Prof G.Venkataraman story of Shabri h2h

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accompany the procedure concerned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assuming that I have got my point across let me now discuss the example I referred to earlier. In the Ramayana, there is a beautiful scene that occurs when Rama and Lakshmana are wandering in search of Sita who had been abducted earlier. During their wanderings in the forest, they meet an old tribal lady, Sabari.This woman had earlier been told by her sage and master that one day, the Lord would come to the forest and that she should wait for Him. Sabari in full faith, decided to wait for the Lord, although she had the faintest idea of how the Lord would look, how He would come, etc.In spite of lack of knowledge of these vital practical details, Sabari just waited, having total faith in her master’s words. Not merely that; every single day, she would collect fresh fruits such as were found in the forest, holding them as an

offering, should the Lord manifest.

One fine day Sabari saw Rama and Lakshmana come along. They were dressed like hermits but they carried bows and arrows, which sages did not. Going by these characteristics alone, there was no reason to suppose that Rama was verily God in human form. However, when Sabari saw Rama, she saw Him not only with her eyes, but also with her Heart; and the Pure Love for the Lord in her Heart, instantly recognised the Lord, coming to her in the form of Rama.

And what did Sabari do the moment she recognised that Rama was indeed the Lord for whom she had been waiting for so long? She greeted Him and of course Lakshmana too, with the broadest of smiles and Love gushing forth as a torrent from her heart. She washed the feet of the Princes, prostrated before them, and then offered the fruits she had lovingly gathered earlier in the day.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord is concerned only about the extent to which our heart is filledwith Pure Love for Him.

 

Now it is quite usual to make offerings to the Lord, both during formal worship at home and also when the Lord comes in human form. The unique thing about what Sabari did was, that being a simple tribal woman totally ignorant of the rules of etiquette, she bit into every fruit first, tasted the bit she had chewed off, made sure the fruit selected was sweet enough, and then offered it to Rama and Lakshmana.

Just pause and think about it calmly for a minute. Would any one of us ever dream of doing something like this, when say we offer a fruit to Swami, who of course is Rama come again? Yet that is precisely what Sabari did! Now how did Rama react to all this? Did He flinch, did He mutter, ‘Oh look at this tribal woman, she does not know the a,b,c of proper behaviour!’ or anything like that? Not at all; on the other hand, Rama not only received the offering with much Love but ate every selected fruit, making it very evident how much He relished the fruit offered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Ramayana, the Sabari interlude is very brief but a very significant one; that is why not only scholars attach much importance to it but Saint Tyagaraja, who, I confess is a favourite musician of mine, composed a beautiful song entirely in celebration of Sabari, wondering how he could describe the amazing Grace that she received?Getting back to the point I am trying to put across, at the end of the day, the Lord is least bothered about the extent of our textual knowledge of the scriptures, or about how many rituals we perform, how frequently we do them, etc. The Lord is concerned only about the extent to which our heart is filled with Pure Love for Him. That is what the story of Sabari highlights. Source:

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