Uninterrupted Service to Spiritual Master

Date: 2013-10-29 Author: Vaijayantimala dasi

Hare Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

In Srimad Bhagavatam 10.80.43, Lord Krishna personally tells His friend Sudama, 'guror anugraheṇaiva pumān pūrṇaḥ praśāntaye' - "Simply by the grace of the spiritual master a person can fulfill life's purpose and attain eternal peace."

In we have the classic example of Shabari, who is an embodiment of unassuming devotion at the lotus feet of her spiritual master. Shabari belonged to the forest tribe and she became an ascetic and she served in the ashrama of Matanga muni. Shabari served for long Matanga in his near Rishyamuka, and when he was ascending to heaven, he bade his disciple to await the advent of Sri who would come to her, bless her, and fulfill her tapas. Shabari continued her tasks at the ashram, keeping it ready for Sri Rama's arrival. She woke up every day, wondering if this would be the day Sri Rama would arrive. After completing her chores, she would make the place ready for Sri Rama's arrival, and collect fruits and berries for Him to eat if He did come. She spent hours removing the thorns from the bushes along the path and the stones on the path, so that her beloved Lord wouldn't be hurt. Thus, Shabari spent many years waiting for her Lord who was on His way to her abode. On being informed about Shabari's long wait for Lord Rama by the demon, Sri Rama and Sri , moved towards Mount Rishyamuka.

One look at her made Sri Rama realise that Shabari had attained the highest stage of spiritual ripeness. She honored the guests by bathing Their feet and she offered every form of hospitality. Sri Rama then appropriately made the following enquiries.

Srimad Ramayana 3.74.8-9 kaccit te nirjitā vighnāḥ kaccit te vardhate tapaḥ kaccit te niyataḥ kopa āhāraḥ ca tapodhane kaccit te niyamāḥ prāptāḥ kaccit te manasaḥ sukham kaccit te śuśrūṣā saphalā cāru bhāṣiṇi

Sri Rama inquires: Have all impediments to the practice of your austerities been thoroughly overcome by you? Is your austerity steadily growing? Has anger been fully controlled by you as well as your diet, O lady with penance as your wealth? Are all the regulative principles being completely observed and has satisfaction come to your mind? Has your service to your spiritual master borne fruit, O lady of pleasing speech?

These are the right enquiries to be placed before a person who is endeavoring for spiritual perfection. The last question of whether guru śuśrūṣā (service to the instructions of the spiritual master) is being properly executed is the basis for all the other attainments. If we strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master, then all the regulative principles will be properly observed, thus leading to satisfaction in the mind. This would include regulation in our eating thus leading to control of anger, lust and greed. This enables us to follow the austerities steadily since all the impediments to performing austerities will be automatically mitigated. To these proper inquiries, Shabari replied that today has the fruition of my austerities been attained by me through Your blessed darshan. Today my birth as a human being has borne fruit and my elders have been duly adored. I have been instructed by my spiritual master that, "Sri Rama will come to this pious hermitage along with Lakshmana. You extend hospitality to the guests and receive Them with due reverence. You will reach the inexhaustible world after meeting Him".

Thus Shabari had been waiting for the Lord, since it was the instruction of her spiritual master. With great patience ( dhrti) and without losing enthusiasm (udyama), she had been arranging things everyday to receive the Lord. It is our experience that when some guest tells us that they will come to our place, we make all the arrangements and if they do not turn up, we feel very disappointed. If the second time and a few subsequent times also they do not turn up at the time they were supposed to come, then we become greatly frustrated and we stop making arrangements even if they call and tell us that they are coming. But here we see that every day without fail and without getting frustrated, Shabari was making arrangements to welcome the Lord. That is why Maharaj says that Krishna comes three times in our life and hence we should never disrespect any living entity because we do not know in which form the Lord comes.

After having received all the hospitality, Lord Rama expressed His desire to go around the hermitage where the sages had performed austerities. Shabari showed them the sacrificial altars, the bark clothes worn by them, the flowers they had arranged and the seas where they had taken bath. Lord Rama was so pleased to go around all these places and he felt great auspiciousness. If the Lord feels so much excited to have darshan of the articles used by the sages and the places frequented by them, how much more we should feel blessed to visit the places of our spiritual masters?

Then Shabari said, "With your permission I would like to give up this body. I long to approach my spiritual master and the sages whom I served and to whom this hermitage belongs. Hearing the most pious submission of Shabari, Shri Rama together with Lakshmana experienced incomparable exultation and said, "Wonderful!" With the permission of the lord, she cast herself into fire to leave her body. As the old and emaciated lady wearing rags entered the fire, she was transformed into a beautiful young woman wearing silken cloth and many ornaments. In this form, she gained deliverance at the hands of the lord, as sage Matanga had foretold, and joined her spiritual master to continue her services.

Here we are reminded of Prahlada Maharaja's submission before Lord Narasimha dev in Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.28 " My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But Your servant Narada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?" Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport, "Even though Prahlada Maharaja was directly offered all the benedictions he might have desired, he refused to accept such offerings from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the contrary, he asked the Lord to engage him in the service of His servant Narada Muni. This is the symptom of a pure devotee."

Let us learn from these great souls and pray to develop undeviated love at the lotus feet of our spiritual master because that alone is the perfection of our life.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, Vaijayantimala devi dasi Abu Dhabi.