A doubt may occur here. It is said "hInabrEshyam hInasakhyam hInakEha nishEvaNam". That is, doing work, becoming friends and staying with lowly people should not be done. So, is it alright for Him to do that and can we consider that as a great act if He does it?

The answer is: If these are done by people like us, it is considered as inappropriate. For Him, who is without parallel, this indeed brings out His greatness. After all, names such as Pandava Dhootha and Parthasarathy only make His greatness shine further.

Sabari

His saushIlyam was brought out by His interactions with Guha, Sugreeva and Vibeeshana. Vedanta Desika in his Daya Shatakam says "nishAdAnAm nEtA kapikulapati: kApi sabarI". So, let us consider Sabari as well. Neither in Valmiki Ramayanam nor in Kamba Ramayanam, has the incident with Sabari been dealt with in detail. However, our acharyas have spoken about this incident based on other works or through an in-depth look at Valmiki Ramayanam.

In Srivachana Bhushanam 233, Pillai Lokachariar says "perumAL shrIsabari kaiyAlE amudhu seydharuLinAr". One must study well the vyakhyanam for this chUrNai by Manavala Mamunigal. Here Mamunigal says "than nAvukku inidhAy irundha pala mUlAdhigaL ellAm". He would not say this without pramANam. Valmiki says "sabaryA pUjitas samyak rAmO dasaratAtmaja:". One can consider that what Mamunigal said, is the inner meaning of 'samyak'.

Some may wonder why Rama interacted this way with Sabari. When Guha was with Rama, he brought out some food items and presented that to Him. Rama rejected them saying that 'He had taken a vrata of not accepting anything from anyone while in the forest'. Why did He say "nahi varttE pratigrahE" (Ayodhya Kanda 50)? Guha did not offer wealth, clothes etc; he offered food items such as honey. But Rama rejected it. Yet, He accepted Sabari's offering saying "arcchitOham tvayA bhaktyA".

In Manavala Mamunigal's commentary, he says "guru sushrushaiyilE pazhuththu njAnAdhikaiyAy" about Sabari. She had a great dharma which was performing service to acharyas. This dharma is also mentioned by Kabandha to Sri Rama when he tells about her to Him. Sri Rama as soon as He saw Sabari asks 'if her service to her acharyas was well done'. She too replies that 'her acharyas accepted her services and have now left for His divine abode and that Rama should let her go where they went'. Our acharyas state that, it is due to a lack of such a dharma that Rama did not accept the food offered by Guha.

There are some who say that Rama would have accepted fruits from Guha too and that since he offered other things, He rejected them. In that case, He could have asked Guha to bring fruits instead of saying "nahi varttE pratigrahE". This phrase does not necessarily mean that He will accept nothing from anyone; it can also mean that He will not accept anything from Guha alone. And the reason for that is as above.

In his Sankalpa Suryodhayam, Desikan says "bhagavati bharadwajE bhuktis tatA sabarIgruhE". Swami Desikan is celebrating His saushIlya guNam of eating at Sabari's home just as He had at the ashrama of Bharadwaja.