Dear GouBandhu,
We thought of talking about GouSwarga; but we feel first we need to talk about the suffocating life cows are leading today; because unless you understand that hell, this heaven cannot be understood!
Forget slaughterhouses, cow is not happy even at the cowshed of the farmers! Ponder over these things which everyone has seen but no one has bothered to think about:
*It is not life; it is strife!
- Mother’s merriment ends with the first mooing!
- Calf is blessed with the curse of separation from mother in a very short time after its birth; Poor thing! Though it has a mother, though mother’s love is oozing, it is deprived of the luxury of her proximity!
- Mother’s milk, which is God’s gift for the calf is usurped by someone else!
- Rope from young age; restriction is life!
- If God grants four limbs so that she can move around freely, those with two limbs come in her way!
- “गच्छति इति गौ:” – the word “Gou” itself means ‘one which keeps moving’; mindless man has made this maxim meaningless!
- How would we feel if we are tied throughout our life without committing any sin?
- Effects of restrictions on movement are on the health of cows! God given body doesn’t get enough exercise at all!
- The word “gou” also means Sun’s ray; just as fodder and water are essential for cows to be healthy, contact with sunlight too is essential for their wellbeing; when Sun’s rays enter cow’s body through ‘Suryaketu Nadi’ they enter cow’s milk, urine and cow-dung; through gavya products that ultimately brighten our own lives! But continuous confinement of cows within cow-sheds has robbed cows of the contact with sunlight!
- Not fodder to eat, what is available is not sufficient; that too not at their disposal when they need it!
- Doesn’t their life become strife when cows have to be content with fodder what is given to them and when it was given to them?
- Fodder that is fed is poisonous!
Greed within man’s heart takes the form of poisonous pesticides and chemicals which are rained lavishly on the crops; direct effect of these is on cows!
- In sanskrit, water is known as जीवन (which also means ‘life’); it is the primary requirement for any being to continue living! Isn’t cow a being? Isn’t it cruel if there is a system where water is available not when they are thirsty, but when the owner provides it?
- Water, which is available infrequently, too is not natural or pure!
- Too much battling, unrestricted beating!
- If it is a cow, all the water and fodder it has consumed, without leaving even a drop, should get converted to milk and reach man’s belly!
- If it is a bull, it should work so hard that its entire strength should melt and seep out in the form of sweat and flow into the fields; then the same should convert as cash and reach the owner’s purse!
- After working till the back bends, they should withstand the beating till the back breaks!
- Atrocities on this innocent creature are such that there is a saying in Kannada which means, “He was hit like a cow”!
- Cow is devoid of natural pleasures!
- While artificial insemination has robbed them of the pleasures of natural procreation, greed of human for milk has robbed them of the proximity of mother and the calf!
- Post all this suffering, after spending every minute of its life and every minute part of its body for our benefit, when she is sold for paltry penny to a slaughterhouse it is the beginning of the end for this divine life – end of a hell-like life and beginning of a worse than hell death!
*Dream of GouSwarga (Cow Paradise) to drive away the drudgery of cow’s life!
Our heart yearned to provide a comfortable heaven for cows on earth, devoid of all these difficulties and drudgery; that is when the idea of this Paradise on Earth called GouSwarga took shape within us a beautiful dream!
*From dream to reality…
Unrealised dreams are flowers which never fruictify; would the food consumed in mind add strength to the body? What is the use of thunder and lightning if they don’t result in rain?
Similarly, expecting someone else to materialize our dream is cowardice, foolishness! Our country wont progress till we have the mentality of “Shivaji has to be born, but not in our house, but neighboring house!” So, when the trio of emotions took shape within us – ‘we ourselves have to bring the beautiful dream of GouSwarga to reality; in our own land; and without any delay’ we started to work towards it without delay.
*Heaven on Earth Called Bhankuli!
That is when Bhankuli came in front of our eyes; this land, gloriously beaming atop the Sahyadri hills in Siddapura in Uttara Kannada is nature’s paradise! Bhankuli is a place which is awash with greenery; capital of cozy climate; amidst the small hills there lies a vast expanse of paddy fields; there is a pond of holy waters there which is built by our predecessor pontiffs; encircling the paddy fields is a stream of clear, cold and sweet water…
*Endless source of water in paddy fields; it is home for all deities!
We witnessed an inexhaustible source of water in the middle of these paddy fields; we also noticed the presence of the deities we worship everyday in these waters. Having seen the presence of seven deities -‘SriSitaRamachandra, SriChandramoulishwara, SriRajaRajeshwari, SriAnjaneya ‘the presiding deities of Srimatha, our unbroken predecessor GuruParampara, ‘Itagi SriRameshwara, Bhuvanagiri SriBhuvaneshwarai’ presiding deities of the Seeme – as though present in the waters to bless the forthcoming great deeds, we decided to build GouSwarga in the same place. It did not take any time for the building of paradise to crystalize in our thoughts, find expression in our words and present itself in our deeds! Now world’s first and only GouSwarga is coming up in lightning speed!
