Thirteen years and one month

Thirteen years and one month is not a short period. If someone is on a mission for that long, one can understand how devoted they are to the mission.

Sabari, a disciple of Mathanga Mahamuni, waited for 13 years and 1 month to welcome Rama to her guru’s asramam.

However, she was not keen on learning anything from Rama or serving Rama. Also, she did not ask for any support or powers from Rama. She was focused on only one goal..

What was Sabari’s goal?

When Rama arrived, she was happy to welcome him. She invited him inside. Immediately, she began showing Him around the asramam.

She took Him to her Guru’s puja mandir. She told Him how the flowers there are so fresh as if offered today but when in fact they are from 13 years ago offered by her Guru.

She took Him to the cloth-hanger area where her Guru dried his clothes. She told Him how the clothes hung there were from 13 years ago and that they are wet as if hung to dry today.

She took Him to a pond in the asramam. She told Him how her Guru would go take a holy dip in the rivers when he was young. After he turned old, the rivers formed a pond in the asramam for serving her gurus.

All she did during the entire time was talk about the greatness of her guru. When she was done explaining the details, she asked for Rama’s permission to leave. She asked if He can give her in writing that she had done a good job in showing Him the asramam. She wanted to show the note to her guru. She created a yogic fire, leaving her mortal body in there. A pushpaka vimana, a powerful vehicle that can travel to higher worlds, came to pick her up and she left to the abode of her guru. Rama was surprised that she didn’t need anything from Him.

How did she become so powerful?

She became powerful because of the grace of her guru. It is said…

siddhirbhavathi va: ne:thi samsayo: achyutha se:vina:m
if you seek God’s blessings for success in any endeavour, you may or may not attain success

na samsayo:sthi thad bhaktha paricharya: ratha:thmana
however, there is no doubt of being successful if you surrender to the devotees of God

What is the secret behind a guru’s power?

What we know of God is that He is sarvajna, all knowledgeable and sarvashakthi, all powerful. However, God has His ‘limitations’. We may wonder what it is that God cannot or won’t do that a guru or a devotee of God can do.

Imagine the inventor of chess game playing chess, won’t he abide by the rules of the game? In the game of life, there is a rule that ‘God keeps the word of His devotees without fail’. This rule is also for our benefit. Let’s see how.

God is sarvaswathanthra, all independent. We may commit sins that cross the limits of His kshama, forgiving threshold. If such a sinner seeks grace of a guru or the grace of a devotee, they get saved. God never disobeys the words of a true devotee. Hence, if you get blessings of a guru, the true devotee of God, you will always attain siddhi, success.

Remember that a right Guru has qualifications such as benevolence, humility, unbeatable Vedic and spiritual knowledge, belongs to an authentic lineage, ultimate practitioner, flawless devotion, complete servitude to God and several other great qualities. God ‘depends’ on them to help everyone succeed in every walk of life, and in every manner, no matter who they are or what kind of backlog of karma they may have.

When a guru blesses you, you can be rest assured of your well-being. After watching Sabari, Rama realized he also needs a guru, a guide, a mentor who can help him reach his goal on that day, i.e. mother Sitha.

Who is Rama’s Guru figure?

Rama had gurus like sage Viswamithra and Maharshi Vasista. However, sage Valmiki expressed that Rama’s guru figure is Hanuman during the search for Sitha. After Rama’s first encounter with Hanuman, sage Valmiki felt relieved and expressed that Rama is now safe in the hands of Hanuman.

pampa:thi:re: hanumatha: sangathaha va:nare:na ha!

If Hanuman did not act properly in the right time, mother Sitha would have committed suicide. The consequences would have been unimaginable for Lord Rama, His brothers and the entire Ayodhya. Let’s look at the sequence of happenings. Remember that our sages used the history of great beings as ways to explain the hidden eternal thatthvas and their nature.

Mother Sitha [a soul] is in Lanka [nature / mortal body] due to the effect of karma/kama [desire]. Hanuman [guru] arrives at Lanka and sings the name of Rama [Lord]. Hearing the name of Lord in Lanka, she retracts from suicide attempt, keeping herself alive. Then, Hanuman [guru] gifts mother Sitha a jewel chudamani [insignia] to instil confidence that Lord will reunite with her. Now, she lives with strengthened hope for reunion with Rama. Nothing hurts her anymore and she gets rescued [regains divine union with Rama].

The divine eternal union with the Lord for every soul is through a guru. Thus, Hanuman becomes the great Statue of Union…

The Statue of Union not only is a symbol of divine union of soul with Lord, but also the union of everyone irrespective of community, race, creed, religion, colour etc.

– From the discourse of HH Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– 18^th August 2024, Day 3
– Inauguration Celebrations of the Statue of Union
– Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple, Houston, USA