Gau sevā: care for a cow's whole life
A cow gives milk for part of her life and lives on long after. Gau sevā is the tradition of caring for her through all of it — and for the bulls and male calves a dairy has little use for.
Four forms of sevā the tradition names
How households, villages and gośālās have long cared for cattle.
The first portion
गोग्रास (Go-grāsa)
Traditionally, a household sets aside the first portion of its cooked food — often the first roti — for a cow.
Care through old age
गोशाला (Gośālā)
Traditionally, a gośālā keeps cows that no longer give milk for the rest of their lives, on gifts of fodder and money.
Bulls and male calves
नन्दी (Nandī)
A dairy has little use for a male calf. Traditionally, bulls were kept for the plough and for breeding, and a bull given to a temple was fed by the village.
The gift of a cow
गोदान (Go-dāna)
Traditionally counted among the most meritorious of gifts, and made at life events and in the rites for the dead.
What a sponsorship would need
Ojas Agriculture takes no donations or sponsorships today, and issues no tax receipts. A sponsorship worth offering would rest on three things.
A place where the cows live
A named shelter with its own public page on this site, so a sponsor can see where the care is given.
A body that can receive gifts
A charitable trust registered to take donations. Any tax receipt would be that trust's to issue, and only if it holds the registration for it.
A record a sponsor can read
Fodder bought, care given and money spent, kept where the people who paid for it can check.