the literal cow your milk comes from is not protected, at least some cow is.
Another thing would be to take some vacation time and volunteer at a cow protection program.
The main point is to not be complacent about milk from cows that will be slaughtered and make some effort to protect cows, even if living in the city.
May 30, 2010 at 8:16 am
You may be confusing pasteurization with homogenization.
Homogenization is not about heating but about whipping the milk to break up the fat particles so the cream doesn’t separate out.
IF a cow is kept in very clean circumstances with very personal care, pasteurization may not be necessary but most milk is produced in factory like circumstances.
Pasteurization is Vedic, traditional village culture practice in India as far as I know. IT is certainly a safer practice than raw milk, but I know others have different opinions.
June 2, 2010 at 7:19 am
yes,thank you.i ment homogenization.I put an search in an paper here in Greece looking for people who do not slaughter there milkproducinganimals
June 3, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I wonder if karma can be offset. As far as I know, it just has to be suffered or enjoyed, or neutralized by devotional service. One may neutralize one’s own karma by offering the milk, but I wonder if Krsna would accept something which causes distress and death to our mother. None of the items He mentions in the gita as offerable include anything violent. I think, therefore, that while one should support cow protection programs, if one has no access to non-violent milk, then one should just try to be a vegan. Soy milk and products is much preferable to violence-based dairy.
June 3, 2010 at 6:24 pm
You suggest to purchase “necessary milk” but when so much soy products alternatives are there, where is the necessity? As regards carbon offsets, even if karma or cruelty can be offset y good actvity or kindness, isn’t it better to do no harm, and contribute to the good? Be a vegan, and support cow protection, and drink non-violent milk when you can.
June 4, 2010 at 7:29 am
I won’t argue the validity of your points.
I am not claiming milk offsets is the best or highest plan. I respect and honor ethical vegans who are capable of taking such a principled position.
I will claim it is better than drinking milk from cows that will be slaughtered and doing nothing.
Reality is that most devotees won’t take up being a vegan. The tongue is very difficulty to control. For them (us) at least the offset helps some cows and hopefully if it became a groundswell of support for cow protection programs that will capitalize them to a point they will be able to afford to produce more milk.
I have heard that the New Zealand devotees have taken a vow to be ethical vegans, i.e. they won’t consume any milk until they can get it from protected cows. They have gotten some land and are working towards this goal.
The problem with doing nothing and thinking that simply offering any milk and not paying extra is that it leads to complacency, to treating milk as a commodity, a necessity, or worse, as a license, a right to consume, rather than seeing it as an opulence.
“So actually, human opulence means not these tin cars. Once it is dashed with another car, it is finished, no value. Human opulence means the society must have enough gold, enough jewelry, enough silk, enough grains, enough milk, enough vegetables, like that. That is opulent. That is opulence.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.2 — Los Angeles, May 16, 1973
The idea of the milk offsets is to help elevate the consciousness of those who drink milk even given the current state of affairs in its production. Milk from protected cows will cost more than market cost of milk, so it helps build the habit of paying more.
It is meant as a transitional stage, not an end point.
June 4, 2010 at 11:36 am
Problem with moving away from Milk to Soy and such:
We do have Srila Prabhupada’s recommendation for needing to take milk (1 glass of milk a day?) to aid development of finer tissues in the brain, so one could understand the transcedental literatures. Secondly, this will further encourage devotees to NOT try cow protection by apparently making cow-cruelty a non-issue for devotees.
Problem with Milk offsets:
Milk offset programs cannot be modeled strictly along carbon offsets IMHO since it’s impossible to quantify the pain/anxiety a cow may have felt when the offspring is immediately carried away after birth nor when it’s mistreated nor when it’s slaughtered. Thus for me as a buyer, there isn’t really the satisfaction of having paid for protected cow milk. IMHO, all these not-up-to-the-mark attempts could still lead to dissatisfaction for some or further lull devotees into complacency by letting them pay what they can “afford” as opposed to what’s rightfully due to the cow.
So, Srila Prabhupada has already shown yukta-vairagya in practice that it’s OK to offer whatever milk is available to Krishna BUT ALSO AT THE SAME TIME WORK FOR PROETCTED-COW MILK by establishing New Vrindaban, Gita Nagari, etc. Unfortunately, we see devotees selectively heeding the former part but ignoring the requisite work toward meaningful and comprehensive cow protection like Srila Prabhupada did.
