However, a helping hand will take us a long way. Please give us a supporting hand. The very word Govinda, which is a famous name of Lord Krishna, means “one who brings satisfaction to the cows”. And Lord Krishna has many such transcendental names which reflect His relationship to the cows. Gopala means “the protector of the cows”, and Krishna is famous throughout India as Bala-Gopala, “the child w
ho protects the cows
Nanda Maharaja had 900,000 cows. Visvanatha Cakravarti gives this description of the cows of Vrindavana. If any cow was missing Krishna would immediately chase after the missing cow and call her by name. The cows were divided into herds by colour, black, white, red, or yellow. In each colour, there were 25 further divisions making a total of 100 herds. There were also eight herds of cows that were spotted or speckled or had heads shaped like a mridanga or that had tilak marks on their foreheads. There was a total of 108 different herds of cows. Each of the 108 herds had a herd leader.
“Thus when Krishna calls out, ‘Hey Dhavali’ (the name of a white cow) a whole group of white cows comes forward, and when Krishna calls ‘Hamsi, Candani, Ganga, Mukta’ and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called ‘Aruni, Kunkuma, Sarasvati, etc., the blackish ones ‘Shyamala, Dhumala, Yamuna, etc., and the yellowish ones are Pita, Pingala, Haritaki, etc. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.35.19 purport)
“As described in the Brahma Samhita (Surabhi Apbipalayantam), Lord Krishna on His planet, Goloka Vrindavana, engages intending the Surabhi cows. These cows are the Lord’s pet animals.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.8.2 purport)
Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavatam, “I can be worshipped within the Cows by offerings of grass and other suitable grains and paraphernalia for the pleasure and health of the Cows, and one may worship Me within the Vaishnavas by offering loving friendship to them and honouring them in all respects.”
[Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.43]
