The Story of a True Devotee
Sai Baba draws a parallel here between the spiritual efforts of Sabari, an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, and the work of teachers. But the analogy applies equally to all who yearn for divine bliss.
Sabari had a very tender, compassionate heart. How she came to Sage Matanga and stayed at his hermitage is a very interesting story. Her parents had arranged her marriage. To win grace for the couple, it was customary among the tribal folk for a goat to be offered to the tribal Goddess on the night before the ceremony. When Sabari came to know about this slaughter, she wept and fell at the feet of her parents, praying to them to save the goat. She asked, “How can our married life be happy when the dying bleat of this goat is the prologue?” 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 depths of a nearby jungle.
When day dawned, her parents as well as the groom’s party were plunged in grief and anxiety. They combed the area, even where she was lying low amidst the thick bushes, and they went back, saying among themselves, “She could not have gone to the hermitage, for no woman would be given asylum there.” She heard these words and concluded that the hermitage was the safest place for her. She felt that some monk would take pity on her and not send her back. Sage Matanga espied her and gave her permission to be in his habitation. He told her that since God in the form of Sri Rama had been exiled into the forest for 14 years, He was coming to the hermitage some day. He was eager to save the monks and seekers doing penance from the ravages of the demonic enemies of peace! Rama, he said, was proceeding from one region to another, with 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 to have the darsan [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 Divine 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. Just as she cleaned the paths, she cleaned her heart, too. Pebbles and thorns disappeared from both through her efforts. She walked through the undergrowth and removed overhanging creepers and briars, for she imagined Rama would not have combed His hair and it might get caught. She broke the lumps of earth, for she feared the tender soles of Sita would be hurt when she walked over them. Everyday she gathered fruits and tubers from the jungle trees and plants and saved them, for no one knew when Rama would arrive. And she took no risks. She tasted every fruit, 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 tracks in the jungle, for she expected Rama, Lakshmana, or Sita to sit upon any one of them when they got tired of walking. She hoped that one of them would rest awhile on one of the rocks she had polished with great care. Thus her heart became Rama hrudaya (Rama’s heart)!
The children of the Sathya Sai Bala Vihar must know the Sathya Sai is residing in their hearts. Teachers also must treat their work as worship of Sai Rama. Your work should be directed by the dilemma of how to reveal to children 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.
Service to Self
Sabari was so immersed in Rama that the ascetics lost all awareness of her sex; they allowed her to remain in the hermitage after Sage Matanga related to them the high level of her sadhana (spiritual practice). When Sage Matanga left his body, he gave up his hermitage to Sabari, saying, “You alone deserve to be here when Rama arrives!”
Sabari’s spiritual efforts done to earn the bliss of serving Rama are the same as you do when you serve Sai Rama in these children. By this service, you realize the Self. People say that they are doing good to others and to the world. Really speaking, this is an empty boast. Suppose you invite ten people for dinner. When they sit at the table, you also sit down as the eleventh person, don’t you? You, too, consume a share of the dinner. How, then, can you call it a dinner for others, an act of hospitality for others? When you do good to the world, you share in that good; 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!
You are both teachers and students, remember, for you teach these children and you learn from Me. You must not have the consciousness that they are children belonging to others. Treat them as your own.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. XI
