Talk:Gosvāmi Tulsīdās

By Vishal Agarwal

The most famous translation of Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa from Sanskrit is the Rāmacharitmānasa, which was written by Sant Tulsīdās in Awadhi, which is a type (‘dialect’) of the Hindi language.

Sant Tulsīdās is considered an Avatāra of Ṛṣi Vālmīki in our modern times. He was born to Paṇḍit Ātmārām Ḍubey and his wife Hulsi in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Strangely, Tulsīdās was born with all 32 teeth in his mouth like an adult, and his body was like that of a 5 year old child! At his birth, he did not cry, but instead uttered the word ‘Rāma’.

Soon after the birth, his mother Hulsi died. When Paṇḍit Ḍubey made an astrological horoscope of the child, he discovered that Tulsīdās would be very unlucky for his parents. Therefore, he abandoned the child and asked their maid Chuṇṇiyā to take care of the baby.

When Tulsīdās was 5 years old, even Chuṇṇiyā died. Tulsīdās was then forced to live the life of a poor orphan who had to beg for his food to fill his stomach every day. It is said, that Devī Pārvatī would assume the form of a young woman and appeared every day in front of Tulsīdās to feed him in his poverty.

A Sādhu named Svāmī Naraharidās took compassion on the boy and made him his disciple. Tulsīdās then studied the Hindu scriptures under Svāmī Naraharidās, till the latter also died. Svāmī Naraharidās taught him the Rāmāyaṇa – the beautiful life‐story of Bhagavān Rāma that was composed by Ṛṣi Vālmīki thousands of years earlier. Influenced by the Rāmāyaṇa, Tulsīdās became a devotee of Bhagavān Rāma.

Tulsīdās married a woman named Ratnāvalī and settled down in the Hindu sacred city of Vārāṇasī. For the first time in his life, he found someone who really loved him. Therefore, Tulsīdās too loved his wife a lot and took very good care of her. One day, Tulsīdās went to a Maṇḍir to worship Bhagavān Hanumān. In the meantime, Ratnāvalī got a message to visit her father’s home as soon as possible. When Tulsīdās returned to his home, he found his wife missing. So, he decided to go to Ratnāvalī’s father’s home on the other side of the river. It was raining very heavily and there was a flood in the Gaṅgā river, which flows through Vārāṇasī. No boatman would take Tulsīdās across the river because of the rain and floods. Tulsīdās used a floating corpse on the river as a floater and crossed the river to go to the other bank. When he reached the home of Ratnāvalī’s father, he was in such a hurry that he did not want to take the stairs to her room upstairs. He saw a snake hanging from the window and thinking of it to be a rope, he climbed up to her room.

When Ratnāvalī discovered the risks her husband took to meet her, she got very upset and said to him, “You are so much in love with me, but I am just a body made of bones and flesh. If you had loved Bhagavān Rāma even half as much as you love me, you would be a lot happier.”

These words of Ratnāvalī shocked Tulsīdās. Soon, he abandoned his family life, and took to the worship of Bhagavān Rāma and became a Sādhu. He called his wife his Guru for having awakened him from his sleep so that he could see the Lord.

Tulsīdās noted that India at that time was ruled by foreign Muslim rulers who were very harsh on the Hindus. All of our major temples had been demolished by them. Our scriptures were being burned. People were being forcibly asked to give up their religion and become Muslims. And our priests, the Brāhmaṇas, were being tortured. The government officials often troubled the common man by extracting very heavy taxes. Therefore, Tulsīdās thought that he should teach the Rāmāyaṇa to everyone, because it describes the life story of Bhagavān Rāma, who was an ideal ruler, an ideal son and much more. But the Rāmāyaṇa which was written by Ṛṣi Vālmīki was a very large book. It had 24000 verses. Moreover, it was in the Sanskrit language, which the common man did not understand those days.

So he first thought of shortening the Rāmāyaṇa and write a new version of it in Sanskrit with fewer verses. Every day, he wrote some verses in Sanskrit on a piece of paper. These verses described some part of the life of Bhagavān Rāma. But the next morning, Tulsīdās saw that the sheet of paper on which he wrote the verses had become blank! This happened several days in a row. Then one night, Bhagavān Śiva appeared to him in a dream and said to him – “Tulsīdās, do not write the Rāmāyaṇa again in Sanskrit, because only scholars can understand this language these days. I want you to go to Ayodhyā, where Bhagavān Rāma had lived. There you should write your Rāmāyaṇa in the language Awadhi, which the common people speak in that city.”

