A folk tale related to Shabri is very popular in the minds of people. It is said that when Rama was eating the leftover berries of Shabri, who was immersed in devotion, he was also giving berries to Lakshman to eat in between. But Lakshman did not eat the leftover berries of Shabri given by Rama and threw them away. When Rama saw this, he felt it was an insult to the devotee Shabri. He told Lakshman that the berries he was throwing away while disrespecting Shabri’s devotion, the same berries would save his life one day in times of crisis. During the Ram-Ravana war, when Lakshman had fainted due to Meghnad’s power, then these very berries had revived Lakshman in the form of Mrit Sanjivani.
According to mythological beliefs, Lord Rama met Shabri on the seventh day of Krishna Paksha of Falgun month in Treta Yuga. On this day, Rama ate the leftover berries of Shabri. According to another belief, Mother Shabri got salvation on this day. The idea behind this is that after years of waiting, when she met God, she got liberation after this meeting, because after meeting God, no desire or wish remains. The end of all kinds of desires is liberation. Here Shabri had only one wish, to meet Lord Rama. It is believed that Lord Rama and Shabri met in Subir village of Dang district of today’s Gujarat. At this place, there is a Shabri Dham temple in their memory, which is visited by a large number of tourists every year.
It is said that Shabri’s name was ‘Shramana’. She belonged to the Shabar caste of the Bhil community. Her father’s name was Aj and mother’s name was Indumati. Her father was the head of the Bhils. Her father fixed her marriage with a Bhil Kumar. At that time, there was a practice of sacrificing animals on the occasion of marriage. Bhil Kumari Shabri opposed this practice and with the aim of ending this practice, she did not marry. After this incident, she went to the forest and started living in the ashram of Matang Rishi. Pleased with her spirit of service, Matang Rishi said that one day Lord Rama himself will come to you and will save you. With this belief, Shabri started waiting for Lord Rama.