The Seven Seas of the Soul: Shabari’s Symbol of Inner Qualities

Question

Madam, there’s a mention of the seven seas — sapta sāgara — when Shabari shows Lord Rama around Matanga forest. What does that mean? She says there are seven seas of water there. What is the inner meaning of that?

Answer

In the Bhagavata Purana, there’s a story of King Priyavrata. It says that when King Priyavrata rode his chariot around the earth, the movement of its wheels created seven seas, and their names are given there.

In the same way, when the Ramayana mentions seven seas here in Matanga forest, the meaning is symbolic.

When the mind becomes joyful and begins to move toward Self-knowledge, then within that mind, the oceans of bliss — the fundamental qualities of the soul — start to manifest.

These essential qualities of the soul are: purity, power, knowledge, love, peace, happiness, and bliss.
These seven are what are symbolically called the seven seas.

So, when we are established in our true Self, we naturally find ourselves dwelling in these oceans — the ocean of peace, the ocean of bliss, the ocean of love, the ocean of power, the ocean of knowledge, and so on. We don’t have to try to enter them; we automatically become established in them.

Thus, when Shabari shows Rama the seven seas in Matanga forest, it seems to be an indication that the forest of Matanga — that is, the place of the joyful mind — already holds these seven seas within it.

They are simply being pointed to symbolically. The text doesn’t give long explanations because the purpose is only to give a hint — that as we walk the inner path: beginning with satsang (the company of truth), the arising of a joyful mind (Matanga), the awakening of mumukshutva (the longing for liberation), the gathering of spiritual knowledge (symbolized by collecting fruits and roots), and finally the coming of Rama (Self-realization) — then, in this sequence, the seven seas will rise within our own life.

Matanga forest represents that inner state of the joyful, elevated mind, and within it lie these seven seas — meaning, these seven divine qualities of the soul.

When we become established in the Self — in the awareness of Sat-Chit-Ananda — these qualities awaken naturally:
peace, happiness, love, bliss, power, purity, and knowledge.

That is the stage all of us are moving toward through this study and reflection. Our satsang makes our mind joyful; this joyful mind is the Matanga Muni within us. And from that joy, the mumuksha-vritti (the longing for Self-knowledge) arises.

Right now, we are in that stage — some of us even feel it strongly and often ask, “When will the goal be attained? It’s been years of study, yet realization hasn’t happened.”

That longing itself is mumukshutva, the yearning for liberation. It doesn’t ripen instantly.

That’s why, in the story, Shabari is described as old.
Why old? Because the mumuksha-vritti—the longing—has been alive within for a long time. It arose perhaps years ago, and though it hasn’t yet reached its goal, it remains constant, steady, and mature.

She’s called a tapasvini, an ascetic, because she has stayed devoted to her path, never giving up her discipline. And old because this longing has been present and enduring within her over many years — patient, persistent, waiting for the moment of realization.

That’s the inner meaning: Shabari is the aged, steadfast longing within us — the ripened mumuksha-vritti that continues its journey until it finally reaches Rama — the realization of the Self.