His Grace Kurma Rupa Prabhu ji

The history of Care For Cows Society began approximately in 1999 when Kurma Rupa Prabhu moved to a house in Madhuvana Colony that belonged to his friend, Acyuta Prabhu. One particular cow, that was called Tilak, used to beg from door to door in the neighbourhood and Kurma Rupa Prabhu would also give her whatever vegetable cuttings or old chapatis he had. It became a habit for Tilak to go to the house and get something to eat.

When the month of Kartika arrived, Kurma Rupa made a vow to daily feed fresh grass to Tilak and other stray cows in the neighbourhood. He purchased 40 kg of fresh grass daily, and every evening, Tilak, her calf, and some abandoned cows in the neighbourhood would come to eat outside the house. One morning, Kurma Rupa discovered the six stray cows he had fed the previous evening sleeping outside the gate and understood they had camped out there. Very soon about 9–11 cows were coming daily having appointed Kurma Rupa as their protector.

On the last evening of Kartika, Kurma Rupa offered the herd of 11 the regular grass but added some wheat flour to celebrate the completion of his vow. The next morning they were still camped out at the door and demanded that they continued to be fed. Kurma Rupa realised they had no other place to go so he decided to keep it up. For one year, he fed them on his doorstep and had about 11 cows coming every day. Soon the neighbours started bringing their cuttings and putting them on his doorstep to assist in the effort.

At some point, one neighbour who had a vacant plot nearby, offered to let Kurma Rupa use it so the cows could be better cared for. Kurma Rupa built a feeder and shed and started keeping the cows there. That went on for a couple of years.

Then Kurma Rupa Prabhu was allowed to use some land nearby, on Sunrakh road. By that time the “herd” had increased to 15 cows, so he planned to build a shed for 25. By the time the cowshed was complete, he had 25 cows. Other people showed interest, offered donations and assistance, and the project grew. Care For Cows was born.

In contrast to a Goshalla (Dairy), Care For Cows operates a Go-sadan, which means a retirement facility for cows. Care For Cows is a registered charitable Foundation in India and is presently providing food and shelter for a several herds around Vrindavan Dham. The Care For Cows team consists of our very dedicated Sri Nandu Lal Joshi Prabhu, a core team of local gau sevaks and volunteers like you, our readers, who offer talents and resources to tend to the neglected cows living in Krishna’s holy land, Sri Vrindavan Dham. Through your generosity and efforts, we provide stray cows with complete care including; hay, flour, fresh grass, supplements, medical attention and a place where they can recuperate from injuries. Our friend, godbrother and Guru; Kurma Rupa Prabhu left this material world June 28th 2015 on the Padmini Ekadasi Day during the Purusottama-adhika Masa. We are trying our very best to continue his legacy….

Nandu Lal Joshi Prabhu ji

At present we are caring for around 300 hundred street cows. These are generally old cows abandoned by farmers who cannot afford to care for them anymore, or calves that have just been left on the street after they were used to milk their moms or injured cows who were hit by vehicles on the street. Not a single cow, at any of our Gaushala’s, is purchased from the market for any high milk yield consideration.

How it all started

It all started with the one cow that showed up at His Grace Kurma Rupa Prabhu’s door hungry. He fed her and she came back the next day with another friend. Then they came back the next day with another two friends who then came back with another four and that was the beginning of Care For Cows on the streets of Vrindavan. This was way back in 1999. All these years later the legacy continues. Nandu Lal Joshi, following in the footsteps of his Guru continues to serve the cows, striving to please them and honour them as is required in our Sanatan Dharma.

Kurma Rupa Prabhu was born in Texas to a very pious family. He grew up in Mexico city but returned to Texas to attend college. At the age of 21 he was drafted into the US Army. While he was in the army, he prayed for the first time in his life – asking the Almighty to help him avoid the war raging in Vietnam. He promised to serve Him if he could go back. Soon after, Kumar Rupa Prabhu was allowed to leave the army and didn’t have to go to Vietnam. He now felt obliged to fulfil his side of the bargain. The International Society for Krishna consciousness provided the answer, and he joined the society on the West Coast of the USA and received initiation from ISKCON’s Founder Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. After renouncing the grihastha ashram, he moved to NYC, where ISKCON had a big temple located on Manhattan’s West side. In 1984 he moved to Shri Vrindavan Dham with his godbrother Hansarupa das and took up teaching in the Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula. It was here that he first met Nandu and his brother, Balaram, sons of his godbrother, Sri Yashomati Nandan Prabhu, a prominent disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, who had been entrusted with overseeing ISKCON’s activities in Gujarat. Kurma Rupa Prabhu never left Vrindavan for long. Only for preaching tours to spread the glories of Gau Seva.

Today we need your help.

Cow caring is an expensive and labour-intensive operation. Back in the day it was easy. The cows would go out grazing in the morning after milking and return home in the evening nice and fed with bags full of milk again. Nowadays, due to zero pasturing lands, unfortunately that is not possible. We have no land of our own at this time and therefore must buy everything from the market, from green grass and hay, to medicines.

Our daily expenses for the Cows include feeding, sheltering, medication, transport, as well as the maintenance of our Gau sevaks. We are an independent Gaushala with no umbrella institution that supports us. Care For Cows Society runs solely on small donations made by individuals such as yourselves.

We humbly invite you to please consider becoming a regular donor so the cows never have to go hungry, cold or sick.

“The problem with today’s world is humans. Humans have taken over all of mother earth leaving nothing for the rest of creation. This approach towards life has created a total imbalance in nature. The keys to restoring the balance are also in the hands of the humans only. By serving the cows it is possible to bring the balance back. Therefore, we encourage one and all to join us in this endeavour”- Kurma Rupa Prabhu.