Ram and Shabri
One is prompted to ask the question, why Shudras are
treated with contempt if, as claimed earlier, Ram ate the fruit offered by
Shabri (a Shudra woman)?
We want to know in which of the 'Ramayana' the above
episode occurs? Surely, there is no mention about Ram's eating the defiled
fruit in 'Anand Ramayan', "Manjul Ramayan' or 'Tulsi Ramayan'.
The mention of
Shabri's low origin does occur in 'Adhyatam Ramayan'. But it does not say
anything about Ram's eating the plum she offered, after tasting it herself
first.
In "Ramcharit Manas,' the following reference
to Shabri occurs in "Aranya Kand':
When Ram steps into Shabri’s Hut, she is reminded of
sage Matanga's prediction that Ram would one-day visit her hut. Seeing the two brothers (one is dark and
other is fair) with lotus-like eyes, long arms, matted hair and adorned with
garlands, Shabri felt at their feet.
Overwhelmed with love and devotion, she could not utter a word. Instead she prostrated at their feet again
and again. Then after washing their
feet and offering them honorable seats, she brought lot of fruits and roots for
the distinguished guests.
It becomes clear from this that the question of
Ram's taking through tasted by a Shudra woman does not arise. Moreover, the Shastras do not put any
restrictions on accepting fruits and roots etc., from low caste people. Therefore, by accepting the fruit offered by
Shabri, Ram neither antagonised the Shastras nor did you do any thing radical.
This being the fact, there are people claimed that
in Hindu scriptures, Harijans are treated with equality and love.
But apparently those who claim thus have either not
read the scriptures properly, or want to keep the Shudras in eternal
subjugation, or dare not raise a voice against the inhuman attitude of the
Shastras, or want to interpret this discriminating attitude as friendly. Perhaps, because of this ‘friendly
attitude,’ thousands of Shudras have been embracing other religions.
While embracing Buddhism in 1956 along with his
followers, Dr. Ambedkar, declared, “I am liberating myself from the hell in the
form of Hindu religion.”
Even now, it is not too late to rise against the
inhuman injunctions of the Scriptures.
Such a revolt will help bring about a change of attitude among the
people for the benefit of the society in particular and for the nation as a
whole. Mere lip service or slipshod policies are not enough to wipe out this
deep-rooted evil.