Gosala in Sri Sharada Temple, Stroudsburg, PA

Sri Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation and Sharada Temple in Stroudsburg, PA is happy to announce that we have completed construction of our Gosala (Cow Sanctuary )at our premises and have acquired our first cow ( Lakshmi ) and calf ( Sharada ) as the first residents of our Gosala.

The Hindu scriptures and tradition consider the cow as one of the most sacred beingsworthy of worship and protection. Our scriptures attribute the status of 'mother' or 'mAtA' to five entities and enjoin us to treat all of them with equal reverence.

They are : One's own mother ( swa mAtA) , the Vedas ( vEda mAtA) , the earth ( Bhoo mAtA ), the cow ( Go mAtA ) and finally, the divine mother ( SrI mAtA ).

The reason why they are supposed to be treated with equal reverence is mainly because of one common attribute they all share. It is the quality of 'self-less giving' to their dependents.

Hinduism considers all forms of life as divine and teaches us to treat them with due respect and care. This is evident from the fact that one of the main daily duties of a householder is to feed and care for the animals and plants around one'shome ( Bhoota-Yajna).

However, our ancient sages have discovered that certain forms of life are so abound in divinity( e.g, the cow, the lotus flower, the tulasi plant, the bilva tree etc.), that these are to be worshipped with utmost respect.

Srimad Bhagavatam tells us that these are the places where MahaLakshmi lives permanently and those who worship these become the recipients of Her grace easily.

Even in the Bhagavadgita, Sri Krishna (Go-vinda) declares that the divine cow is one of His best embodiments (DhEnUnAmasmi KAmadhuk) and the Purusha sookta tells us that the cow is one of the first beings to be born out of the cosmic yajna ( gAvo ha jajnirE tasmAt ).

Hence, our tradition considers it important to perform the Go-pooja regularly and especially at the beginning of any major religious observance to receive divine grace easily.

Our scriptures also consider Go-dAna as one of the most superior dAnas (na Go-dAnAt param dAnam).

The cow has thus been treated with such respect and devotion over the ages. In the contemporary world, however, due to the increase in materialistic and selfish tendencies in human nature, respect for all life forms is dwindling and as a result, cows are also being subject to a variety of inhumane and painful conditions.

All the Sankaracharyas of Sri SringeriSharada Peetham have followedand encouraged the holy tradition of Go-Pooja and Go-samrakshana actively and under the guidance of the present Holiness Sri Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamiji, SVBF has undertaken many projects around theworld for Go-samrakshana.

As part of this ongoing endeavor, we have now built a Go-Shala in our temple and have acquired our first cow and calf and with the Lord's grace, plan to expand further. We will be using only the milkfrom our Go-Shala for abhishekam of our deities.

We invite all the devotees to visit our Gosala,take advantage of the rare opportunity to perform Go-seva in this country and support our Go-samrakshana activities.Go-seva is Govinda seva.May the Grace of Sri Sharadamba, Sri Go-mata and Sri Acharya be with you all.