Originally posted by: Aradhana87
Thank you for sharing Vibhishna😊
I found out that Shabri means having patience. Thats why she waited so long for Shri Ram😃
I never knew Shabhari meant having patience. Thank you for sharing.
A story I read about the life of Shabhari - its one of the short tales that are found everywhere, I don't know if this story comes in any of the original versions of Ramayan.
Shabhari was born to a Kshathiriya (father) and a huntress belonging to the Shabhara tribe. Since she was from the Shabhara tribe, she was named Shabhari. When her marriage was fixed, her mother and father gathered thousands of animals and birds for the wedding feast. Shabhari did not like the killing of so many innocent animals. Hence, she decided to remain unmarried and spend her life thinking of the Lord. She left her parents and went away.
Sage Matanga gave her shelter in his Ashram. The sage took great care of her and gave her spiritual guidance. The local brahmins and sages did not approve of this and avoided Matanga rishi and Shabhari. They couldn't tollerate a sage giving spiritual guidance to a low caste woman.
One day, Shabhari was going to the river to take a bath. A brahmin came in the opposite direction after his bath. The cloth worn by Shabhari touched the brahmin, by mistake. The brahmin grew livid and insulted her severely. Shabhari pleaded forgiveness. But the brahmin accused her of pretending to be innocent and called her a sinner. He told her to get out of his sight. He then went to the river to take a bath again as he felt he had become impure by what happened (Shabhari's cloth touching him). But no sooner than he reached the water, the water turned disgustingly bad. It became reddish in colour and worms began to crawl in it. This was due to the insults he hurled at Shabhari. But the brahmin thought that this too was Shabhari's fault and left the place.
Many years later, Ram and Lakshman came to Shabhari's hut. Ram partok with great relish, the fruits offered by Shabhari in ecstatic devotion. The sages in that place came to meet Ram. They told him that a river that flows nearby used to be pure, but now it was totally unusable. They requested Ram to enlighten them about the issue.
Lakshman explained that this was the consequence of the brahmins avoiding and insulting Shabhari and Matanga rishi. The sages asked if there was a way to purify the water again. Lakshman replied that if the pure hearted Shabhari bathes in the river just once, it will turn pure again. The sages requested Shabhari to bathe in that river for the good of all. She agreed and went to the river. As soon as her feet touched the water, the water turned crystal clear and completely pure. All hailed Shabhari and praised her devotion.
This is the story I read a very long time before. I don't know how far its true as most of the time (always, if I'm not mistaken) Shabhari is depicted to have gone to heaven as soon as Ram visited her (after she had served Ram, she left her earthly body and went to heaven).
Anupamaa
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