“Those great saints, who are knowers of dharma and greatly fortunate, spoke these words to me: ‘Rama will visit your very pious ashrama. Along with Saumitra [Lakshmana], you should offer Rama the greatest hospitality as your guest. Thus after seeing Him, as a benediction, you will ascend to the eternal realm.’” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.15-16)

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तैश्चाहमुक्ता धर्मज्ञैर्महाभागैर्महर्षिभिः
आगमिष्यति ते रामस्सुपुण्यमिममाश्रमम्
स ते प्रतिग्रहीतव्यस्सौमित्रिसहितोतिथिः
तं च दृष्ट्वा वरान्लोकानक्षयांस्त्वं गमिष्यसि

taiścāhamuktā dharmajñairmahābhāgairmaharṣibhiḥ
āgamiṣyati te rāmassupuṇyamimamāśramam
sa te pratigrahītavyassaumitrisahitotithiḥ
taṃ ca dṛṣṭvā varānlokānakṣayāṃstvaṃ gamiṣyasi

Vedic literature in the typical presentation, from a speaker of high repute, from a person aligned with the principles, who has a connection to a tattva-darshi, tends to be theoretical in nature. Just consider the five principal topics of Bhagavad-gita: jiva, prakriti, kāla, karma, and Ishvara. These translate to the living entity, material nature, time, fruitive activity, and the supreme controller. Each one of these topics can be discussed for an entire lifetime.

If we were to consider creating a corresponding university course, with its syllabus and curriculum, the instruction would never end. A prospective student could enroll in the undergraduate level and keep ascending to higher levels of graduate study. With the passage of time, which is one of the core concepts of the instruction, the material upon which to study only increases.

Theoretical knowledge corresponds with the Sanskrit concept of jnana. It is something to know. It is information that can be repeated, when asked. The correct answers can be given on a corresponding examination, for instance. The jnana flows downwards, in a line of instruction that carries from one teacher to the next, in the way that we are today living in the circumstances previously configured by our ancestors.

But Vedic literature is not an isolated area of study, reserved exclusively for a faculty lounge or limited to the intelligent within society. Vedic literature describes Vedic culture. This means that the principles can be applied in real life. They should be applied in real life. There is a corresponding practical realization, which is known as vijnana. As we are suffering from illusion, evidenced by the very need to acquire jnana, we might have a difficult time understanding the vijnana. It may take many years of application before we even believe the jnana to be valid.

Fortunately, there are countless examples from history, presented within the same Vedic literature, to reinforce the concepts. We have the case of the female ascetic named Shabari. Bhagavad-gita describes how a humble offering made with devotion can please the Supreme Ishvara, who is Parameshvara. A basic offering like fruit or water is sufficient. This is something that any person can procure. The resources are not lacking.

तुलसी जाने सुनि समुझि कृपासिंधु रघुराज
महँगे मनि कंचन किए सौंधे जग जल नाज

tulasī jāne suni samujhi kṛpāsiṃdhu raghurāja
maha~ge mani kaṃcana kie sauṃdhe jaga jala nāja

“Tulsi knows, has heard, and has understood that Shri Rama is an ocean of mercy because He made jewels and gold expensive, while keeping the most important things like water and grains inexpensive.” (Dohavali, 149)

Is it really possible to please God through offering food? How do we know that He will actually accept it? Where is the evidence that by presenting fruit before the deity, which is the merciful incarnation of God, we will somehow be elevated to a better place?

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं
यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति
तद् अहं भक्त्य्-उपहृतम्
अश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

The case of Shabari welcoming Shri Rama in the forest is the evidence. She could have achieved liberation prior to the meeting. She had pleased her spiritual guides. She was dutiful in her austerity and penance, tapasya. The teachers were so merciful to her that they did not take her female body to be a disqualification. Neither did they take into account her caste or family background, which were considered inauspicious.

जाति हीन अघ जन्म महि मुक्त कीन्हि असि नारि
महामंद मन सुख चहसि ऐसे प्रभुहि बिसारि

jāti hīna agha janma mahi mukta kīnhi asi nāri
mahāmaṃda mana sukha cahasi aise prabhuhi bisāri

“The one who was without a caste, who took birth from a ground of sins – even that woman was liberated. O you of greatly foolish mind, how can you desire happiness while forgetting such a Lord?” (Dohavali, 156)

To her guests, Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana, Shabari offered berries from the forest. She then could go to wherever she pleased. Rama is satya-sankalpa, after all. He can grant any desire, which will then manifest. Shabari wanted to reunite with her spiritual guides, and so she shed the temporary body and ascended to the imperishable realm [akshaya-loka] in an amazing form.

I, too, can achieve liberation in a similar manner. Due to my misfortune, due to my ignorance strengthened through bad association, I mistakenly consider the deity to be stone. I fail to see that Rama has been kind enough to appear before me, to stay in my place of residence as a guest. I ignore the Supreme Lord and instead offer worship, in strong allegiance, to others who are similarly mired in the illusion of the material world.

I do not take seriously the recommendation from the spiritual guide to always chant the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In the way that Shabari was helped by her teachers, so the representatives of the Supreme Lord are always wishing well to me and to others. They only wish that I find eternal happiness, and so they present ways for that happiness to manifest. If only I would take their recommendations seriously, then I might have a chance at finally leaving behind the place of repeated miseries.

In Closing:

Guides merciful and true,
Blessing Shabari who.

Promise of liberation to state,
But for now to wait.

Until Rama and brother to see,
Pleased with her offering to be.

Meek and simple though,
The highest reward to know.

Categories: meeting shabari

Tags: dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, prasadam, ramayana, shabari