Sabari’s Devotion
Sri Sathya Sai Baba narrated the following story to SSE teachers to show them how they should treat their students as their own children and help them find the God within. Bhagavan equates such love and commitment to the one-pointed sadhana of Sabari—a foremost devotee of Sri Rama—and He wants us all to emulate her.
Sabari [a tribal woman] had a very tender, compassionate heart. How she came to Sage Matanga and ended up staying at his hermitage is a very interesting story. Her parents arranged her marriage. As was the custom among the Adivasis (tribal folk), a goat was to be offered to the tribal Goddess to seek her grace for the couple, on the night before the wedding ceremony. When Sabari came to know about this slaughter, she wept and pleaded with her parents to spare the goat’s life. “How can our married life be happy, when the dying bleat of this goat is the prologue?” she asked. But, her father pushed her aside and proceeded with the cruel rite. That night, Sabari stole out of that den of torture, and hid herself in the nearby forest.
When the wedding day dawned, Sabari’s parents as well as the groom’s party were plunged in grief and anxiety. And, though they combed the area, including the thick bushes where Sabari was hiding, they could not find her. They went back, saying, “She could not have gone to the hermitage, for no woman would be given asylum there.” Hearing these words, she [Sabari] concluded that the hermitage would be the safest place for her. She thought that at least one of the monks in the hermitage would take pity on her and give her refuge.
As hoped, [Sage] Matanga espied her and gave her permission to stay at his hermitage. He told her that God who had incarnated as Sri Rama was sure to visit the hermitage some day during his fourteen-year exile in the forest undertaken to fulfill His father’s promise to His stepmother Kaikeyi. Matanga told Sabari that He [Sri Rama] was eager to save the monks and seekers doing tapas (penance) in the forest from the ravages of the demonic enemies of peace. Rama was proceeding from one region to another, accompanied by His consort, Sita, and His brother, Lakshmana.
Sabari’s heart became Rama’s heart
From that day, Sabari had no other thought than of Rama, no other desire than the desire to have the darshan [sight of a holy person] of Rama, the chance to touch His feet, and the opportunity to speak with Him. Her heart was saturated with the Ramarasa (the sweet juice of the Rama principle). She had no other japam or dhyana (repetition of God’s name or meditation) or spiritual exercise.
She spent her time preparing for the visit of Rama to the hermitage; and, just as she cleaned the paths, she cleaned her heart, too. Pebbles and thorns disappeared from both [the path and her heart] through her efforts. She walked through the undergrowth removing overhanging creepers and briars, for she imagined that Rama’s uncombed hair might get entangled in the growth. She broke the lumps of earth, for she feared the tender soles of Sita would be hurt when she walked over them.
Further, Sabari gathered fruits and tubers every day, for no one knew when Rama would arrive. And, she took no risks. She tasted every fruit, to see whether it was bitter, sour, or sweet, so that Rama could eat the best. She smoothed the surface of all stones that lay by the side of the forest trails to make it comfortable for Rama, Lakshmana, or Sita, in the event they got tired and needed to rest. She hoped that one of them would rest awhile on one of the rocks she had polished with such great care. Thus her heart became Rama hridaya (Rama’s heart)!
The children of the Sathya Sai Bala Vihar [SSE] must know that Sathya Sai is residing in their hearts. Teachers also must take it as a puja (ritual worship) of Sai Rama. Your [teachers’] work should be geared to help children recognize the Sai Ram residing in their hearts. Sai Ram has to move about in the jungles of your heart; so, render the tracks wide, smooth, and free from thorn and pebble.
Sabari’s high level of sadhana
Sabari was so immersed in the thought of Rama that the ascetics lost all awareness of her sex; they allowed her to remain in the hermitage after Matanga related to them her [Sabari’s] high level of sadhana (spiritual practice). As time passed and Sabari waited for Rama, Matanga also aged and left his body. Before passing, he gave up his hermitage to Sabari, saying, “You alone deserve to be here when Rama arrives!”
When you [the teachers] serve Sai Rama in these children, it is comparable to the sadhana that Sabari did to earn the bliss of serving Rama. By this service, you realize the [spiritual] Self.
People say that they are doing good to others and good to the world. In reality, this is an empty boast. Let us suppose that you invite ten people for dinner; when the ten sit at the table, don’t you also sit as the eleventh? So, you too consume a share of the dinner. How, then, can you call it only a dinner for others, solely an act of hospitality for others? When you do good to the world, you share in that good, and so you cannot say that you are serving others. It is self first, and help next. When you carry out the duty you have undertaken to do, God will shower grace!
Remember that you are both teachers and students; for, you teach these children and you learn from Me. You must not think that they are children belonging to others. Treat them as your own.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11
