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By Chaya Devi and ISCOWP Staff

His Grace Balabhadra Das, president and cofounder of the International Society for Cow Protection (ISCOWP), passed away peacefully at the ISCOWP cow sanctuary on October 17, 2026, at the age of 80. He was surrounded by his beloved cows, his Deity Lord Giriraj, his family, and Srila Prabhupada chanting japa.

Since 2008, he had medical difficulties each year, from which he recovered and thus continued his service to the cows. In the past three years, he became seriously ill with multiple health problems from which he could not recover. During those three years, his wife of 53 years, Chaya Devi, and his daughter, Lakshmi, were his 24/7 caretakers. The ISCOWP cows were his constant source of peace and serenity. In his last year of life, he stated he was preparing to leave his body.

Balabhadra and his twin sister were born in Altadena, California, on April 22, 1946. He and his sister were adopted two weeks later and brought to Highland Park, a countrified Chicago area, by Lorraine, his adoptive mother. His adoptive mother and father divorced when he was five years old, and soon after, Lorraine moved him and his sister to Hawaii.  It was a closed adoption; however, he met his brother for the first time a few months ago.

Balabhadra grew up on the island of Oahu. He had an idyllic childhood swimming in tidal pools and surfing big waves. Yet, he was always questioning the meaning of his life and its purpose. In his early twenties, he met Govinda Dasi in front of the Honolulu library. By then, he was a vegetarian and reading the Bhagavad Gita. She took him to the temple to meet Srila Prabhupada. Several days later, Srila Prabhupada sent Gourasundar Das (temple president) to ask Balabhadra if he would like to be initiated. The reply was yes. Ten days after meeting Srila Prabhupada, on March 25, 1969, Srila Prabhupada personally initiated him and performed the fire sacrifice. William E. Dove became Balabhadra Das, the first person to be initiated in Hawaii.

Balabhadra was deeply involved in the early development of Srila Prabhupada’s movement in Hawaii by serving as temple commander. He leveraged his local-boy popularity to expand Srila Prabhupada’s movement in the islands. Due to his connections, he helped arrange for devotees to perform kirtan at public events, reaching thousands of people. Once, the Jefferson Airplane was scheduled to perform at the Civic Auditorium in Honolulu, and Balabhadra spoke with Grace Slick (lead singer) to arrange for the devotees to open the show with kirtan. He also gave up his entire inheritance to purchase the McKinley Street ISKCON temple in Honolulu in 1971.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/balabhadra-das-a-lifetime-of-loving-and-protecting-cows/