Saturday, January 16, 2010

Historic Gougrama Yathra Ends

For the sake of Vishwa Mangala
Historic Gougrama Yathra Ends


A mega scale Vishwa Mangala Gou Grama Yathra is marching towards its ultimate goal. After covering a distance of 20,000 kms all over India during its 108 days, the Yathra reaching its final destination of Nagpur on 16 January 2010. And on Sunday 17 January 2010, grand valedictory Programme will be held at Resham Bagh Grounds of Nagpur. (Pls open the image link for reading invitation).


Poojya Shree Ramdev Ji Maharaj, Poojya Shri Ravishankar Ji, Poojya Jagadguru Shankaracharya Shree Raghaveshwara Bharathi Maharaj, Poojya Jagadguru Shankaracharya Nrusimha Saraswathi Ji Maharaj, Poojya Shree Dayananda Saraswathi Ji, Poojya Shree Sahadevadas Ji, Poojya Shree Rahul Bodhi Ji Maharaj, Poojya Bhante Jnana Jagat Ji, Moulana Bashir Kadari, Imam Haji Tayyab Khureshi, Poojya Shree Shridhara Maharaj Panchagavhankar, Poojya Shree Jitendranath Maharaj, Poojya Shree Narayana Maharaj Shinde, Poojya Shree Pravina Bahan Ji will be present in the programme and give their spiritual message.


Prominent persons like Dr. Mohan Ji Bhagwath, Chief of Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangh and Shri Shrirampant Joshi will be present and grace the occasion.


What is the importance of this Yathra?


From time immemorial, Bharath, the land of the holy Himalayas and Ganges woke up to the call of the cow. ‘Amba’ is the sweet call of love which fell on the ears of the millions and filled the days with joy. But lo, today the call is fading, dying and is becoming a thing of past. For a minute let us re call those joyous days when the calf ran to mother cow which poured her sweet milk along with her heart, not only to her calf but to the whole world.

The picture of the happy cow grazing on the meadow, the calf frisking around, the bulls walking majestically on the village lanes and streets, the bonding between the farmer and the oxen , these scenes cooled one’s eyes and warmed one’s heart. Then there was meaning and poetry in life.

Cow was so inter wined into the fabric of life. It gave us food; it took us from place to place; it healed the mind and body; it was a treasure house of wealth. It also assumed the role of a warrior when occasion demanded. All these functions of the cow are relevant even today. But we have forgotten its significance in this age of plastic, when milk means, white sachets at our door steps every morning.

We palm off our responsibility by transporting the cows which have stopped giving milk, the male calves and the old oxen to the slaughter houses. At the time of Independence we had 77 breeds of Indian indigenous cows. But today only 33 of these precious breeds remain and that too varieties like Amrith Mahal, Red Sindhi, Krishna, Vechure, and Punganoor are in very small numbers.

The main reason for this state of affairs is the greed of man who wants quick money. He wants to become rich over night. As a result farms have become dumping ground for chemical fertilizers, food has turned toxic, and the farmers reel under the burden of loans and seek solution in suicide.

Added to this is the environmental exploitation and ecological imbalance. We have to live in a world of polluted air, water, land and mind also. Global warming and technological waste are threatening us.

The only ray of hope at this juncture is to return to the ways of our ancestors – The cow centered way of life.

The advent of Vishwa Mangala Gou Grama Yathra strengthens this hope of an auspicious life to our country and the world. It brings the message of joy and prosperity to the villages and the farmer, through the cow.

The guiding spirit behind this great movement is Shree Shree Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji who has dedicated his whole life to the cause of the cow. All the spiritual leaders of the nation have lent support to this socio-economic revival of Bharath. All cow lovers came under the banner of this movement.

The Yathra commenced on September 30, 2009 on Vijayadashimi day at the battle field of Kurukshetra which marks the beginning of righteous war.


The Yathra covered a distance of 20,000 kms all over India. It traversed through Amrithsar, Jammu, Muradabad, Kashi, Siliguri, Kolkatta, Vishakhapattanam, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Tiruvanantapuram, Bengaluru, Panjim, Mumbai, Rajkot, Jaipur and concluding at Nagpur.


In addition, 15,000 Upa Yathras also held and covered a distance of 10 Lakh kms. When the Yathra reached their place people welcomed it with whole heart and expressed their support to it and resolved to begin a beautiful life once again.


The Yathra turned to be the true freedom movement. It gave the opportunity to realize the dream of a free India, in spite of Gandhiji’s vision of Grama Rajya. The thirst for true freedom has increased today.


Yathra took the new and different path to achieve this goal of a free Bharath.


Large number of People realised that protection of cow will bring prosperity. Many people took interest to revive the cow centered villages, and to reap the benefit of panchagavya, started to think that we must not consider cow as just a milking machine.


When we go back to the cow, the land will become free of chemicals, the food will be free of poison, and gobar gas will light the villages and puts the farmer and the village on the path of sustainable development. This is true freedom.


This 108 days spiritual journey to the cow and the village is a meaningful return to prosperity and progress. Those who took part in the Historic Yathra realised this and became the part of this pilgrimage and discovered the true meaning of freedom and happiness.


And others who still not joined movement should think and join it not only for the protection of cow but also for the protection of farmers, protection of earth and protection of environment and through this protection of themselves.


-Nethrakere Udaya Shankara


(Imput Courtesy: www.gougram.org, Shree Ramachandrapura Matha and www.avalambana. org)

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