How Balaram was saved from the slaughter house

Once, in mid-winter, at the beginning of 2012, we stopped in a village named Tavdu, in the Nuh district of the state of Haryana, 50 kms from Faridabad. We had a very good evening program, and spent a comfortable night in the home of Mahendra Kumar Aggarwal. As we had walked 18 kms that day we had all fallen fast asleep. As usual, we had left our whole caravan on the road side. Unfortunately in the middle of the night one of our bulls named Balaram was stolen from the roadside. Balaram had been with us for two years and he very expertly pulled the deity cart along with our other bulls, Nandakishor, Vamana, Nrisingha and Ghanashyam. These bulls are very fortunate to be able to pull Gaur Nitai along with Srila Prabhupada. They have also taken many dips in the holy Ganges and heard the Hare Krishna maha-mantra the whole day. Srila prabhupada had personally fed the padayatra bulls in the 1977 Kumbha-mela and he had commented to Lokanath Swami that their next birth would be in Goloka Vrindavan.

Early the next morning after bathing before mangal-arati, Parthasakha das, the devotee who takes care of the bulls, reported that Balaram was missing. Immediately Sivaram prabhu, Damodar Lila prabhu and others started to search all over the place, but they couldn’t find Balaram. We asked the villagers if they had seen our bull but they bluntly replied that robberies were very common in their village and that we wouldn’t see our bull again. I went to Mahendra Kumar’s home along with Parthasakha das and told him of the theft. Right away he took us to the police station and lodged an FIR ( a first incident written report). The police started searching for the lost bull. Devotees didn’t take their morning prasadam but instead continued to pray to Sri Sri Gaur Nitai with all their heart. The mayor of the village gathered all the villagers and called for the MLA (member of the Legislative Assembly). This MLA, as a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature of a State in the Indian Government, is above the police. The Muslim community was suspected, and happily there was a Muslim policeman who could easily enter that community. Any Hindu or other policeman would have faced serious troubles going there. So the MLA sent that Muslim policeman to make an investigation.

Mahendra Kumar assured us that he would donate a bull to replace the lost one but we stated that Balaram had pulled the Lord’s cart, ” Balaram is special, we must find him.” So we kept on searching, looking in all the villagers’ cow sheds. Mahendra Kumar requested us to stay in the village until we found our Balaram. At 4 pm another meeting was organized, this time on a large scale, including all the villagers, plus the Hindu and Muslim traders. It was decided that until Balaram was found all vegetables and grain markets would be on strike. There was a fight between the local Hindus and Muslims on this issue. Just then a padayatra devotee in Mayapur named Sadashiva das arranged an arati for Lord Nrisimhadev. He offered tulasi leaves and Ganga water, praying that we quickly find Balaram. All the devotees were worried and many of them wouldn’t accept any food, even after being supplied by the local villagers.

Suddenly the MLA called up and reported that he had heard from people that this was the work of some Muslims. They must have stolen the ox to engage him in ploughing their filed or sold him to a butcher. I felt that we did not give proper shelter and protection to Balaram. I started fervently praying. I called Lokanath Swami on the phone; Maharaja assured me that after all Balaram is the Lord’s servant. “Keep praying, and you will find him.”, he said.

At 8:30 pm we got news that our Balaram was still alive. During the inquiries of the Muslim policeman it was hinted where the ox could be found -in the slaughterhouse. The police team found him there, he had been tied up and badly beaten.. Balaram had been sold to a butcher in Hodal for Rs 15,500. So the MLA paid the butcher around Rs. 20,000 to get him back, then he brought him to the mayor’s home where he was untied and fed a little dry grass and jagery. We went there to get him and bring him back to padayatra. When Balaram was handed back to us we were all so enlivened. He had returned from Death! But he was bruised and hungry, and had bled heavily from his nose. Tears were dripping from his eyes. Devotees applied cream on his wounds and fed him nicely. The mayor informed us that Balaram’s hind legs had been tied and if he had been found an hour later he would have been killed and sold as meat in the market. Nobody was caught and the police told us that our finding the ox was an unexpected achievement. We better hit the road before any more trouble befell us as the Muslims had a strong gang there.

Next morning all the local media and newspapers came out. The were questioning devotees and lots of articles came out, but the police hushed them as it was a religiously sensitive case.
All the villagers came to see Balaram and many of them worshiped him with an arati. That evening there was a nice program in which Mahendra Kumar and the mayor gifted all the padayatris with a shawl and they sponsored hay for the bulls. We left that village the very evening and for the next two days a police vehicle escorted us. The next four days Balaram was transported in a pickup van to the next destination. Then he stayed for two weeks at the home of a Bengali devotee doctor where he was brought back to proper health.

Balaram ki jaya!

With Akhiladhar Prabhu and Bhakta Pawan bathing in river Sarayu at Ayodhya