Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

Arunachalam Pillai replied saying, ‘I have for a long time
been thinking of presenting Bhagavan with a cow. I am now
in a position to do so. I have brought it after a good deal of
trouble on boat and rail. Please keep it, Swami.’ I said, ‘You
have done your duty in presenting it to us. Who is there to
look after it? Please keep it with you on our behalf.’ The
owner of the cow replied, ‘I will not take it away even if you
cut my throat.’
“Hearing this Ramanatha Brahmachari was piqued and
said with great zest that he himself would look after the cow.

‘All right. Hang it round your neck!’ I said. As the calf came
to us on a Friday, we named her Lakshmi. Ramanatha
somehow tended the cow and the calf for two or three months.

Lakshmi was very playful, jumping about as she pleased and,
while so doing, she ruined all the vegetable plants we were
growing. If anyone chided her, she used to come to me for
protection. I used to tell the Asramites that if they so desired,
they could put up a fence to protect their plants. Poor chap!
Ramanatha could not put up with all these troubles from
the other inmates of the Ashram and so handed over the
cow and the calf to a keeper of cattle in the town with some
stipulations. I do not remember his name.”
A devotee said, “His name is Pasupati. He is a
Kannadiga (from the state of Karnataka). Lakshmi’s mother
passed away after a short time. The arrangement was that
if Lakshmi gave birth to a male calf, it should be given to
the Ashram and if it were a female calf he should retain it.”
Bhagavan said, “That might be so. About a year after
that, he came here with Lakshmi and her calf for a bath on
an eclipse day. He saw me first, had a bath in the Pali Tank
along with the cow and its calf and then they went home
together. At that time Lakshmi saw the whole of this Ashram.

Remembering the route carefully she began coming here
everyday. She used to come in the morning and go away in
the evening. She used to lie down by the side of my couch.

She insisted that I myself should give her fruit. She would
not take any other than the hill plantain.”
Someone said, “Before leaving every evening she used
to go round the hall, it seems?”
Bhagavan replied, “That is the thing. We had no bell in
the dining hall then. We do not know how she did it but
everyday exactly at the appointed time for meals she used to
come and stand before me. We used to look at the clock and
find that that was just the time for meals. Her coming was
the signal for us. She used to return to town daily most
reluctantly.”
On further enquiry, I came to know that Lakshmi came
away permanently to the Ashram in 1930, that she had three
calves by then — all males — and that, as per agreement, all
the calves had been given to the Ashram. When she was
pregnant for the third time, one evening she was unwilling to
leave Bhagavan and go home, like Nandini* of Vasishta; she
was shedding tears and lay close to the couch. Bhagavan was
visibly affected and softly passing his hand on her face said,
“What! You say you can’t go away, and want to stay here alone?
What am I to do?” and, looking at the others, said, “Look,
Lakshmi is weeping saying she cannot go away. She is pregnant
and may have confinement any moment. She must go a long
distance and again come here in the morning. She cannot
refrain from coming here. What is she to do?” At last Bhagavan
somehow coaxed her and sent her away. That very night she
delivered. About the same time Pasupati had some domestic
difficulties. Unable to bear the burden of this Lakshmi with
all her vagaries, he brought her and her three calves and
presented them to Bhagavan. Lakshmi lay at Bhagavan’s feet
and would not rise. Placing his right hand on her head and
pressing it, he asked if she would like to stay here permanently.

She closed her eyes and lay still as in a trance. Noticing that,
Bhagavan pointed out to the others that she appeared as
though her responsibility for her calves were over, for they
had been placed in Bhagavan’s charge.

* Nandini was the wish fulfilling cow who lived with the Sage
Vasishta.

When I narrated this story to Bhagavan he agreed.

“Yes,” he said, “that was so. After Mother came to stay with
me, regular cooking and meals started, and after Lakshmi
came, cattle and dairying became established. Subsequently,
for three or four years Lakshmi was presenting us with a
calf every year on the Jayanthi day. Afterwards, that practice
stopped. Altogether she had nine deliveries. After Lakshmi
came here to stay, cows from different places were brought
by devotees and left here. So the cattle shed grew in size. In
the beginning, they were tied up here and there under a
thatched shed. When Salem Sundaram Chetty (Judge) came
here, he decided to construct a Gosala (cowshed) and fixed
an auspicious time for the laying of the foundation stone.

Half-an-hour before appointed time, when everything was
being got ready, Lakshmi broke loose from her tether and
came to me running as though to tell me that a house was
being constructed for her and that I should be there. When
I got up, she led me to the spot. She did the same for her
housewarming ceremony also. Somehow she used to
understand everything. Very smart indeed!”