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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shabari meets Lord Ramacandra.
\nShe grew up in a nishada family, and it was the day before her marriage, her father having brought thousands of goats and sheep to be sacrificed for her wedding. With compassion and sadness in her heart, not being able to bear to see the slaughter of those animals the young woman ran away into the forest and stayed.
\nShe went to many rsis and asked them to accept her as their disciple and teach her true knowledge, but all of the rsis rejected her considering her unworthy to become their disciple because of her being of lower caste.
\nNot giving up in her determination the young girl was accepted by Matanga Rsi who immediately accepted her as his daughter and welcomed her into his ashram. He engaged Shabari in the service of taking the ashram cows to the pastures and seeing to the cleaning of the ashram, despite the criticism of the other rsis for his \u201caccepting a lowly, nishada outcaste,\u201d the rsis now considering and criticising Matanga Rsi to be fallen and impure for his having accepted Shabari as his disciple.
\nWhen Matanga Rsi knew he was going to depart this realm, he called his disciple Shabari, and said \u201cMy daughter, I\u2019m going to leave this body. Is there anything that I can give to you?\u201d Shabari prayed \u201cMy dear Lord and Master, I beg that you take me with you wherever you are going. I cannot live without you.\u201d
\nMatanga instructed, \u201cMy dear daughter, one day Lord Rama is going to come to this ashram. I want that you stay here and welcome Him when He will come. Remain here until then, and after that you will come to me.\u201d
\nShabari remained in the ashram in continuance of her service, despite the other disciples leaving, she waiting for the day her Lord Rama would come. After cleaning the ashram she would go to the forest to collect the berries to serve Lord Rama in case He would come that day. Every day Shabari would do this, day after day, year after year never knowing when Lord Rama would come, her faith that He would, because her beloved Guru, Matana Rsi told her that He would.
\nNear Matanga Rsi\u2019s ashram there was a beautiful lake where Shabari would go to collect water. As was usual, Shabari who was now very old went to the lake with her clay pot to collect water. On this particular day there was an older rsi sitting there reciting mantras, his becoming disgusted when he saw Shabari taking water from the lake, his thinking, \u201cNow this low nishida woman has made the water impure. How can we use it now?,\u201d and in his disgust, he threw a stone at Shabari. The stone hit Shabari\u2019s leg and blood came, some of her blood falling into the lake. Within seconds all the water in the lake turned into blood. The rsi started shouting loudly, \u201cLook, this outcaste\u2019s blood has turned the whole lake into blood. What should we do now?\u201d
\nShabari went to her Ashram with filled water pot, leg badly hurt, her crying with the pain. Now the rsis had no water to drink or to use for their pujas. They chanted purification mantras, performed yajnas, even brought water from the Ganga and Yamuna to try to purify the lake, but to no avail.
\nOne of the rsis suggested, \u201cLord Rama is in the forest. Let\u2019s go to Him and ask His help to turn this lake of blood into water again.\u201d
\nUpon their request, Lord Rama came to the lake of blood, the rsis all standing around him, the Lord asking, \u201cHow can I serve you?\u201d
\nThe rsis asked, \u201cLord, please place Your feet into this lack to purify it so that the blood will become water.\u201d
\nLord Rama walked into the lake but the lake remained as is, the rsis then asking that Lord Ram take bath in the lake, which He did, but still the lake remained as blood.
\nLord Ramacandra then asked the rsis, \u201cHow did this lake become blood?,\u201d one of the rsis explaining how another rsi had thrown a stone at a nishida female who had become a disciple of Matanga Rsi, who was named Shabari; that in her leg being pierced by the stone, some of her blood had fallen into the lake and turned all the water into blood.
\nIn hearing Shabari\u2019s name Lord Ramacandra placed His hands on His heart and said \u201cOh rsis, the blood that was spilled was not Shabari\u2019s blood, but that from My very Own heart. This blood, I\u2019m not able to clean.\u201d The rsis then asked, \u201cOur life has become very difficult. We are not to continue to live without this water. Please help us.\u201d Lord Rama the, replied, \u201cI have come to see Shabari. Please immediately bring her to Me.\u201d
\nShabari in being told her Lord Rama had come, came running to see Her beloved Lord. The rsis thinking the \u201cimpure\u201d shadow of Shabari\u2019s body should not touch the Lord, tried to stop her from going near Lord Rama, yet in her hastily running, the dust from her feet fell into the water, the blood then turning back into water. The rsis were shocked and asking among themselves \u201cWhat has happened? What\u2019s happened?\u201d
\nLord Rama then explained \u201cDon\u2019t you see that the dust from Shabari\u2019s feet has purified the lake?\u201d I placed my feet into the lake and bathed in it, but nothing changed. The dust from the feet of My pure devotee has purified this lake.\u201c
\nShabari prayed to Lord Ramacandra, “My Lord, You please come to my ashram. I have been waiting for You. I have decorated it with flowers for You, and I have brought sweet berries for You. I beg My Lord that you please come.\u201d
\nRama and Laksman followed her to her dwelling where Shabari brought them sweet berries in a bowl made of leaves. Rama was pleased with faith of Shabari in her guru, Matanga Rsi, and the loving service Shabari had rendered in her love and faith in Him, Lord Rama. Shabari explained, \u201cMy Lord, sometimes the berries in this forest are sweet, but some sour, so I have selected only the sweet berries for you. This I have done by tasting every berry to make sure I have only brought the sweetest berries for you. My Lord, please accept these berries.\u201d
\nLord Rama looking at His beloved devotee, Shabari, went to take a berry, but Laksman stopped Him, saying, \u201cBhaya, these berries have been tasted. You can not eat these.\u201d Lord Rama took a berry, ate it, and said to Laksman \u201cMy dear brother, Laksman, these berries are so very sweet. I\u2019ve never tasted berries as sweet as the berries Shabari has given to Me. When one offers something to me in love, I accept it with great joy.\u201d
\nRama, touched by her love, and seeing the tree from which Shabari had use the leaves to make the bowls, blessed the tree that its leaves would naturally grow to become like bowls. Rama then asked His devotee, \u201cAsk me for anything that you wish, I\u2019m pleased by your devotion.\u201d
\nShabari prayed only that she be able to obtain pure devotion to her beloved Lord Rama,\u201c she receiving her Lord\u2019s blessings, she then leaving her body, and attaining to the eternal abode of her beloved Lord Rama.\u201d
\nMay the blessings of the Lord\u2019s beloved devotees be upon us, that we obtain the ultimate in love, Krsna Prema.
\nSrila Prabhupada ki jaya.
\nShabari Devi ki jaya.
\nHanumanji ki jaya.
\nSita, Rama Laksman ki jaya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n
\nShe grew up in a nishada family, and it was the day before her marriage, her father having brought thousands of goats and sheep to be sacrificed for her wedding. With compassion and sadness in her heart, not being able to bear to see the slaughter of those animals the young woman ran away into the forest and stayed.
\nShe went to many rsis and asked them to accept her as their disciple and teach her true knowledge, but all of the rsis rejected her considering her unworthy to become their disciple because of her being of lower caste.<\/p>\n
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