Tulsīdās understood the command of Śiva and proceeded to Ayodhyā. He started composing his Rāmāyaṇa in Awadhi, and called this version the Rāmacharitmānasa, which means – “The Holy Mānasarovar Lake of the acts of Rāma.” What the title really means that whosoever studies the Rāmacharitmānasa with devotion, will get purified just as we become purified by taking a holy dip in the Mānasarovar Lake, which is close to the home (Mount Kailāśa) of Bhagavān Śiva. The Rāmacharitmānasa was started by Tulsīdās on a day which was the wedding anniversary of Bhagavān Rāma and Devī Sītā. After completing more than half of the book, he moved back to the city of Vārāṇasī and completed it 2 years, 2 months and 26 days later on the Rāmanavamī day, which is the birthday of Bhagavān Rāma.

Tulsīdās then started teaching the Rāmacharitmānasa to people in Vārāṇasī. The book was so beautiful, musical and gave just such a wonderful description of the life of Bhagavān Rāma that soon, large crowds started attending his lectures. For the first time, they could understand the beautiful life of Bhagavān Rāma, because the Rāmacharitmānasa was in Awadhi, a type of the Hindi language which was spoken by the common man. This caused some jealousy amongst the other local Paṇḍits.

They complained that Hindu scriptures should only be written in Sanskrit and not in any other language. One night, the jealous Paṇḍits sent some thieves to steal the manuscript of Rāmacharitmānasa from the hut in which Tulsīdās lived. When the thieves arrived in the dark, they saw two very handsome princes guarding the hut. Suddenly, a monkey attacked the thieves and they fled in terror. The next morning, when Tulsīdās heard about this episode, he was very troubled because he realized that the two princes were none other than Bhagavān Rāma and his brother Lakṣmaṇa. And the monkey was none other than Bhagavān Hanumān.

So Tulsīdās felt sorry that Bhagavān Rāma himself took the trouble to protect him and the Rāmacharitmānasa. He did not want this to happen again and asked his friend Rājā Mānsiṅgh, who was a relative of Emperor Akbar of India, to get many more copies of the Rāmacharitmānasa made for safety. The thieves too gave up stealing and they became devotees of Bhagavān Rāma. They also asked Sant Tulsīdās for forgiveness and he forgave them.

Now the jealous Paṇḍits objected to the fact that Tulsīdās worshipped Bhagavān Śiva sometimes and yet he wrote his scripture on the life of Rāma. How could he be loyal to two Devatās at the same time? The Paṇḍits forgot that all these Devatās are the different forms of the same God. To test Tulsīdās, they asked him to place his manuscript of the Rāmacharitmānasa inside the Kāśī Viśvanāth Temple, the holiest Śiva Maṇḍir in Vārāṇasī. On top of this book, they placed copies of the four Vedas (our holiest scriptures) and then shut the doors of the Maṇḍir.

When the doors were opened the next morning, a miracle had happened. The Rāmacharitmānasa copy was now on the top, and ‘Satyam Śivam Sundaram’ (the signature of Bhagavān Śiva) was written on its front cover. This meant that Bhagavān Śiva himself had decided that Tulsi’s Rāmacharitmānasa was as holy as the Vedas, which are themselves holiest scriptures of Hinduism.

The Paṇḍits felt really ashamed and they asked the Saint for forgiveness. Thereafter, he was allowed to give lectures on the Rāmacharitmānasa without any trouble. Many people made copies of the book and they started singing it in every village.

According to the Hindu tradition, whenever we recite the story of Bhagavān Rāma, Bhagavān Hanumān comes in disguise or in an invisible form to listen to the story because he is very devoted to Bhagavān Rāma and likes to hear the story as many times as possible.

Tulsīdās noted that every day, when he would start teaching his Rāmacharitmānasa, a leper would be the first person to arrive, and the last person to leave. Tulsīdās realized that this leper was none other than Śrī Hanumān. So one day, he followed the leper after his recitation into the forest and begged him to show his true form. And lo, the leper became Bhagavān Hanumān. The site where Tulsīdās met Bhagavān Hanumān now has a famous temple called Saṅkaṭ Mochan Hanumān Maṇḍir in Vārāṇasī.

Tulsīdās requested Bhagavān Hanumān that he should be able to meet Bhagavān Rāma at least once. Hanumān advised Tulsīdās to go to a place Citrakūṭa close to Yamunā River, where Bhagavān Rāma had spent some time during his exile. There, Tulsīdās was one day grinding some sandal‐wood (candana) to make a fragrant paste when two handsome princes appeared before him. They requested Tulsīdās to apply Tilak to them on their foreheads.