I am currently working on a proposal for city dwellers:
The basic/overall idea is to support (pay for) the production of a gallon of protected cow milk somewhere in the US into an appropriate distribution pool and then to draw from it anywhere in the U.S. (this is how I heard the oil pipeline system works in the U.S.). The pool need not be the exact one, such as the milk may have gone to Organic Valley, but I might have gotten the gallon from Horizon for example, as long as they are the same class (organic Vs. regular factory for example). I am planning to contact Organic Valley to see how much they typically pay for a gallon.
So, we would want to see in order of preference/goal:
1. Cows in the backyard of a small community of 4-10 families.
2. Cow farm near village/town/city.
3. Cow farms that supply to Organic Valley and such to help those
devotees that are scattered at far-off distances from ISKCON centers.
Madhava Gosh prabhu, please contact me at vyekkirala@yahoo.com
June 4, 2010 at 6:14 pm
To Madhava Ghosh Prabhu: It is not difficult to be a vegan, it’s like giving up meat- one just has to learn what the (delicious) alternatives are. Austerity is not one of the things I am good at, at all, but I am managing to be a vegan 99% of the time. Pizza is my big falldown, but occasionally. But if one can offer Krsna delicious things made from soy milk, then why not?
To Venkatesh: As regards Srila Prabhupada recommending milk for developing finer brain tissues for understanding philosophy, only on a gross level can one equate milk from protected cows with milk from unprotected cows. One is the product of love, the other the product of exploitation. It is like the difference between a meal produced by a fast food chain and one cooked at home, or at the temple, with love, for Krsna. Even if the fast food meal is vegetarian, say veggie burgers, and the temple meal is also veggie burgers, still, one has a good effect on consciousness, not the other. Only externally, they may appear the same.
When the sastra was written, all the milk came from protected cows, to my knowledge. The finer effect on consciousness is not due to any gross property of the milk. It may be argued that vitamin B12 is required for the brain to function well, and it is found in milk, but it is found in greater concentration, actually, in mushrooms, which are not supposed to be eaten. So it is not that any particular gross element of the milk cannot be found even in meat, for example. The good effect on consciousness is due to the fact that the cow produces milk out of affection for her children, including humans. It is said that the consciousness of the cook enters the meal, and a meal produced by a greedy person, only for profit, tends to turns one’s consciousness towards greed. Similarly, milk produced from affection and reciprocation of kindness infuses the consciousness with such vaisnava qualities, placing one in goodness, or pure goodness, wherey the philosophy is very easy to understand.
June 4, 2010 at 6:20 pm
As regards Srila Prabhupada recommending milk, even before the farms were set up to produce protected milk for the city temples…. for preaching and establishing Krsna consciousness, many concessions can be made- apparently Prabhupada told Harikesa he could even eat meat, when preaching in Russia, if nothing else was there. So, in the beginning he recommended any milk, but later his intention was, as you have noted, that the farms produce all the milk the city temples required. He clearly did not have the opinion that milk from unprotected cows was the same as milk from protected cows.
June 4, 2010 at 7:07 pm
I think that cow protection has to be supported not to counteract karma, but to please the Lord, Lord of the cows.
Venkatesh wrote: this will further encourage devotees to NOT try cow protection by apparently making cow-cruelty a non-issue for devotees.
I doubt that devotees becoming ethical vegans will discourage cow protection projects, as we are all aware that abstaining from milk products is not as good for the consciousness, finer brain tissue, as partaking of milk from protected cows. We are all aware of the glories of milk – but it is not the same when it is not from protected cows. It may be used for preaching, converting meat-eaters to a diet of lacto-vegetarian Krsna prasadam, but a step forward in ethical consciousness, is not to just be aware where meat comes from, but milk as well. Prabhupada said that even meat is OK- it should just come from animals that have died naturally (which poses a challenge to get the carcass frozen immediately after death) So he viewed not all meat is the same- some can be eaten albiet by lower class men as it is untouchable, but in no case, except for emergencies, should animals be killed.
June 4, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Hare Krsna……one of the points continuously is the fact that the bulls are not being engaged in service to the Lord according to shastra(scripture). In Srimad Bhagavatam Srila Prabhupada explains that the duty (Dharma) of the bulls is to plow the agricultural fields and produce food grains for his family and the human families. In Vedic times, breeding of cows was to produce bulls so Agriculture could be accomplished. The second reason cows were breed was to maintain the quantity of Manure available for Agriculture and many other uses. The third reason cows were breed was for the urine which is also used in Agriculture as well as medicine and other ways. The forth reason cows were breed was for milk production……and it wasnt even a reason for breeding….milk was actually considered a by product of breeding cows to produce bulls for Agriculture and transportation.
So the real problem that needs to be addressed and solved is a question that Srila Prabhupada asked Nityananda prabhu in New Talavan back in the early 1970s……Srila Prabhupada asked…”So. how you are working the bulls”?….
This questioned has been partially answered in differant devotee farms in differant parts of the world at differant times, but never as a long term example of simple living and high thinking.
In my humble opinion, until there is a program in place to train and engage the bulls in service to the Lord, the idea of produceing milk for the general population should be shelved. Srila Prabhupada wanted ISKCON to show the example and set the standard for all other cow protection programs to follow……cow protection based on milk production can only be ,at best, 50% cow protection. The bulls are available already…krsna has already sent them, but unfortunately the devotees are not stepping forward to set up this very important aspect of Cow protection….Training and engareing the bulls in service to the Lord.
June 8, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Thank you Balabhadra Prabhu for mentioning this. You helped get me off my butt and out the door to start training our latest bull.
Hare Krishna
June 5, 2010 at 8:53 am
I would like to echo Niscala’s point that it isn’t necessarily milk per se that build finer brain tissues and add the thought that the consciousness that comes from protecting cows is what contributes to the development of finer tissues.
June 5, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Balabhadra prabhu is so right- that bulls need to be used instead of tractors, then the whole thing is economically and ecologically viable. The dung, the bull power, the urine (maybe?) actually the urine is a good fertilizer too, but definitely the dung, and definitely bull power, makes the enterprise an ecological/social/spiritual whole solution to practically any of the modern crises. Most importantly, we should never advertise we plow with bulls and not actually do it. It should not just be for propaganda. I gave up my study as an environmental scientist to become a devotee when I heard about them living simply and using bulls- I thought this was more effective than any bandaid solutions that my course was suggesting. Then I noticed a tractor at the devotee farm, which shocked me. I asked “do they use that?” I was told “of course” “but I thought you plowed with bullocks- I saw it in Back to Godhead!” to which they all laughed “oh thats just really good PR, thats all” I was bitterly disappointed at what I perceived to be hypocrisy. Balbhadra prabhu is doing wonderful work to bring to devotees consciousness the importance of the bull, the symbol of religion, as a way of protecting mother earth- the father protecting the mother!. With all the concern about carbon neitrality, here is actually a dairy farm that is carbon neutral, for any methane belches made by the bull is more than compensated by his replacing tractors, and providing transport for harvested goods. It might even be carbon negative, taking everything into account. A carbon negative, self-sufficient dairy farm. Al gore would love it! I wonder if he could be invited to visit Balbhadra’s farm?
June 7, 2010 at 8:38 am
on browsing through the internet(milk from protected cows) somebody mentioned that vitamin B12 can be gotten through yeast.in the magazine on cowprotection by the Tirumala Tirupati Devastan is mentioned that following trees can be planted so the cows can eat them;sesbania grandiflora;subabul;glyrecedia;sisu;piccacolobiumdulci;Ficcus because they are proteinrich;i did try to make toothpowder from cowpaddy at it was really easy;you burn the cowpaddy at take the ashes you add Ajjvain (a cheap indian spice,i hope this time i write it right) and eatable camphor thats it.you could add pommegrantpeal,bell (powder)Amlapowder(fresh),gur,ilachi,cinnamon…this in regard the using the byproducts of the cows and bulls.
June 7, 2010 at 10:50 am
an other thing, what is with powder milk does any iskcon-farm marketing it?
