The Krishanaashtami festival this year was a unique experience. It was very special for me, especially because i got a chance to participate in the key programmes. thus i could have many insightful first hand experiences.
A few days before the festival, Swami expressed His wish to have a cow procession led by students on the festival day. It has been a custom for decades for the students to get the cows to mandir on this day and then Swami would feed the cows with fruits, then bless the students too.Thus it is one of the sought after chances for the students here. but slowly, the many chances that we get on this day have been reducing year after year.
So, this year, none of us expected this event. It was Swami who mentioned it to an elder person and asked for the programme. for days, i had been thinking about how all of us used to enjoy getting lots of chances on this day, in the past. i felt sad that those wonderful times were a thing of the past. Few days later, a student brother came up to me and said that Swami asked for the cow procession and that i was selected as one of the cowboys! my joy knew no bounds.
the next morning, all the selected students assembled in Gokulam for getting a practice on handling the cows. Myself and another student brother were assigned a cow kept near the Samadhi place of Swami's parents. this cow (Gayatri) is special, since the milk given by her (approx. 16 litres a day)is supplied to Swami's residence. She was one of the two cows selected from the Samadhi place for the procession (the other was her mother). Gayatri was four months pregnant. She was very cooperative when we took her for the practice walks, unlike other cows who took the boys for a ride.
After two days of practice, the D-day of festival arrived. We got up early in the morning and proceeded to the cow shed to decorate our cows. The procession began at 8 am. It was truly an amazing sight as the little Krishna Gita was leading some 20 cows. also, there were other animals like the deer, peacock and doves which were being brought by the students. The baby elephant was at her cheerful best.
We we entered the Kulwant Hall from Gopuram gate led by the baby elephant and arranged the cows in rows on both sides. Swami was just arriving to the Hall in car. He was wearing a beautiful yellow robe. He stopped near Krishna Gita, got down and fed Her fruits. KG was ready with her amusing pranks. First, she prostrated before Swami with her forelegs stretched and trunk raised. As soon as Swami offered her fruits, she grabbed it with her little trunk and put it in her mouth. if that wasn't enough, she picked on the fruits that the boys had kept in their plate to offer it later to Swami.
After feeding Krishna Gita, Swami came towards the rows of cows standing behind. There were a lot of people around and so the scene was a huge commotion. Nevertheless, Swami went and started feeding bananas to each and every cow. He didn't miss a single one. some cows refused to eat. Our Gayatri was one of them. When He offered her a banana, she refused to eat it. He looked at me and asked "why are these cows not eating?" i didn't have a clue, and replied "Swami, maybe because she's pregnant!" he smiled and went ahead.
As He reached the portico, some boys took a couple of doves to Him. He blessed them and asked the doves to be released. the boys did so and guess what, the doves refused to fly away from Swami. both of them stood on the railing in front of Him. Even the animals don't want to leave His presence. A few moments later, both of them flew away.
All the while Krishna Gita was entertaining us with her gymnastics like stretching her forelegs and raising her trunk. But the cows behind her certainly didn't appreciate it. They were getting scared and urinating all over. The block was a mess of dung & urine and sevadals had a field day cleaning the floor. We were also getting nervous avoiding the heavy feet of the cows, lest they stamp on us making the day more than a memorable experience.
As soon as Swami blessed all the animals, He instructed Mr S. V Giri to announce that the morning programme was over and that the devotees can leave! Swami had solely come to shower His blessings on the animal kingdom. One of the cowboys shouted " Jai bolo Bhagwan Sri... ..... Jai". Unfortunately, he shouted near the ear of his cow and this scared her (we learnt that when cows get scared, they urinate). The cow was out of control and she almost rammed into our cow while returning back. Due to Swami's grace, the entire event passed peacefully.
We were lucky to have so many such beautiful, inspiring and amusing experiences that day.i really learnt how one should look at society in its entirety. It is only Swami, who by sheer example, sensitises us and teaches us to love and care for these innocent and mute creatures.
Sai ram.