Baba's empathy for animals

Written on May 29, 2025

Acarya Cidananda Avadhuta relates his experience With BABA prior to joining the organisation as a whole-time worker He was then working as an engineer in the coal mining company NCDC, Bihar.

He narrates: “As per my usual routine, I had gone to Jamalpur to ask Baba where should I go to spend my vacation. He asked me to go home and come back soon. When I did sāṣṭānga pranam (prostration) and was about to leave his room Baba gestured me to come near him and asked, “How many cattle do you have in your family?” I replied, “ Two milking cows, two calves, two buffaloes and one pair of bulls for ploughing land. Baba, “ Do you know that one of your buffaloes which yield two litres of milk everyday has been sick for the last four days? She has high fever and pain from a kind of boil on her neck and nobody is taking care of her. Go and take care of her. Please bring me four buds of China roses.”

As there was no China rose in the Ashram compound I went to ask the neighbours who had it and they gave them happily. I brought the flowers and put them in Baba.’s hands..He looked at the flowers, turned them up and down in his hands and gave me back saying, “This is the medicine for the suffering of bull.. Grind and put half of the flower in warm water and give it to the bull in the morning and do the same for the other half, in the evening. Grind one bud in warm water and give it to her at noon. Give her liquid food, soak the mustard oil cake in warm water and powder it so that it would be easy for her to swallow. Since she cannot eat anything easily, you are to give the medicine and food with Kandy (Bamboo pipe used to feed animals). She will be alright. Wipe off her tears. Give a gentle massage on her neck. That will relieve her pain. Catch the first available train for home and report to me after four days.”

As advised I took the first train snd reached my village. When I touched the sick bull, tears started pouring out from her eyes. I wiped her tears, I proceeded to prepare the medicine and fed it to her by Kandy. . In the evening, I also gave her medicine and a soft massage on the neck. When I went to give her medicine the next morning I noticed that the fever had subsided. She wanted to stand. I helped her to do so, She stood up and started licking my feet. I took a little soft grass and fed her. I brought her out under the morning sun and brought her back to the shed after twenty minutes. I continued to give medicine as per Baba’s instructions. She was much better on the third day. On the fourth day she was able to come out of the shed by herself and started to eat from the food stack.

Before leaving for Jamalpur I went to see her again. She had no fever and the boil had subsided. When I gave her the last touch an started to leave, she followed me and bellowed in a loud voice. I could feel that she knew that I was departing. I went back and patted her again, telling her mentally, ‘It is Baba who helped you to come around.’ I boarded the evening train to Jamalpur and reached in the morning. On meeting Baba, I shared all the detail with him. He was very very happy to hear the news. So that was a demonstration of My Baba and his love for his creation.

Source

The great Advent (2019 edition).