Blue Print of GouSwarga: Conceptualized by SrimadJagadguruShankaracharya SriSriRaghaveshwaraBharatiSwamiji | Artistic Representation: Nirnalli Ganapati
GouSwarga – what is inside?
GouTirtha: At the centre of GouSwarga a vast lake covering ten thousand square feet
SaptaSannidhi: At the centre of the lake – atop the sculptured stone pavilion – divine presence of seven holy deities including SriRaama
GouPada: Around the lake on four sides four satsanga podiums dedicated to the listening pleasures of the cows. A thousand cows live and roam happily amid the cool of the lake and presence of seven deities.
GouVirama: To facilitate resting of cows under the shade, cow shed is being built in an area measuring 30,000 square feet.
GouVihara: To provide the luxury of bathing in the sun and roaming freely, ViharaDhama (roaming area) is being built at an area of 70,000 square feet.
SadaTrupti: Here cows have access to fodder round the clock.
SudhaSalila: Stone-made water containers here and there to provide drinking water to the cows.
PrekshaPatha: A broad pathway for the for facilitating GouSwarga Pradakshina and viewing of the entire facility spread over one and a half lakh square feet.
RathaPatha: Car Street which will be used to celebrate Chariot Festival where living cow will be atop the chariot.
TirthaPatha: This path will take visitors to SaptaSannidhi at the centre of the lake through the middle of the cows. The mighty cow paradise, which will be divided into four by the PrekashaPatha and TirthaPatha will be divided into sections like NandiShala (Shelter for bulls) – DhenuShala (Shelter for cows) and VatsaShala (Shelter for calves).
GouGanga: On the north of GouSwarga, place to take the holy dip with the water flowing from GouMukha (Cow’s face)
GoupalaBhavana: In the northeast residence for goupalaks which will remind the onlookers of Gopalakrishna.
Bhankuli Ramadeva Matha – which is a centre of blessing for the disciples, is on the east,
GouDhara – a small stream which serpentines the borders, on the west.
Govardhana Giri – a hill holding its head high next to the stream
GouNandana – is the beautiful park reminiscent of NandanaVana.
Viksha Gopura – a watch tower atop Govardhana Giri to give a bird’s eye view of the entire GouSwarga
What is the requirement of fodder at GouSwarga? Green grass from an acre of land will be required every day! A scheme that took shape to grow in-house poison-free fodder is Sugrasa.
GouSwarga – where complete comfort to cow is the central concept:
Why GouSwarga is paradise for cows?
- Cows are not in confinement here; they roam freely in spacious, serene enclosure.
- Shine or shelter as per their choice; out of the total space of one lakh square feet, 70% is open to sunshine and rest 30% is covered by shelter; there are no walls! Cows can be where they feel the comfort.
- Fodder, which is healthy and tasty, is grown under Sugrasa scheme in poison-free method of agriculture; it is available to cows all the time and they can feed on the fodder they like, they are free to eat as much as they like!
- Clean and healthy natural water is available for cows in stone-made gigantic vessels at all times!
- Cow shed is designed in such a way that calf can play in front of its mother’s eyes all the time.
- Calf is the first claimant of mother’s milk; in case mother’s milk is insufficient, there is alternative arrangement.
- No risk of illness; healthy environment on one side, well equipped cow clinic on the other.
- Guaranteed facility of natural birth, natural living and natural death is provided to cows:
- No artificial insemination; adulterated cross-breeds won’t be seen here;
- No artificial living.
- Cows will languish in the security of secure shoulders of GouPremis; there is no threat of getting landed with slaughterers!
Dear GouPremis! Our beloved devotees! We have another wish which is as big as building GouSwarga; that is sharing the comfort of GouSwarga with each one of you. ‘एक: स्वादु न भुंजीत’ – ‘one shouldn’t savor sweets all alone’ – this is an old saying. We don’t think anything in this world could be sweeter than GouSwarga. Come, let’s build the GouSwarga together; if we say ‘let’s see paradise while living’ it will be an understatement; let’s build a GouSwarga -cow paradise – here on earth which is superior to paradise! Let’s make this world a beautiful paradise!
~*~*~
Translated blog of Sri Samsthana SriSri RaghaveshwaraBharati MahaSwamiji
Located in Bhankuli of Siddapur Taluk, this is a goushala started on 27th May 2018 under the management of Kamadugha Trust®. Presently this is the goushala with highest cattle rearing capacity of 1000.Currently there are 727 cattle among which 339 are cows, 301 bulls ,87 calves.
There are 15 different breeds. About 2.5 acres of pasture is available for grazing freely. Green grass is grown in different areas nearby in a land of 45 acres in total.
Breeds: Malenada Gidda, Hallikar, Baragur, Gir, Krishnavyali, Kankrej, Devani, Dangi, Raati, Tharparkar, Amritamahal, Sahival, Nimari, Kilari, Jawari
Products: Gobar and Gou based products such as Arka, Swarga Sara, Dashasara, Pot, Briquettes
Contact Details: Madhu G K 9900743554(Ph)
R S Hegde 9845940182 (Ph)
M V Hegde 8105135105(Ph)
Address: Post: Bhankuli Post, Siddapura Taluk, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka.
Location:
