No.5/17, Vishnu Puram East Agraharam, Kudavasal Taluk, Eravanchery Post, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu-609506.

Introduction

Since Vedic Times Agriculture and Cattle Protection have been complementary occupations in Bharata Varsa. Bulls and Oxen were used to till the lands, water the farms, transport produce and Process Food and By-products. The byproducts of agriculture became food for the cattle. The byproducts of cattle farming became manure for agriculture. Humans were the foremost of beneficiaries in this natural bio-economic cycle which also laid primary focus on God Consciousness. God was at the center of each one of these daily activities in this bio economic cycle.

The Bane of European Rule

Christopher Columbus set out to convert India but couldn’t find his way to Bharata Varsa. When the Europeans finally landed in Bharata Varsa, they found that there were more cows than there were humans. Agriculture was the primary source of income to a huge majority of Indians and kingdoms, and all these activities were closely linked to the Vedic Sense of God Consciousness. Such was the economic and spiritual significance of Agriculture and Cow Protection in Bharata Varsa.

To gradually kill our sense of God consciousness and introduce their own theology one of the major measures taken was to start killing cows. Robert Clive set up slaughterhouses to kill 30000 cows and bulls per day in each town. When the population of cattle started dwindling, agriculture inevitably suffered tremendously for want of cattle to till, provide manure and process and transport produce. When the daily sustainability of Agriculture and Cattle farming reduced, Indians were forced to take up Industrial and Governmental occupations.

The Bane of Swaraj

If Mughals and Europeans started killing cows and agriculture before independence, our leaders and technocrats started killing the soil and ecosystem itself with chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the name of Green Revolution. Politics killed the flow of rivers to arable land. The final debilitating blow came recently in the form of free money to keep the rural population idle. The Contemporary Farmer would rather claim rural employment guarantee payments and insurance for flood and drought than produce something on his land because it is more money with almost zero effort. Today it is difficult to find farm labor for our arable lands.

First the spiritual purpose behind agriculture and cattle farming was killed. Then the ability to do agriculture and cattle farming was killed. Subsequently the facility to do agriculture and cattle farming was killed. Finally, the willingness to do agriculture itself is now facing the noose. Cattle are being promptly loaded on trucks to slaughterhouses and tanneries after their “useful age”. Unwilling farmers are just waiting for their land to become inarable and sell them as housing and industrial plots. Even willing farmers do not have much land left due to repeated divisions of land over the decades. Bharata Varsa has been successfully relegated to Vedic books. Vedic and Purana (history) books are happily termed as Mythologies (Mythos means falsities or lies in Greek). Bharata Varsa is now in Shambles.

The Need of the Hour

It is in our country’s best interest to restore our spiritual identity by reincorporating cattle protection and agriculture into our daily lifestyle. That would also entail structuring a sustainable economic model based on these interlinked activities and contemporary realities.

To establish our spiritual identity many munificent souls have started innovative efforts across India. Go Rakshna Samithi (GRS) is one such effort and is a nonprofit organization founded with the pristine intention of protecting aged, disabled and destitute cows in the sunset years of their selfless life. To this end, GRS has taken the initiative towards establishing a Gosala (Cow Sanctuary) in Abishekamangalam Village in Kudavasal Taluk, Tanjavur. In April of 2011 the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony was held for this Sanctuary.

While the Sanctuary was still under Construction GoRakshna Samithi proactively provided free care and medication to Local aged and injured cows canvassing these divine ideals from door to door. With generous help from well-wishers and donors the sanctuary was opened this year on June 04 under the auspices of His Holiness Vittal das Maharaj. The Gosala / Sanctuary was inaugurated with 30 cows and has capacity to house and care for more than 500 cows. A significant majority of these cows are destitute and/or injured.

Shri Krishna Krishi Kendra (Sk3) is an Income generating Business Entity meant to sustain the nonprofit efforts of Go Rakshana Samithi.  Sk3 advocates organic farming to reverse the decades of damage done to arable lands. Sk3 recognizes the looming reality of labor shortage and the inability to conduct profitable sustainable farming on an individual basis using manual methods. Consequently, Sk3 proposes employing non-intrusive mechanized farming to replace the labor-intensive manual farming methods starting from

• Power Tiller ER90 KMB200
• Automatic Seeding Machine – Small Type
• Transplanter RR 4B (Small – Manual)
• Power Weeder
• Power Sprayer
• Small Paddy Harvester
• Crusher Machine
• Straw Baler
• Tractor With Tipper

Sk3 does not plan to purchase any land in its name for this purpose. Rather we propose implementing mechanization of agriculture on land owned by small farmers where the extent of their ownership may be as little as 1/2 acre up to even 15 acres and does not justify individual ownership of mechanization equipment. Sk3 plans to provide agricultural mechanization services to small and medium landowners in a 5 sqkm area surrounding Vishnupuram Village in Kudavasal Taluk for a fraction of the cost of manual methods for each of the above processes. That would provide a positive impetus for even unwilling farmers to consider rekindling their interest in agriculture. More than 7000 acres of arable land are available in the villages identified for this purpose. 

The proceeds from these operations will be sufficient to sustain even a larger Gosala. This project also holds the promise of becoming a torchbearer and Marga Darsi for similar efforts in the surrounding communities.