THE GOSHALLA
Sudevi's story
(2006)
"May I introduce myself. I was born in Germany in 1958, and my German name is Friederike Irina Bruening. The name given to me at Mantra Initiation into the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya, Nityananda Parivar, from my Gurudeva, Sri Sri Kishory Kishorananda Gosvami, in 1981 is Sudevi Dasi.
By the will of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda a goshala has come into existence where sick, injured and homeless cows and calves are taken care of, given medical attention. If they die, because they arrive in a condition where they cannot be kept alive anymore, whatever the effort, then they are given caranamrita, Ganga-water and a Tulasi leaf in the mouth before they leave the body. They go with the Maha Mantra in the ears, as I shall sit with them during the last hours and chant Hare Krishna to them.
I have been living at Radha Kund since 1980 and about 10 years
on my neighbour there told me to buy a cow or a buffalo. I replied that
I did not know how to take care of a cow and would not want a buffalo.
He told me not to worry; his family would maintain the cow. So we went
and bought a cow with a little calf. The calf I kept in my own place
during the day; her name was Surabhi. Now my Goshala is named after
her. Her bull-calf is now the big bull here, the king of the place,
though still young. His name is Ganesh. In the 1980s there were no
abandoned cows and calves in the street because there were no tractors
then and cow-food was cheap. Now, since tractors are being used by the
Vrajavasis male calves are considered useless and abandoned as soon as
the milk of the mother cow is drying up. They don't know where to find
food, they starve, die from the winter cold, have accidents, get sick
and may even be eaten alive by dogs and crows. I found one whose tail
was chewed away up to the root by a dog. He died a few days later,
peacefully with his head in my lap, hearing the Maha Mantra. Some are
not older than 4 or 5 months. If the cow does not get pregnant a few
months after giving birth both cow and calf may be abandoned. But the
cow never learned how to look after the child and too often they get
separated and the little one dies, often in a horrible way.
Once I started picking them up from the street their numbers increased fast. The courtyard of the little temple where I lived filled up and it became obvious that a bigger place was needed. Thanks to the love and generosity of my parents I was able to buy a piece of land and build the goshalla where I am living now, with about 100 cows and calves and 5 men doing the physical work. Putting on bandages, cleaning wounds, straightening broken legs, putting bones in place and giving medicines I do myself as there is no one else here who could do it better. When I call him, the village doctor comes to give injections against fever or other infections. Now Dr. Labanya from Care for Cows, established by Kurma Rupa Das, has started coming about twice a month, which is a great help. Kurma Rupa also has helped me much by mentioning me and my goshalla in his newsletters. All expenses of those 100 cows and calves, including medicine, are borne by my parents, who will certainly be greatly blessed by the cows and calves whose suffering was relieved and who found shelter here. Some are very grateful. They all have names and each one is an individual with his/her own character."
Recent developments
(April 2008)
Since then Sudevi receives help from a group of friends from Holland and India. Over time they have supported her financially and otherwise. In November 2007 her Dutch friends established the Radha Surabhi Foundation, of which the main purpose is to financially support the Radha Surabhi Goshala by fundraising, on a regular basis. This is necessary, given the fact that the number of cows has significantly increased. At present there are about 350 cows and calves.
Another important development is that, since 2007, the goshala gets help from the Tirtha Vikas Trust, an Indian organization for cow protection. They regularly collect abandoned and wounded cows in a big truck and bring them to the goshalla. Two members of this trust give monthly donations for the cows that they bring in, which partly enables the goshala to take care of them and to hire more necessary manpower. At present the goshala is very much in need of certain supplies and facilities. Therefore we welcome any donation you are willing to give. Details can be found on our donations page.