Friederike Irina Brüning, popularly known as ‘Sudevi Mataji’, was 20 when she left Germany in 1978 and travelled to India in search of a deeper purpose in life. Her journey eventually brought her to Radha Kund in Mathura, where she embraced a spiritual path and later began caring for abandoned and injured cows. What started with a single injured calf eventually grew into Radha Surabhi Gaushala, which today cares for more than 2,500 cows, according to recent reporting and the shelter’s own account.
The sanctuary provides food, shelter and medical care to animals that are sick, injured, disabled or abandoned, and says it does not operate as a commercial dairy business. Brüning’s decades of animal-welfare work were recognised by the Government of India in 2019, when she was awarded the Padma Shri for Social Work–Animal Welfare.
True Service
Born in Berlin in 1958, Brüning completed her education in Germany before setting out to travel at 20. In 1978, she arrived in India as a tourist, travelling through the country before eventually finding her way to Radha Kund. According to the gaushala’s account of her life, she had been searching for spiritual direction and became increasingly interested in Indian spiritual traditions and the Bhagavad Gita.
She eventually found her guru in Radha Kund and took spiritual initiation, spending around two decades in bhajan and spiritual practice.
Her journey was not initially centred on animal rescue. It was a request from a neighbour to buy a cow, followed by her encounter with an injured calf, that gradually changed the direction of her life. She began learning Hindi and studying material on cattle care so that she could better understand the animals she was taking responsibility for.
In a 2017, she recalled seeing cows abandoned after they grew old and stopped producing milk. “They are like my children and I cannot leave them,” she said while describing the animals in her care.
One Calf Became Sanctuary
The injured calf became the first case in what would eventually become Radha Surabhi Gaushala. According to the shelter, Brüning took the calf home after finding it with a broken leg and then began taking in more cows and calves from the streets. The gaushala was formally established in 1996 and developed into a dedicated shelter for animals requiring long-term care.
Today, the sanctuary in Radha Kund provides food, shelter and medical treatment to rescued animals. Its facilities include separate arrangements for cows requiring special attention, including blind and severely injured animals. Recent reporting puts the number of cows at more than 2,500, while the gaushala itself describes the shelter as having grown from that first rescued calf into a home for thousands.
The organisation also says it does not treat the cows as a commercial dairy operation. According to its own account, milk is not sold and additional milk may be purchased to feed orphaned calves. The stated emphasis is instead on providing vulnerable animals with food, medical care and lifelong shelter.
Life As Sudevi Mataji
As Brüning became more deeply rooted in the spiritual life of Radha Kund, she took the initiated name Sudevi Dasi and became popularly known as ‘Sudevi Mataji’. Her spiritual practice and animal welfare work eventually became closely intertwined, with the gaushala describing her approach as seva service carried out without a commercial motive.
Running a sanctuary of this scale, however, requires significant resources. The gaushala currently appeals for support for fodder, medicines, veterinary equipment, ambulances and other operational needs. Earlier reporting also documented Brüning using income from property in Germany to support the shelter. The work has therefore involved not only the physical care of animals but also the continuing challenge of finding the resources required to sustain them.
Her life in India has also included difficulties around her immigration status. In 2019, reports emerged about complications surrounding the extension of her visa, at a time when she was seeking to continue her work at the gaushala. The matter received political attention, including intervention from then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Recognition For Animal Welfare
The same year brought one of the most significant recognitions of Brüning’s work. In 2019, the Government of India announced her as a recipient of the Padma Shri under Social Work–Animal Welfare. The official Padma Awards list identifies her as “Ms. Friederike Irina (Foreigner)” from Germany.
Her recognition is notable because her work focuses on animals that are often at their most vulnerable, those that are old, injured, disabled, sick or abandoned.
From arriving in India as a 20-year-old traveller searching for spiritual direction to becoming known as Sudevi Mataji and building a sanctuary for thousands of cows, Brüning’s journey has unfolded over more than four decades.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Sudevi Mataji’s story is not simply about one person’s relationship with cows. It also raises a wider question about what happens to animals once they are no longer considered economically useful, and who takes responsibility when they are injured, abandoned or left on the streets.
Her work demonstrates the difference between rescuing an animal in an emergency and accepting the much longer responsibility of feeding, treating and sheltering it for life.
The Padma Shri recognised her contribution to animal welfare, but meaningful change cannot depend only on individuals and charitable shelters. It also requires greater awareness, responsible animal ownership and systems that reduce abandonment in the first place.
If compassion begins with one rescued animal, how can society ensure that responsibility extends beyond individual acts of kindness?
Read More: Iranian Strikes Damage US F-15s and A-10 at Jordan Airbase: Reports
