Gochar Bhumi (North East Side) गोचर भू

 Upload a photo

Question:-
Gochar bhoomi kise kahte hain?
Gochar is a reserved area in every village in which cows of the villages can have their food.
The Gaushala movement is synonymous with the protection of cows and cattle wealth of our country. Being practiced for the last five thousand years or so, its origin can be traced in the Vedic period when social customs and rules laid great emphasis on protection, preservation and development of cows for home, and oxen for agriculture-fields. According to Vedic concepts, cows were considered sacrosanct and constituted material and spiritual assets of the people of the country. At that time, possession of herds of cows was the yardstick for measuring economic esteem and prosperity of an individual. Thus Shatagu was the owner of hundred cows. One who possessed one thousand cows was referred to as Sahastragu with honour. In Jain Agams and scriptures, the principal disciples of Bhagawan Mahavir have been referred to as having several Gokuls, each Gokul containing 10 thousand cows. Rigveda refers to cow as Aghnya- or one which must never be killed. Yajurveda states- Go matra Na Vidyate which means that there is no parallel to the cow in this world. .Atharva Veda considers cow as the house of prosperity- Dhenu Sadanam rayinam. The Rishies (Ascetics) maintained Asharam Gaushalas, with hundreds of milking cows. It was the milk and milk products from these Gaushalas, which helped them to offer hospitality to visitors. Cow being the backbone of rural life and economy in India, care was taken for their well-being and uplift. Grazing areas and grass lands (Gochar Bhumi) were kept reserved in abundance everywhere. People used to donate their lands to Gaushalas on auspicious occasions so that cows may have sufficient land for grazing. Thus the entire culture of ancient India was Go-Sanskriti or Culture based on cow.

Historical Perspective

2. Even during mediaeval periods, cow and its progeny were protected by the Rulers. During Muslim regime and particularly the Mughal period, right from Humayun to Shahjahan and ShahAlam there was complete ban on the slaughter of cow. For the British, who neither cared for the traditional rural economy and rural crafts nor bothered for the sentiments of people or cultural heritage of this subcontinent, cow was just a cattle, a good source of meat. After Independence, with the impact of the western world and growth of cities and towns, the entire socio-cultural and socio-economic patterns of life got revolutionized solely on the basis of materialistic considerations. The picture started taking a U-turn in the Sixties, when the Green revolution introduced mechanical and chemical inputs to the agricultural activities. This led to a situation when the only purpose of cow was milk. There also, buffaloe and exotic breeds pushed it back on the pretext of yield and fat percentage. Now, the cow progeny was burden on the farmer.

3. It was in 1946 that the Animal Husbandry Wing of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research recognised the potentiality of the valuable work done by Goshalas & Panjarapoles and recommended a plan to encourage them to be the fountain-heads of milk and draught power in the country. They formulated a plan to constitute State-wise Federations of Goshalas & Panjarapoles.

...less
Answered by drdinesh sharma, 14 Jan '08 03:22 am