In 1978, a 20-year-old Friederike Irina Bruning arrived in India from Berlin as a vacationer. She had completed her schooling in Germany and was travelling, however India was not merely one other cease on her journey. She was searching for one thing she couldn’t fairly outline on the time. Her search finally took her to Radha Kund in Mathura, the place she was searching for a guru. Greater than 4 a long time later, the German girl could be referred to as ‘Sudevi Mataji’ and would obtain the Padma Shri for social work after spending years caring for sick, injured and deserted cows.However the story didn’t start with a gaushala. It started with a younger traveller, a religious search and a call to remain.
From Berlin to India at 20
Early days of Bruning in her gaushala. (Picture credit score: Radha Surabhi Gaushala)
In accordance with the official web site of Radha Surabhi Gaushala’s (Bruning’s gaushala), she was born in Berlin in 1958 and grew up in a Christian household. After ending faculty, she started travelling to discover the world. The gaushala says she travelled overland from Germany via Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan earlier than reaching India.Her travels didn’t finish with India. She later travelled via Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and returned to India by way of Nepal. Throughout these travels, she turned more and more enthusiastic about yoga, religious traditions and non secular texts. It was throughout this era that she got here throughout the Bhagavad Gita. Studying the Gita had a profound impact on her and led her to consider that she wanted a guru to pursue a religious life.That search introduced her to Radha Kund, close to Govardhan in Mathura, the place she finally discovered her guru. Bruning has informed in lots of interviews that she had come to India as a vacationer however realised that, in her view, she wanted a guru to progress in life. She due to this fact went to Radha Kund seeking one. She didn’t arrive in Mathura planning to run a cow shelter This is a vital a part of Bruning’s story as a result of her work with cows got here a lot later.She took diksha from Shri Shri 108 Shri Kishorikishoranand Goswami Babaji Maharaj, also referred to as Shri Tinkodi Baba Ji Maharaj. It says she then spent about 20 years doing bhajan in response to her guru’s directions. In different phrases, the younger German who got here to India in 1978 didn’t instantly turn into recognized for animal welfare. For years, her life was primarily linked along with her religious observe in Radha Kund.
An recommendation by a neighbour was a turning level in her life
Then got here a a lot less complicated turning level. A neighbour recommended that she purchase a cow. Bruning adopted the suggestion. She purchased a cow, started studying books about cows and taught herself Hindi. The choice step by step modified the route of her life. She started noticing one thing that was tough for her to disregard. It was that the cows who had turn into outdated and stopped producing milk have been generally deserted.“I noticed that folks of late abandon their cows after they develop outdated and cease giving milk,” she informed PTI in an outdated interview. At one level, she got here throughout a sick or injured calf and introduced it residence. The calf had an injured leg and was infested with maggots. That have modified the route of her life.
From one cow to a shelter in Radha Kund
She stated she used cash from her mother and father to determine the shelter.
Bruning finally established a cowshed in Radha Kund referred to as Surbahi, or Surabhi, Gauseva Niketan. Over time, the small effort grew into a big shelter for cows in misery. In a 2019 interview with TOI, she recalled that she had began the work in a small courtyard earlier than constructing the gaushala. She stated she used cash from her mother and father to determine the shelter. The shelter step by step turned a spot for cows that had been deserted, injured, starved or have been in any other case in want of care.
In 2017, she was already caring for 1,200 cows
When Bruning’s story was broadly reported in 2017, the dimensions of the shelter was already outstanding. She was caring for round 1,200 cows and calves, most of them deserted, sick or injured, in response to PTI. She had about 60 employees on the time, whereas the month-to-month expenditure on employees, meals grains and medicines was reported at round Rs 22 lakh.Bruning stated she couldn’t at all times flip an animal away even when the shelter was full. “If anyone leaves a sick or injured cow outdoors my ashram,” she informed PTI. She described the cows and calves as being like her kids.
The quantity crossed 1,800 and later experiences put it above 2,500
By January 2019, Bruning was caring for greater than 1,800 cows and calves. More moderen protection continues to place the determine at greater than 2,500 sick, injured and deserted cows. The Higher India reported in September 2026 that Bruning, now referred to as Sudevi Dasi or Sudevi Mataji, cares for greater than 2,500 cows at Radha Kund.
She used revenue from her German property to maintain the shelter working
She stated her father had initially helped financially however was later too outdated to proceed doing so.
Bruning’s German background additionally remained linked to the sensible problem of financing the gaushala. In 2017, she informed PTI that she obtained rental revenue from property in Berlin and used it to assist the shelter. She stated her father had initially helped financially however was later too outdated to proceed doing so. Bruning obtained round Rs 6-7 lakh every month from inherited property, whereas the gaushala’s month-to-month expenditure was round Rs 35 lakh. Her mother and father’ cash had additionally been used to determine the gaushala.
Her German citizenship turned an issue
Even after spending a long time in India, Bruning remained a German citizen and needed to cope with visa points. In 2019, shortly after receiving the Padma Shri, her visa extension utility was rejected. She publicly expressed concern about what would occur to the cows if she needed to depart India. She wished a long-term visa or Indian citizenship in order that she wouldn’t need to renew her visa yearly.The visa episode introduced nationwide consideration to the issue. The girl taking care of hundreds of animals was herself struggling to safe permission to stay within the nation.
Padma Shri got here 41 years after she first arrived
Then-President of India Ramnath Kovind presenting Padma Shri to Friederike Irina Bruning for Social Work.
In January 2019, the Authorities of India introduced Bruning as a Padma Shri awardee for social work. The award got here 41 years after she had first arrived in India as a vacationer. By then, the younger German traveller who had come to Radha Kund searching for a guru had spent a long time constructing a life round animal care.