GORED SPANISH BULLFIGHTER MAKES COMEBACK

SPANISH MATADOR RETURNS BULLRING
AFTER GORING LEFT HIM BLIND IN 1 EYE

Olivenza, Spain (AP) - A Spanish bullfighter who lost sight in one eye and has partial facial paralysis after a terrifying goring returned to the bullring Sunday, five months after his injury. On Oct. 8, a bull’s horn ripped into Juan Jose Padilla’s lower jaw and caused his left eyeball to protrude as spectators screamed in horror. Padilla was seen getting up shouting, “I can’t see, I can’t see anything,” his face gushing blood as assistants distracted the bull. Now, wearing an eye patch and speaking with a lisp, Padilla fulfilled what he describes as an unquenchable desire to once again face massive 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) fighting bulls with the aid of only a cape and sword. The 38-year-old Padilla, the star attraction at the southwestern town of Olivenza’s annual taurine festival, said he was returning to the ring because of a need “to win, to triumph, to be a better man.”

A capacity crowd of about 5,400 people, including die-hard connoisseurs, fashion models and well-known personalities, had packed into this town’s historic bullring, which was built in 1854. The matador, who is also known by his professional name of “the Cyclone of Jerez,” wore a glittering matador’s “suit of lights” outfit that had been made for the occasion in gold braid and olive green, “for hope,” according to his tailor, Justo Algaba. Stitching on the suit traced the shape of laurel leaves because “they were used to crown the brows of audacious combatants and great heroes,” Algaba said. Padilla was greeted with loud cheers and enthusiastic hand-clapping as he walked into the ring to the traditional “pasodoble” brass band music, before having two unaccompanied flamenco style “saeta” songs dedicated to him, an honor rarely accorded to bullfighters. Padilla was awarded one ear for each of his two kills. The maximum accolade a matador can achieve is two ears and a tail for each bull slain.

The Spanish matador who lost his left eye in a horrific goring made a remarkable return to the ring.  Juan José Padilla, dubbed The Pirate because of the eye-patch he now wears, showed little trouble killing his first bull in front of a crowd of 5,400.  He was given one of the highest accolades by his fellow bullfighters. The desire to keep fighting in spite of the drawbacks is admirable, but doing so at the expense of suffering and sacrifice of animals for the mere pleasure of killing them is an abomination.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Ramesvara: ... Even today, actually, all the entertainment in America and the Western world is based on violence. They have bull fighting. They want to see the bull tortured and killed. And they have chicken fighting and they have...
Prabhupada: Dog fighting.
Ramesvara: And even the most popular sport in America now is football. It is more popular than baseball, and it's based on men jumping on each other. While one team is carrying the ball, every... A very violent sport.
Hari-sauri: And boxing also. So many different sports.
Ramesvara: They are fascinated by pain and fighting.
Prabhupada: Torture. They like to see that somebody is tortured by another.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Room Conversation” in Bhubaneswar
January 21, 1977 - Conversations - 770121r3.bhu
Complete Works of Srila Prabhupada