Śarabhaṅga Moksha (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)
Śarabhaṅga is a great ṛshi who lived in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest. In the Araṇya Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bhagavān Rāma comes to his āśrama. Śarabhaṅga had put off his journey to Brahmaloka so that he could first see Rāma. After seeing him, singing a stotra and giving all his tapas to Rāma, Śarabhaṅga built a pyre, stood on it and offered himself into the fire of yoga with Rāma’s form in his heart. Because he had asked for the vara of bhakti, he reached Vaikuṇṭha.
What came before
Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa had left the āśrama of Atri Maharshi and Anasūyā. They had met the rākshasa Virādha, whom Rāma slew. The three exiles went on through the Daṇḍakāraṇya. They came to a part of the forest where the bones of ṛshis killed by rākshasas lay in great heaps. The ṛshis showed these heaps to Rāma, and Rāma made his solemn vow:
“I will destroy the rākshasas from this earth. Do not fear.”
They went on along the path and reached the āśrama of Śarabhaṅga Maharshi.
Śarabhaṅga waits
Śarabhaṅga had finished his sādhana (spiritual practice) and was fully ready to go up to Brahmaloka. His tapas had borne fruit, and the way was clear. But he had learned beforehand that Bhagavān Rāmachandra, Paramātmā in human form, would pass through the forest. He decided he could not leave without first seeing that divine form. So he waited.
When Rāma’s party arrived, Śarabhaṅga saw the mohana-mūrti (enchanting form) of Rāmachandra: the beauty of his body, the bow in his hand, and Sītā and Lakshmaṇa beside him. The muni’s eyes were held fast. His bhramara-netra (bee-like eyes), which sought the nectar of beauty, fell on Rāma and were completely absorbed. He fell into a mūrchchhā, a divine swoon.
The stotra and the self-offering in fire
When he recovered, Śarabhaṅga joined his hands in añjali and spoke in a voice that shook with ānanda (bliss):
“Like a haṃsa (swan) moving on the Mānasa lake of Maheśa’s mind, O Sāketarāma, I was ready to leave for Brahmaloka. But I could not go without your darśana. O Bhaktavatsala, O Kṛpānidhi, you came for this helpless one, who has no sādhana, this poor one. By your darśana, all my *pāpa (sin) and tāpa (torment) have been destroyed, and my mind and body have found śānti (peace). O Jagannātha, there is nothing more I need to say. Give me leave to go (śubha-gamana).”*
Then Śarabhaṅga piled up a pyre, stood on it, and made his last prayer before giving himself to the fire:
“O Prabhu Rāma! All my japa, tapas and yajña, everything I have gathered, I now give to you completely. O Rāma, blue as a rain cloud! Together with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa, live always in my heart in your saguṇa form.”
Sītā anuja sameta prabhu nīlajala tanūśyām.
Mama hiya basahu nirantara saguṇarūpa Śrīrām!
Having made this prayer, Śarabhaṅga gave himself to yogāgni, the fire of inner yoga, in the very presence of Rāmachandra.
The moksha
Śarabhaṅga had asked for the vara of bhakti, that Rāma’s saguṇa form would stay for ever in his heart. He had not asked for ekatva, merger with the formless Brahman. So he did not dissolve into the nirguṇa (the formless). He reached Vaikuṇṭha. The ṛshis gathered at the āśrama praised his bhakti in many words.
Bhagavān Śiva’s words to Pārvatī
Telling this episode to Pārvatī, Bhagavān Śiva spoke of it. Even a ṛshi who is fully accomplished in sādhana, who is ready for his final departure, and who has earned Brahmaloka by gathered tapas, will wait to see Bhagavān Rāma, because that darśana is itself the highest phalaśruti (fruit). Śarabhaṅga’s path shows that love for the saguṇa form of Bhagavān Rāma, when it is the deepest wish of the heart at the time of final departure, brings the devotee to Vaikuṇṭha and not to Brahmaloka.
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa