Ramanavami Spl: Essay series by Sri.Bannanje Govindacharya -4

March 23, 2010

paMpAtIraM sa gacCanniha kRutavasataH bhaktituShTaH shabaryai

datvA muktiM prakurvan hanumata uditaM prAptasugrIvasakhyaM|

sapta CitvA & tha tAlAn vidhivarabalino vAlibhit sUryasUnuM

kurvANo rAjyapAlaM samavatu nivasan mAlyavatkaMdare & sau||

Another small but unforgettable character of the Ramayana is that of shabari. Who else waited for the Lord like her? Who else offered fruits to the Lord like her? There is none who can be compared to Shabari.

Pujya Sri Bannanje Govindacharya in his essay “saNNa pAtragaLa doDDa koDuge” explores the role of this old lady who offered fruits to rAma and received the fruit of liberation.

…”haNNiTTu kAda haNNu haNNu muduki”… a tale of resolute devotion in God and the preceptor…

Article courtesy: Sri Dilip Sundar

Regards,

Dilip

rAma mantrava japiso hey manuja

A mantra I mantra japisi ni keDa bEDa|

sOmashEkhara tanna bhAminige pELida mantra||

March 27, 2010

||shrI haraye namaH||

Here is Dr. P.R. Mukund's english translation of the 4th part of pujya Sri. Bannanje Govindacharya's essay " saNNa pAtragaLa doDDa koDuge " .

Regards

Dilip

Fruitful Ripe Life

By pUjya Shri Bannanje Govindacharya

Translated to English by P. R. Mukund

Who else has waited for God like Shabari? Who else could make God come looking? Only Shabari is an equal to Shabari.

An uncultured woman who grew up in the forest! She grew up in the midst of huts occupied by those who hunt small animals for living; an illiterate woman. But, in consciousness of God, she surpassed those who were born in better circumstances. She grew up serving sages living in forests; a woman exhausted by the wait to see God; a woman who, instead of going in search of God, made God come in search of her; one who was a child of the earth, and who became a source of light in the flame of yoga; a model for the entire womanhood; that was Shabari.

Shabari means one who is filled with bliss, engulfed in the awareness of God; one who was blessed with bliss. Pure bliss!!

Shabari, the one whose mind was constantly looking at Him; the one was waiting to behold Him with her eyes as well.

Matangavana was the abode of the sage Matanga. His hermitage was Shabari’s Gurukula. Serving the sage was her study of the scriptures. That was her world. She never went beyond; never saw the outside world. In the eyes of the civilized, she was like a frog stuck inside the well called Matangashrama.

She served Matanga with great devotion. The animals and birds around the hermitage were her companions.

The deer taught her how to walk. The birds taught her speech. The trees taught her silence. And, the sages taught her meditation.

The clear water of Pampa cleansed her, inside and out. The service of the sages made her pure gold.

Krishna proclaims in the Gita: “Those who follow the path of yoga will be born among yogis. The experience of past lives will attract them towards yoga. They will continue on that path; they will grow on that path; they will grow and come to Me; they will come and reach Me.”

Shabari was an outstanding case in point.

Normally, scholars stay far away from God. The reason is that they are full of conviction that they know a lot. God will not even go near such people. They too will stay away thinking: “doesn’t He know what a great scholar I am? The idea of me going in search of Him is silly.”

They can only hang around in the periphery. They have no admission to the inner temple.

Shabari is just the opposite. She never had the arrogance that she knew a lot. She knew that she did not know anything. She was the very personification of humility. Then, He came looking for her. He accepted the wild berries she offered Him.

She would wander around in the forest, limping with her walking stick. Not searching for God; but, for fruits. She knew that the One who was permanently in her heart would come to her some day. Her worry was what to offer Him when He came. And so, she wandered. She would carefully hang on to any fruits she found, for her dear Lord. And, come He did, to taste the ripe fruit.

Krishna said: “A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water- anything will do. Anything offered with devotion, I will accept with love.” What Krishna said, Rama demonstrated much earlier.

The upanishats also proclaim: “God cannot be reached through scholarly talks. Neither can the intellect reach Him; constant listening to the scripture will not work. He is reachable only by those who are in the path of His compassion; He will reveal Himself only in front of them.”

The Lord revealed Himself in front of Shabari. Why? Because she was the very repository of devotion; she had surrendered her very self to Him.

Another Upanishat says: “Those who pray to God, and Guru, with full devotion are not denied anything. The truth will reveal itself in front of them.”

Does one need a better example than Shabari?

She had devoted her whole life to serve her Guru. The hermitage of sage Matanga was everything to her. Once she left her village, she never turned back.

The forest where sage Matanga lived was full of tall trees blocking light; a place where animals and birds roamed without fear. In due course, all the sages moved on to better worlds. Before leaving, sage Matanga told Shabari: “wait here for Ramachandra. Make sure you offer good hospitality when He comes. Only then can you go on your onward journey.”

It was the Guru’s dictate. So, Shabari waited in the thick forest, all alone. But her wait was not for nothing. The Lord came looking for her. He ate the fruits that she offered. She too got her rewards, infinitely blessed by Him.

It is said that Valmiki himself was a hunter once upon a time. If so, it is meaningful that he paid full attention to Shabari;

Shabari is an unforgettable character in Ramayana. You can forget the sages, but not Shabari.

*************

On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 8:37 AM, Dilip Rathnakar <diliprathnakar wrote:

paMpAtIraM sa gacCanniha kRutavasataH bhaktituShTaH shabaryai

datvA muktiM prakurvan hanumata uditaM prAptasugrIvasakhyaM|

sapta CitvA & tha tAlAn vidhivarabalino vAlibhit sUryasUnuM

kurvANo rAjyapAlaM samavatu nivasan mAlyavatkaMdare & sau||

Another small but unforgettable character of the Ramayana is that of shabari. Who else waited for the Lord like her? Who else offered fruits to the Lord like her? There is none who can be compared to Shabari.

Pujya Sri Bannanje Govindacharya in his essay “saNNa pAtragaLa doDDa koDuge” explores the role of this old lady who offered fruits to rAma and received the fruit of liberation.

…”haNNiTTu kAda haNNu haNNu muduki”… a tale of resolute devotion in God and the preceptor…

Article courtesy: Sri Dilip Sundar

Regards,

Dilip

rAma mantrava japiso hey manuja

A mantra I mantra japisi ni keDa bEDa|

sOmashEkhara tanna bhAminige pELida mantra||

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Mantra_RAmAyaNa_Story-4.pdf