June 8, 2010 at 9:48 am
P.S. The burned cowdung has to be pasted through a siff.also gloves,cardamon,pipal,gingerpowder and jaipal nutmeg powder can be added
June 8, 2010 at 6:01 pm
“mentioned that following trees can be planted so the cows can eat them;sesbania grandiflora;subabul;glyrecedia;sisu;piccacolobiumdulci;Ficcus because they are proteinrich”
it would be nice to plant lots of those trees that cows can eat in Vrindavan, as cows have practically no grass there to eat- they eat a lot of rubbish. Of course, it would take a lot of commitment to keep them alive in the Vrindavan summer, until their roots are deep enough to get ground water.
June 9, 2010 at 7:08 am
Plus if cows eat them they wold need to be protected while they are being established.
June 8, 2010 at 6:12 pm
i once read a book called “Dung is Gold mine” and it was a fascinating account of the problems caused by cow slaughter in India- not because of the milk, but because of how the dung used to power the whole Indian economy and protect its delicate ecology. It was used in everything, but most importantly, for fertilizer, and building mud and dung houses. Without dung, farmers have to pay for very expensive fertilizers, which also depelete the biodiversity in the soil, and householders have to pay for expensive gas or electricity. Also without the bull, tractors compact the soil, and are impractical in the monsoon season. Also, due to the shortage of dung, there is a housing crisis in rural India. Now cement is required, where dung was used before, or timber is used, which contributes to deforestation. Timber is also now used instead of dung for cooking, which also contributes to deforestation, consequently erosion upstream,, silting up downstream and the disastrous floods that immerse Bangladesh. Anyway, it is worth a read for anyone interested.
June 9, 2010 at 7:23 am
Yes, even so called “unproductive” cows, that aren’t raised for beef or don’t produce milk are actually productive because they produce dung.
“The cow dung is said in the Vedas as pure. So if we accept cow dung as pure, we don’t require to make research. But actually it is pure. The other day I was passing through a cow shed in Hyderabad. So, so much cow dung stocked there. So I was asking my students, “Suppose so much human stool was stocked here. Could we pass through it?” No, it is not possible. But it was pleasant to pass through.”
Rotary Club Lecture — Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972 “The Present Need of Human Society”
June 9, 2010 at 1:49 pm
My wife ordinary toothpaste,once she had pus at the gums so she used the Mayapurtoothpowder from cowdung,the pass dissapeart the next day.In the cowprotection magazine from the Tirupati Tirumala Devastan there is a doctor who had 26 patients signing that used cowurin and there throughtcancer is deminishing(it is a scintific article)The complite list of the trees cows like to eat are;sesbania grandiflora;Subabul;glyrecedia;sisu;piccacolobiumdulci;Ficus;
June 10, 2010 at 9:10 am
in regard to what niscala prabhu said.The story of the saddhu came to my mind one mouse was eating his underwear whitch he put in the sun to dry,so he brought a cat to fight the mouse,so to mentain the cat he needed a cow for the milk……
June 11, 2010 at 5:16 am
thats a new use for cows- to protect your underwear! Never thought of that! :)
June 11, 2010 at 5:35 am
seriously though, I think we underrate dung, I really do.
I mean, you have something which turns grass into such high-grade organic fertilizer, why get rid of it? The female form of it also turns grass into food. The male form also turns grass into biofuel, by munching on it, then plowing the field. And when both male and female are too old then they simply produce high-grade organic fertilizer, again, from grass, right up to and including the day they die. Simply by smelling this fertlizer, produces all the good effects on health, both physical and mental health, that are mentioned at the top of this page. Got a cut? Use dung. Feeling down, use dung. Asthma? Dung. Can’t afford cement? Dung. Sick of trees being cut down for construction? Use dung. Gas too expensive? Cook with dung. Love makes the world go around. Dung, too. We’ve all heard of “black gold”, which is oil. It tends to turn the wings of pelicans black, and darkenS the hearts of those who depend on the sea for livelihood. Dung is the “green gold” it is not only green, it turns everything nice and green and thriving. Haven’t got a green thumb? Try dipping it in the dung!
June 11, 2010 at 9:13 am
I was in an email thread where a lot of GBC bashing was going on. I suggested that maybe everything the GBC was doing wasn’t bad and did get on positive response to which I answered as below and I thought it might be relevant to this thread.
> Instead of blaming the GBC for everything or on the other hand glossing over
> some of their mistakes we simply have to look dispassionately at the facts and
> see where things could be done better, more sastricly, and more in accordance
> with Srila Prabhupada’s desires.