Hanumān‐jī suddenly appeared there and hinted to the Saint that these were no other than Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. Tulsīdās was so overjoyed on seeing Bhagavān Rāma that he forgot to apply the Tilak. Then Rāma himself took the candana and applied the Tilak to his forehead and then to the forehead of Tulsīdās.

When Tulsīdās was old, he became very ill. So he wrote a beautiful poem called Vinaya Patrikā in which he prayed to Bhagavān Rāma to take all his pain and sadness away. Eventually, in 1623 CE, Gosvāmi Tulsīdās passed away at the Asi Ghāṭa location in Vārāṇasī. Earlier, Tulsīdās also wrote many other beautiful prayers to Bhagavān Rāma and Bhagavān Hanumān and to other Devī‐Devatās. The famous Hanumān Cālīsā was written by Tulsīdās to worship Bhagavān Hanumān in 40 verses. It is said to be the second most popular of all the prayers that are recited by Hindus today.

In his Rāmgyā Praśnāvalī, Tulsīdās listed the names of his friends and individuals who participated in his religious discourses. Other than a few, all the friends and participants appear to be from the so‐called low castes. Numerous examples from his life show his regard for people from all social classes. Once, Sant Nābhādās invited him for a meal at his home. Nābhādās was of the ‘Dom’ sub caste, considered untouchables. Tulsīdās got busy and forgot to show up on time. That night, when he remembered the invitation, he really regretted his memory lapse. He immediately rushed to the home of the Sant and requested for leftovers so that he could fulfill his promise.

One day, Tulsīdās was seated inside a temple and he heard a lot of commotion outside. Upon enquiry, he discovered that some Bhīl tribals wanted to enter the Maṇḍir to meet Tulsīdās, but they were not being allowed to do so. Some priests were objecting that Bhīls being tribals will pollute the Maṇḍir by entering it.

As soon as Tulsīdās heard of this, he rushed outside and greeted the Bhīls with reverence. He said, “I bow to the Bhīls because my Rāma had spent time in their company during his fourteen year exile in the forest.”

Tulsīdās is one of the greatest Saints of Hindus. His beautiful Rāmacharitmānasa and other works like the Hanumān Cālīsā are studied and sung by millions even today. He wrote all these works at a time when we Hindus were suffering a lot under the Moghul rule. He inspired our ancestors to draw good morals from the life of Bhagavān Rāma, to treat everyone with compassion and kindness, to have faith and devotion in Rāma and to never lose hope and courage.

What do we learn from the life of Tulsīdās? The life of Tulsīdās shows us that even if we have a lot of problems and difficulties in our lives, we should continue to love Rāma, and have deep faith in him. Bhagavān Rāma will surely hear our prayers and help us out.

Tulsīdās wrote his Rāmacharitmānasa in the language of the common people, and not in Sanskrit. But Bhagavān Śiva decided that it was as sacred as the holy Vedas in Sanskrit. Therefore another message from the life of Tulsīdās is that even though Sanskrit is the holy language for us Hindus, Īśvara will listen to our prayers no matter which language we use to worship him.

The important thing to keep in mind is that we should remember God with faith and devotion, no matter what the language of our prayers is.

Did you know? The original copy of the Rāmacharitmānasa with Śiva’s signature ‘Satyam Śivam Sundaram’ still exists with a family in the city of Vārāṇasī. A portion of another copy written by Tulsīdās himself is in the village where he was born. This second copy is shown in the picture on the left. Many people memorize the entire Rāmacharitmānasa by heart.

The Hanumān Cālīsā hymn of Tulsīdās is one of the most popular hymns recited by Hindus all over the world. There is a very interesting story about it from a country called Guyana. The country of Guyana in the continent of South America has a large Hindu population. In the year 1999, a Muslim criminal was sentenced to death. On the day of his hanging, he expressed a wish to hear the Hanumān Cālīsā from a Hindu preacher. Surprisingly, just some time after he had heard the hymn, an order came to release him because the court case against him had been dismissed because of a legal loophole. The Muslim prisoner thanked Bhagavān Hanumān for saving his life. Since then, all prisoners in that jail in Guyana have wanted to hear the Hanumān Cālīsā, whether they were Hindu or non‐Hindu, in the hope that they will be released from the jail.