Shabari's Devotion

Shabari was an elderly tribal woman who lived alone in a forest hermitage. Her guru had told her before dying, "Wait here. Lord Rama will come to you one day." For years, she waited faithfully, sweeping the path, collecting berries, and keeping her hut ready. When Rama and Lakshmana finally arrived during their search for Sita, Shabari could not believe her eyes. Trembling with joy, she offered them the forest berries she had collected. She had tasted each one first, keeping only the sweetest for her lord and discarding the sour ones. Lakshmana hesitated at the half-eaten fruit, but Rama ate them happily, saying, "I taste only devotion in these berries." Shabari's decades of patient love and pure-hearted offering were valued above any grand feast.