முன்னாளில் மாடுகளிடம் எத்தனை அபிமானம் காட்டி அதை ரக்ஷித்தார்கள் என்பதற்கு ஒரு சான்று சொல்கிறேன். மனிதர்களாகப் பிறந்தவர்கள் கடைத்தேறுவதற்காக செய்ய வேண்டிய தர்மங்களை எண்-நான்கு — அதாவது முப்பத்திரண்டு -– அறங்கள் என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறது. அதை இரட்டிப்பாக்கி அறுபத்துநாலு தர்மங்கள் என்றும் சொல்வதுண்டு. அவற்றில் ஒன்றாக ‘ஆதீண்டு குற்றி நிறுவுதல்’ என்பதைச் சொல்லியிருக்கிறது. அது என்ன? ஒரு கோவுக்கு உடம்பிலே அரிக்கிறது. நமக்கு எங்கே அரித்தாலும் நாம் கையை வளைத்துச் சொறிந்து கொள்கிறோம். கோவோ பின்னங்காலைக் கொண்டுதான் சொறிந்து கொள்வது. அப்போது சில இடங்களில் அரித்தால் அதற்கு ஸரியாக சொறிந்து கொள்ள வராது. அந்த மாதிரி ஏற்படும்போது அது அரிப்பெடுக்கிற பாகத்தை நேரே வைத்துத் தேய்த்துச் சொறிந்து கொள்வதற்கு வாகாகக் கல்லை நட்டு வைப்பதுதான் ‘ஆதீண்டு குற்றி நிறுவுதல்’. ஆங்காங்கே இந்த மாதிரி நட்டு வைத்தார்கள். அந்த வழியில் போகிற மாடுகள் அவற்றில் சொறிந்து கொண்டு தினவு தீர்ந்தன. இப்படிச் சின்ன விஷயங்களைக்கூடப் பரம தர்மமாக நினைத்து கோவுக்குச் செய்த தேசத்தில் நாம் அதை எலும்பும் கூடுமாக்குகிறோம், வதையாவதற்கு விடுகிறோம் என்றால் அது நமக்குப் பெரிய அபக்யாதி. – ஜகத்குரு ஸ்ரீ சந்திரசேகரேந்திர சரஸ்வதி ஸ்வாமிகள்
I’ll quote an example which stands as a proof to show how people in olden days showered affection on the cows and protected them. It’s been mentioned that there are thirty two Dharmas which all beings born as humans ought to perform. Sometimes these thirty two are doubled and considered as sixty four. One among them has been mentioned as “Aatheendu Kutri Nirivudhal”. What is it? Imagine a cow has an itching in some part of its body. When we have an itching somewhere in our body, we can bend and use our hands to scratch that part and get relieved of itching. But the cow can scratch itself only by its hind legs. When there is an itching in some part of the body which cannot be accessed by its rear legs, it wouldn’t be able to scratch itself. It is to install stones at various places in order to help the cow in such circumstances is what is called ‘Aatheendu Kutri Niruvudhal’, which the cow could rub its body against and get relief from itching. Such stones were installed for this purpose those days. The cows which were going that way scratched themselves on the stones and got relieved of their itching. Like this in a country which considered even small deeds as these as a great Dharma and performed them for the sake of the cows, we are letting the cows starve and go malnourished and are sending them to slaughter houses and what a huge disgrace it is on our part! – Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswathy Swamigal
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Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara – First and foremost many thanks to Shri Jayaram Thiagarajan to help me write this article. We have a small WhatsApp/Telegram group where we do Periyava Kainkrayams which Jayaram is part of and aware of this incident but I could not post everything in details as it dragged for days and there were too many twists in this take. Since I’m swamped with so many things, I detailed out this incident to him completely and he helped pen it to perfection. Thank you Jayaram.
Before you proceed. please read the below newspaper articles below in English and Tamizh so you get the background and context.
This incident started on Jan 11th. Anand, a farmer in a village near Thanjavur had two rishabams that he used for farming. One of these rishabams, due to being pestered by mosquitoes at night, wandered away into the neighboring field to graze. The owner of that field attacked the rishabam using a machette (அறிவாள்), severely wounding it on its leg and incapacitating it.
This appeared on the news on Jan 12th and we shared it in our group. As soon as we started discussing in our group, people from our Kainkaryam family started reaching out to find contact information of the owner. ShrI G V Iyer emailed the news office and found the phone number of the local police station at Nadukaveri and talked to them. The policeman said he would get us the phone number of the owner the next day. But that did not happen and it dragged on for another day and a half as we could not reach him. Finally, by periyavA’s grace, we were able to contact him and get farmer Anand’s phone number.
Our Kainkaryam members shrI Vishvanathan, shrI Sharada Iyer, shrI G V Iyer and shrI Ramaswamy repeatedly tried to contact him and eventually I was able to talk to his uncle who said there was nothing to worry and the problem was solved as they had reached a compromise. Then I talked to Anand who explained everything and said he sold the rishabam to a slaughterhouse for Rs. 35,000.
This is the shocking reality of injured cows – all their hard work and sacrifice is instantly forgotten.
