ஹிந்துவாகப் பிறந்த ஒவ்வொருவனும் ஒவ்வொரு நாளும் ஒரு பசுவுக்காவது ஒரு பிடி புல் கொடுக்க வேண்டும்; தோட்டம் உள்ள எல்லோரும் அதில் கொஞ்சமாவது மாட்டுக்கேற்ற அகத்திக்கீரை போடவேண்டும் என்றெல்லாம் ஏற்பாடு செய்து அதன்படியே ரொம்பப் பேர் நடத்தி வந்தார்கள். மாட்டுக்கு ஒரு பிடி என்பதை “கோ க்ராஸம்” என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறது. இதிலிருந்துதான் இங்கிலீஷில் புல்லுக்கு “க்ராஸ்” என்று பேர் வந்ததோ என்னவோ? மேய்ச்சல் நிலமெல்லாம் குடியமைப்பாயும், தார் ரோடாயும் மாறி வருவதால் நம் கொல்லையிலேயே துண்டு இடமிருந்தால் அதில் ஆத்தி, அறுகு வைத்துக் கால்நடைகளுக்குக் கொடுக்க வேண்டும். இதற்கெல்லாமாவது கொஞ்சம் செலவு, த்யாகம் பண்ண வேண்டியிருக்கிறது. இதுகூட இல்லாமல், நம் அகத்தில் கறிகாய் முதலியவற்றை நறுக்கும் போது தோலை வீணாகத்தானே போடுகிறோம்? அப்படிப் போடாமல், சிலர் வீடுவீடாகப்போய் இந்தத் தோலை எல்லாம் ‘கலெக்ட்’ பண்ணி மாடுகளுக்குப் போட ஏற்பாடு பண்ணினோம். – ஜகத்குரு ஸ்ரீ சந்திரசேகரேந்திர சரஸ்வதி ஸ்வாமிகள்

Every person born as a Hindu ought to offer a cow atleast a handful of grass everyday; arrangements were made to make sure that all those who own a garden should grow atleast a small quantity of Agathi Keerai for the sake of the cows and many indeed had been following it regularly. Offering a handful of grass to the cow has been mentioned as “Gho Grasam”. The word ‘grass’ in English might have been derived only from this. As grazing grounds have been turning into housing colonies and highways, if there is a little space available in our backward, we should grow Agathi and Arugu and offer them to cattle. At least for these activities there is an amount of expenditure and sacrifices to be made on our part. Even avoiding these discomforts, aren’t we wasting away the discarded peels of vegetables cut for cooking at homes? Instead of letting them go useless, we made arrangements to collect them from every household by a few people and get them delivered to feed the cows. – Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswathy Swamigal
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Many Jaya Jaya Sankara to Shri T. Jayaram Thiagarajan for this writeup. There were some anxious moments but by Periyava’s grace we managed to save one noble life. Rama Rama

A Jittery Rescue with a happy ending….

Saint ThirumUlar, in his Thirumandhiram, advises a simple prescription for a fruitful life – “யாவர்க்குமாம் பசுவுக்கு ஒரு வாயுறை” – “Everyone may give a cow, a mouthful of food”. This is a very simple dharmam for us to follow, with great benefits. Yet there are people around us that do the opposite and viciously attack a poor, hungry cow that wanders our streets in search of food scraps.

This incident happened a couple of weeks ago in Sri Perumbudur near Chennai. A native breed cow, was wandering the streets in her area. She came upon a vegetable shop and lingered there, hoping to get something to eat. This is a very common sight we have all seen. When the shopkeeper wasn’t paying attention, she tried to grab a bite. Enraged by this, the shopkeeper attacked her with a machete (அறிவாள்). This made a deep cut in her leg, exposing her bone.

ShrI N Jayaraman – one of my friend and a senior citizen who works in Sri Perumbudhur, happened to see the poor jeevan and called me for guidance on how to ease her suffering. Our course of action was first to attempt finding the owner of the cow; if unsuccessful, to take her to Blue Cross. Soon, shrI Jayaraman located the owner of the cow.

In the meantime, she limped and managed to return home. It is a pity – these jeevans are so simple-minded that no matter how insensitive their masters are, they still consider it their home and take refuge, hoping that he/she will ease their suffering.

It makes us wonder – Are we really deserving of Gho Mathas’ trust and benevolence? For all the pain and suffering they endure for our benefit, what do we do for them – not give them a handful of food, not nurse their wounds, not let them live their last days in peace.

When we reached the owner’s house, the injured jeevan was standing there in the same plight. Despite being aware of what had happened to his cow, the owner had not attended to her wound.

This is the cold reality among some people that own cows or rishabams. As long as the jeevans are useful, they are considered valuable. As soon as they fall sick or injured, they are seen as liabilities and people immediately start thinking about disposing and monetizing them.

ShrI Jayaraman started talking to him about selling the cow to us. He first refused, but we explained to him how the situation could deteriorate very quickly and result in the cow refusing to stand up – exactly like the ordeal our poor rishabam went through during Pongal at Thanjavur.

Our injured cow had a calf. There was another orphaned male calf near his place. We negotiated back and forth with this owner for a week and finally bought the mother, her calf and the other male calf for a reasonable price. We transported them to a goshAlA in Chennai. The wound was bandaged using turmeric paste. Based on the local veterinarian’s advice, we transported her to Vepery Veterinary Medical College (VMC) hospital. She was treated for her wounds and started her recovery.

Since it was a deep cut in her bone, recovery is expected to take time. Had we delayed this a few more days, we would be mourning this Gho Matha’s loss now. We all remember, our Thanjavur rishabam did not survive the Pongal week, in spite of our efforts (Please read HERE for that incident). The only reason this Gho Matha has survived is – unlike the rishabam that was starved for days at the slaughterhouse, this cow was able to eat whatever little bit she could find.

By periyavA’s anugraham this poor cow is recovering; her calf and the other male calf we rescued are at peace in the goshAlA.

As a simple dharmam, whenever we see cows wandering our streets, we should try to give them a handful of grass, green leaves, vegetables or fruits.

Many thanks to our Sethubandanam friends (link HERE) for helping us out with this rescue.

Pictures/Videos posted below.

Rama Rama

PS – On the previous rishabam recue incident couple of readers suggested Dr. Ganesh can help. I know Dr. Ganesh pretty well. While he can certainly help, I’m sure many of us know he is not practicing anymore. Also, these are complicated cases which require cow lifting equipment, constant monitoring, and support which we can find only in few Ghosalas that we are working with.

Categories: Samrakshanam

Tags: Gho Samrakshanam