And could we at least limit critiques to what has happened in the last decade? Dredging up stuff from 20 and 30 years ago that is already well known and publicized constantly serves no further useful purpose.
Move on. There are devotees who have been born since that happened and have children of their own to whom dwelling and fixating on that stuff really makes someone irrelevant. Remember the grouchy old guys that weirded you out as a kid? Ask yourself, have you become that person?
I also have my concerns about the GBC and some of their current policies but when I see devotees avoiding taking personal
responsibility on the strength of waiting for the GBC, I am not sympathetic.
We all agree there are problems. One conclusion is it is all the GBCs fault. I have another conclusion.
In the 1970s the antiwar movement served up a supply of competent people who were dissatisfied with their government and looking for alternatives. Guess what — the Vietnam War is over, at physically, if not emotionally.
Nowadays the competent people who have looked at society and decided to make a conscious decision to look for alternatives are in the animal rights and environmental movements. If only we had taken SP’s
instructions to heart to give up consumerism and take up cow protection, we would have been well placed to be the spiritual movement of the environmentalists.
Unfortunately for us, they look at what we do and not what we say, or what theory is in our books. They see us talking about Krishna the cow protector but offering Him and drinking milk from cows that will be
killed.
So why aren’t the temples vibrant and full?
“Without protection of cows, brahminical culture cannot be maintained; and without brahminical culture, the aim of life cannot be fulfilled.”
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.24.5
We, all of us, not just the GBC, ignored cow protection and, surprise surprise, brahminical culture wasn’t maintained. Empty temples.
Is the GBC currently taking up cow protection? Isolatedly, not generally. Could we focus on that?
But regardless of what the GBC does as a group, it is well within the capacity of an individual to take up supporting cow protection. This is not dependent on moving to a farm, but anyone can send financial
support to a cow protection program.
Time to stop talking about what the GBC is or isn’t doing and start looking internally and seeing what we as individuals are doing or not doing.
There are a couple of bright spots outside of India. One is the Manor in England and another is New Vraja Dhama in Hungary. They are full and vibrant. What common thread can we see between the two? A prominent commitment to cow protection.
Do the math. Minimizing cow protection and relying solely on ajnata-sukrti = empty temple. Putting the cows in a prominent position = vibrant temple.
By ajnata-sukrti I am referring to the belief that by offering the milk of a cow that will be slaughtered, she benefits unknowingly. That is fine as far as it goes, but if it leads to a complacency that it is my entitlement to consume milk products and I have no further responsibility to provide for cows other than chant a few mantras, well, I will restrain from expressing my feelings in the words I would
normally chose.
Step up and take personal responsibility for your milk consumption or the environmentalists see you as a hypocrite and don’t frequent the temples.That is your fault and not the GBCs solely, though they do get some blame for not setting better examples.
Clearly all the bitching and moaning isn’t having much effect on them,as that has been going on relentlessly, but we can as individuals take up protecting cows.
“For protecting the cows and brahminical culture, the Lord, who is very kind to the cow and the brahmanas (go-brahmana-hitaya), will be pleased with us and will bestow upon us real peace.”
SB 1.17.9
June 11, 2010 at 6:02 pm
I couldn’t agree more with this post, posted by MG prabhu. People who are too dependent on the GBC are their worst critics, with an emphasis on the worst. They need to feel decisions coming from above, and when they don’t, rather than taking the initiative, they moan and groan. On the other hand, on occasion the GBC have put a halt to cow protection, siding with people who abuse and neglect them. When the GBC sides with temple authorities who couldn’t give a s*** about the cows, and demonize those who try to protect them, then you have a problem. You should be able to take initiative, but sometimes it’s not possible. But if the GBC take a neutral stance, as they usually do, then one shouldn’t moan about them not seeing the importance of cow protection. After all, it is not the GBC who will do the protecting- it is the devotees in general. Ideally. If they are allowed to by their temple authority. Perfect situation, I hate to say, is to have a farm that is not ISKCON owned. Then it can’t have the GBC intefering with the welfare of the cows. TheN there will not be a wall of silence when cows are abused, the breachers of the wall, when they get the courage, assigned to being “trouble-makers”