I explained to him that it may seem like a compromise from his end, but what about from the rishabam’s end? It is unfair and unethical to do so as it has worked hard for him for 2 years, was very well behaved and gentle all the time, and has no idea of human boundaries or land ownership and was viciously attacked for innocently wandering into a field.
Anand agreed it was wrong and asked me what he can do at this point. I asked him to get us the phone number of the guy he sold it to. He said he will, but didn’t call back. In the meantime, we found out he had sold it to the slaughterhouse through a broker.
Another thing we found out was that farmer Anand had filed an FIR in the Nadukaveri police station accusing his neighbor, as soon as he found out his rishabam was attacked by him. The police station wasn’t even aware that the rishabam had been sold, while the FIR was still active and waiting to be investigated. We started looking for the rishabam the next day.
We were talking back and forth with farmer Anand, the broker and the slaughterhouse guy. The broker told us he had already sold the cow to the butcher and promised Anand Rs. 23,000 and paid Rs. 1,000 advance and that the rest will be delivered after the meat is sold (this is how this business usually happens). This contradicted the Rs. 35,000 price that farmer Anand told us. As you can see, it is all a money game at this point.
ShrI Ramaswamy contacted the Nadukaveri police station and coaxed a constable to talk to the broker about our group buying the rishabam back. The constable talked to him and he agreed.
But in the meantime, the sub inspector (SI) of the station got directly involved as the FIR was active and didn’t want the constable to be brokering deals. At this point, I asked shrI Vishvanathan to take a lead on this. He agreed and reached out to the SI and thanked him for getting involved as that had helped us by delaying the cruel fate of the rishabam. We requested him to quickly release the suffering rishabam and let us buy it and take it to a goshAlAs so that we can feed it and start treatment immediately. We offered to take care of expense and compensate everyone for the trouble.
He agreed, but it dragged on and on. He promised to release it by 10 am the next day, but delayed it saying he was tied up in drinking cases as it was Mattu Pongal, followed by some suicide case which was his priority. He said he will do it the following day. But that day was Kaanum Pongal and a Saturday. Saturdays are horrible days for cows at slaughterhouses.
We wanted to avoid our rishabam even getting terrified by seeing other cows brutally butchered in front of it, and so we insisted that it had to be as early as possible that day. Finally we managed to get our rishabam moved outside the slaughter house that day.
In the meantime, periyavA seems to have had His own plan for saving our rishabam. Another animal rescue NGO group, having seen this news article, separately filed some cases and escalated this all the way to the district collector. They showed him the newspaper clipping and he issued an order that the rishabam first needs a health checkup. A team of doctors examined our rishabam and certified that it was no longer fit for agricultural work and recommended that it be taken to a goshAlA to live the rest of its life in peace.
Based on this, the next day the collector issued an order that our rishabam should be released from the slaughterhouse and transported to Jayam goshAlA Mayiladuthurai. This is the same goshAlA where we were intending to take the rishabam. The collector’s order overruled the SI’s efforts. So, without any other option, the SI came to the slaughterhouse and ordered it to be released.
By periyavA’s grace, our rishabam was gently lifted using hydraulic equipment and placed in the police ambulance. Even if the rishabam was released to us, we would not have been able to lift it so gently, as we don’t have such sophisticated equipment. The rishabam reached the goshAlA safely.
As you can see, periyavA gave our rishabam a royal rescue by engaging the district collector, using sophisticated hydraulic equipment and police ambulance to safely transport it to live it remaining life in peace.
The update we got from the goshAlA yesterday was that the wound is very deep and cannot heal, so the leg will need to be amputated, but the rishabam will recover and survive on three legs. You can see that in the pictures posted below.
What one person did in a fit of rage has affected the rishabam’s life so badly and so quickly to suffer in pain without food or water, and its life and fate have been dangling in uncertainty for the last 7 days. Thanks to Sri Periyava now HIS life is out of danger but he has to live on three legs for the rest of his life. So much for the gratitude and sacrifice he did for humans.
Thought I would share this very touching and emotional incident with you all. Below are the pictures in sequence.
Sri Periyava Thiruvadi Sharanam. Rama Rama
Brutally Attached Rishabam lying in tatters in owners lap with severe pain. Little does he know the owner is going to mercilessly send him for slaughter
Injured Rishabam Transported to Slaughterhouse. See his innocuous face and eyes despite the pain how he is holding up. The owner did not for a second think about all this but cheap money. They did not even care to dress the wound but just threw him inside the truck with fresh cut deep wound.
Injured Rishabam sitting in slaughter house for three days without medical treatment, detoriating health, little food and water. You can see the slaugherhouse owner sitting in a small wall behind the cow. This is the place where they kill all the cows. Sensing danger, we were running all around to get him released ASAP.
With police intervention finally we managed to have the injured rishabam outside the slaughterhouse so he does not see the gory killing of his fellow cows and get mentally traumatized.
After collector’s order, royal rescue of Rishabam and boarding in an emergency ambulance and lifted with an hydraulic equipment. You could see the kind of treatment he is getting with a team of doctors including dressing up the wound before transported to Gosala.
Rishabam Currently in Jeyam Gosala recovering slowly
