Devotee

 

The greatest tale of Shabari- the one who Shabarimala is named after 

We all know the story of Shabari and Lord Rama but here are the stories about how she came to reside in Shabarimala.

Shabari was a princess in one of her previous births and she was married to a King. But her husband did not like her devotion and her performing Vishnu poojas. But the Princess continued her poojas and was cursed by her husband to die a lonely old lady with no family to look after. 

In another birth, she was the daughter of Chitraketu, a Gandharva, and was called Malini. She was a beautiful girl and her beauty fascinated Gods and Gandharvas. Her father got Malini married to another Gandharva against her wishes. One day, while traveling in a forest, they saw a hunter going about hunting animals. Malini fell in love with the hunter and established a relationship with him. One day, her husband came to know about her relationship with the hunter. Shocked, the gandharva cursed his wife to be born among the wild meat eaters.

Scared and repentant, Malini visited the Ashram of Matanga rishi and narrated her story and curse of her husband.

The knowledgeable rishi asked her to take shelter to the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Vishnu who would grant her moksha in Treta Yuga when he would be born as Rama, the prince of Ayodhya. 

She was reborn as Shabari in the Nishada caste. But due to her satwik nature in her previous births, she was a devotee and didn't like harming animals. Once she came of age, her wedding was fixed with another Nishada man. She saw a flock of animals being herded by her father and asked him why he was doing it. The nishada replied that these animals were to be slaughtered and cooked for her wedding. Shabari felt guilty at causing these deaths and decided to leave her house. 

Shabari fled her house and accidentally reached Matanga Muni's ashram in the jungle. The muni greeted her as an old friend due to his knowing her previous births. 

Matanga muni knew that his end was near and asked Shabari to stay at the ashram with his disciples. He said that Lord Rama would visit the place in tretayuga and she would get moksha after having darshana of Lord Sri Ram.

Shabari's pure devotion.