Go-daan
The Hindu gift of a cow, given as an act of merit, often at life's turning points.
Also: godan, go-dana, gift of a cow
Go-daan, the gift of a cow, is counted among the most meritorious gifts in Hindu tradition. A cow, sometimes with her calf and decorated with cloth and ornaments, is given to a Brahmin priest or a needy family at a wedding, a birth, an eclipse or a festival, and especially around death. A widely held belief says that the cow helps the soul cross the Vaitarani river on its way after death, and the dying may be helped to touch a cow's tail. Today the gift is often made symbolically or as money to a gaushala. Premchand's Hindi novel Godaan, published in 1936, takes its title from the custom and follows a poor farmer's wish to own a cow.