In India, Cows are considered a sacred symbol of life, which should be revered and protected. As per the oldest Hindu scriptures, Vedas, the cow is associated with Devi Aditi, who is considered the mother of all the gods.
As per the Vedas, the Cow is considered as a Universal symbol of Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma. As per the Atharvaveda, it is considered that 33 crore Deities reside inside the cow. Bhagwan Shri Krishna once said, describing the divine form of cow.
‘धनूनामस्मि कामधुक’
Even in ancient times, Cow seva (service) was considered a pious ritual along with Guru-seva and Pitr-seva. We even celebrate “cow holiday” called Gopastami, where all the cows are washed and dressed with flowers and colors. In Hinduism, harming of killing a cow considered as a sin. We have seen many incidents of altercations between different communities because of killing a cow, especially for food, which is agains considered taboo by most Hindus.
It’s not just about Hindus, in general terms, a cow is seen as a generous and an extremely docile creature, who is known to give more to human beings than she takes from them. The cow is also considered holy because of its 5 products, which are known as ‘Panchgavya’, which contains produces five things, Cow milk, ghee, cheese, urine and dung. The first three items can be consumed by human beings and could be used for worship purposes, whereas the last two can be used in religious devotion, practices and burned for fuel.
Cows also acts as a catalyst to enhance the rural community and economy. People can earn their living by selling Cow products. Farmers use bulls to plough the fields, and also use them as a mode of transportation of goods. Bulls are also considered as sacred, even Bhagwan Shiva’s vehicle was a sacred bull, Nandi.
Even the cow dung is used as a fuel, which contain high value of methane, that can generate electricity and heat. In villages, the homes are plastered with a mixture created by mud and cow dung, which helps as an insulator for floors and walls from extreme cold and hot temperatures. It is also used to make organic fertilizer, which helps us to re-mineralize the depleted soil.
Cow gives so much to us and our society, but we hardly serve it well, many cows live on roads, they roam here and there, they either died by consuming plastic and other waste material, or few nefarious people sold them to slaughter houses to get them murdered for meat.
Today, we will talk about a group, which is working day and night for the welfare of Cows. We are talking about Kishore Karale’s Gaushala, that is situated in Wada, Palghar district of Maharashtra. This Cow Farm cum Hospital has been founded by Kishore Karale and his wife. Kishore Karale and his wife are married for 25 years, but they didn’t expand their family, because they wanted to devote their lives to work towards the welfare of Cows.
Kishore sold his property and bought a 25 acres of land in Wada, where he has established a Cow Farm cum Hospital, where they rescue the injured cows and provide them adequate medical attention. Kishore Karale, has been rescuing cows for the last 12 years.
Karale’s gaushala has been rescuing cows specifically as he says that after cows get over their fertility age and are no longer producing milk, many cow owners let go of their animals due to which these cows either fall prey to diseases or meet with accidents on roads.
Mumbai-based businessman Sushil Jajoo has been a big helping hand for Kishore, he has donated a cow ambulance and several other important things to the gaushala. Karale had gone to look for a cow ambulances at a gaushala in Gujarat where Jajoo expressed his willingness to help him and made the donation generously.
Kishore is planning to open a dedicated Cow hospital, to make treatment available for more cows in that area. He is also planning to open a Farmers training centre, which will help in imparting the education to the local farmers. This gaushala has helped farmers to adopt more than 1800 cows so far.
They have started a self sustaining fodder production process within the farm. A compost making unit is also operational in this gaushala. Kishore is also planning to initiated several other innovative stuff like One day Cow tourism and Herbal plantation in near future.
We wish Kishore Karale and his team a very big success in the future. We are elated that we have such people on our society, who are serving he holy cows, and in a way of other, contributing towards the welfare of rural economy.
