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A
Brief Biography
While worshipping Rama as supreme in his writings and
sacred poems, Tulsidas also paid attention to Krishna
and Siva. He is famous for the Tulsai-Kirtan-Ramayan
(or Tulsidas's Song of Rama), throughout Northern India.
It is recognised as the "Bible" of millions
in North India and is probably more familiar to persons
in North India than the Bible is to the average westerner.
Many bhaktas know its most famous verses.
Traditions
tell that his mother died the day after his birth, and
that Rama Bhola was wet-nursed until the age of 5 when
he was given over to a wandering Sadhu. Other folk traditions
also mention the street urchin Rama Bhola.
The
wandering Sadhu re-named him Tulasi-Dasa ('Servant of
the tulasi plant) in honour of the sacred leaf used
in the ceremony of purification of the infant, and by
this name he was henceforth known. With this Sadhu,
who was probably also his guru, Naranari-Dasa, he wandered
all over Northern India. From his guru he learnt the
story of Rama, but owing to his ignorance (of Sanskrit)
he could not at first grasp its importance. At length,
after frequent hearings, he learnt it so far as his
intelligence would allow, and then determined to write
it in the vernacular for his own benefit and for that
of others similarly situated.
When
he grew up, he lived as a householder, and married a
girl named Ratnavali, the daughter of Dinabandhu Pathaka,
by whom he had a son named Taraka, who died at an early
age. He was devoted to his wife and could not bear to
be separated from her. She was a firm Vaisnava, and
on one occasion, when she had gone on to visit to her
people, she reproached him for following her and for
not showing equal affection to Rama. Struck with remorse,
Tulasi at once left her and took to an ascetic life.
He is said to have seen her only once again after many
years, and then not to have recognized her.
With
his base at first in Ayodhya and subsequently in Benares,
he made long journeys over Northern India preaching
the gospel of Rama. At first he met with considerable
opposition, but his holy life and his attractive personality
conquered all obstacles and, even in Benares, the headquarters
of Siva-worship, he won universal respect.
Tulasi
Dasa was a Smarta Vaisnava; i.e., while a devotee of
Ramachandra, he also adhered to the tradition of ordinary
Hinduism and followed the general religious customs
of his caste. This involved, among other things, the
worship of Siva and the practice of eating his meals
apart. In both respects he differed from the Vairagi
Vaisnavas, who had abandoned tradition, and who worshipped
only Vishnu in one or other of his incarnations and
ate in company. During his stay in Ayodhya he associated
with these Vairagi Vaisnasvas and there compiled the
first three cantos of the Rama-charita-manasa. Subsequently,
being unable to agree with them on points of discipline,
he migrated to Benares and there completed the poem.
His
devotion to Ramachandra as an incarnation of the Supreme
is illustrated by the content of his works. With two
exceptions, they all deal directly or indirectly with
that deity. One work is a collection of hymns in praise
of Krishna; another work is a short poem describing
Siva's marriage with Parvati, a subject also treated
at some length as an episode in the Rama-charita-manasa.
Over 20 works are attributed to Tulsidas. Some are apocryphal,
some are written by others with a similar name, and
others bear accretions from later readers and would
be poets. The jury is still out on exactly which works
may be attributed to Tulsidas, but source criticism,
analysis and redaction criticism are bearing fruit.
The
Rama-charita-manasa expresses par excellence the religious
sentiment of bhakti ("loving devotion") to
the Vaisnava avatar, Rama, who is regarded as the chief
means of salvation. Although Tulsidas was above all
a devotee of Rama, he remained a follower of the more
generally accepted traditions and customs of Hinduism
rather than a strict sectarian, and his poem gives some
expression both to orthodox monistic Advaita doctrine
and to the polytheistic mythology of Hinduism--though
these are everywhere subordinated to his expression
of bhakti for Rama. His eclectic approach to doctrinal
questions meant that he was able to rally wide support
for the worship of Rama in northern India, and the success
of the Rama-charita-manasa has been a prime factor in
the replacement of the Krishna cult by the cult of Rama
as the dominant religious influence in that area.
The
Ramacharita-manasa was written between 1574 and 1576
or 1577. A number of early manuscripts are extant--some
fragmentary--and one is said to be an autograph. The
oldest complete manuscript is dated 1647. The poem,
written in Awadhi, an Eastern Hindi dialect, consists
of seven cantos of unequal lengths. Although the ultimate
source of the central narrative is the Sanskrit epic
Ramayana, Tulsidas' principal immediate source was the
Adhyatma Ramayana, a late medieval recasting of the
epic that had already sought to harmonize the Advaita
system and the Rama cult. The influence of the Bhagavata-Purana,
the chief scripture of the Krishna cult, is also discernible,
with that of a number of minor sources.
One popular tradition relates how Tulasidas met Hanuman
at a recitation of the Ramayana and asked Him for a
vision of Rama. However, when the Lord appeared before
him walking through a forest with Lakshmana in the guise
of Princes, Tulsidas did not recognize either, and according
to some ancient authorities, petitioned Hanuman for
another manifestation of Rama. This time he did recognise
the Lord with bow and arrow.
Other
legends speak of Tulsidas thrown into jail because he
refused to perform a miracle for the Emporer Akbar and
an army of monkeys attacking the jail and setting Tulsidas
free. Two other legends have stronger currency. Once
Tulsidas was to be set upon by robbers. When the robbers
approached his abode where he was writing, the robbers
found the house guarded by two fierce looking guards.
In another traditon, jealous brahmins attempted to discard
the Rama-charit-manasa because it was not written by
a pundit or a brahmin; a sorcerer was paid to do a rite
against Tulsidas. The Rama-charit-manasa was placed
in the bottom of the pile of texts. Locked in temple
overnight. Next morning, the text was found at the top
of the pile of scripts.
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