Sambodhi 2005 Vol 28

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah, K M Patel
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 27

Vol. XXVIII, 2005
ŚABARI EPISODE OF THE RĀMAKATHA :....
21
higher-caste Brahmins as Adhyātma-Rāmāyaṇa has done.
So in the Adhyātma-Rāmāyana and the Rāmcaritamānas by Tulsidas, one can observe the lurking casteism even under the garb of glorification of devotion.
So these are the oldest available major literary documents (consisting mainly in Sanskrit and Avadhi) covering a vast expanse of time over two millenia.
As noted earlier, apart from these literary documents, the oral tradition also must have been at work.
So, in the Sabarī episode, there are other various strands which are not visible in the literary works but they have become a part of the folklores and from folklores perhaps again into a written form and so on. The circle goes on.
The Sabarī episode as depicted in the main literary documents leaves some questions unanswered.
In what manner did Śabari collect the fruits? How did Rāma accept those fruits ? Did he eat them ? Written sources, so far, referred to are ambiguous. But perhaps the oral tradition which again resurfaces in the regional languages literature tries to unravel these ambiguities.
As we know, it is a very popular belief that Śabarī tasted the wild bersbefore offering them to Rāma. Of course, Tulsidas has stated that Rāma ate the fruits praising them again and again. Yet Tulsidas has not specified whethere these wild bers were tasted by Sabarī before offering them to Rāma.
There is a work called Bhaktamal by some Nabhadas of the 17th century which is a sort of a hagiography of some two hundred saint devotees, one of whom is Śabarī. On this work there is a tīkā-commentary by some Priyadas who gives the background to the Sabarī-episode.
According to this account, śabari was very eager to serve the saints but she was very conscious of her low birth and hence she would keep herself out of sight from them. At night, she would sweep away thorns and pebbles from the path on which the saints would walk to have ablution. She would collect firewood for the sadhus and place them outside the doors of their huts. All sadhus were wondering about this clandestine act.
The stage Matang asks his disciples to keep vigil and get hold of the thief who was stealing merit-you. Sabari is caught and falls at the sage Matanga's feet. Matanga is very much pleased with her selfless service and asks her to be an