Mahatma Goswami Tulsidas

[Kam1825]

Gosvāmī Tulsīdās (1532-1623; Devanāgarī: तुलसीदास) was an Awadhi poet and philosopher. He was born in Rajapur, India in Banda District, Uttar Pradesh, during the reign of Akbar. Tulsidas wrote twelve books and is considered the greatest and most famous of Hindi poets. He is regarded as an incarnation of Valmiki, the author of Ramayana written in Sanskrit. He wrote Rāmacaritamānasa ("The Lake of the Deeds of Rama"), an epic devoted to Lord Rama. This Awadhi version of Ramayana, like many translations of the original Sanskrit Ramayana, is read and worshipped with great reverence in many Hindu homes in northern India. It is an inspiring book that contains sweet couplets in beautiful rhyme called 'chaupai'. Vinaya Patrika is another important book written by Tulsidas. He is considered one of the northern Indian Sants.

Tulsidas is the Prophet of Hinduism and has written the Rāmacaritamānasa, as dictated by God, which is the new Veda for the Kalyug. This new Veda teaches us that salvation to God can be done, not by sacrifices, rituals, nor intense yoga, but by simple devotion to Ram (God) and by doing good service to every living being. Tulsidas was a Sarayuparina Brahmin by birth. His father's name was Atma Ram Dube; that of his mother is said to have been Hulasi. A legend relates that, having been born under an unlucky conjunction of the stars, he was abandoned in infancy by his parents, and was adopted by a wandering sadhu or ascetic, with whom he visited many holy places in the length and breadth of India; and the story is in part supported by passages in his poems. He got his name Tulsi because he devoted a lot of time in looking after the Tulsi plants. He studied, apparently after having rejoined his family, at Sukar-khet, a place generally identified with Soro in the Etah district of the Uttar Pradesh, but more probably the same as Varahakshetra on the Ghagra River, 30 miles west of Ayodhya (Varahakshetra and Sukar-khet have the same meaning; Varaha or Sukara means a wild boar).

He married during his father's lifetime, and begat a son. His wife was Ratnavali, daughter of Dinabandhu Pathak. Their son Tarak died at an early age. Ratnavali, devoted to the worship of Rama, then left her husband and returned to her father's house to occupy herself with religion. Tulsidas followed her, and endeavoured to induce her to return to him, but in vain; she reproached him (in verses which have been preserved) with want of faith in Rama, and so moved him that he renounced the world, and entered upon an ascetic life, much of which was spent in wandering as a preacher of the necessity of a loving faith in Rama. He first made Ayodhya his headquarters, frequently visiting distant places of pilgrimage in different parts of India. During his residence at Ayodhya the Lord Rama is said to have appeared to him in a dream, and to have commanded him to write a Ramayana in the language used by the common people. He began this work in the year 1574, and had finished the third book (Aranyakanda), when differences with the Vairagi Vaishnavas at Ayodhya, to whom he had attached himself, led him to migrate to Benares. Here he died in 1623, during the reign of the emperor Jahangir, at the age of 91.

The period of his greatest activity as an author synchronized with the latter half of the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), and the first portion of that of Jahangir, his dated works being as follows: commencement of the Ramayan, 1574; Ram-satsai, 1584; Parvati-mangal, 1586; Ramajña Prashna, 1598; Kabitta Ramayan, between 1612 and 1614. A deed of arbitration in his hand, dated 1612, relating to the settlement of a dispute between the sons of a land-owner named Todar, who possessed some villages adjacent to Benares, has been preserved, and is reproduced in facsimile in Dr. Grierson's Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan, p. 51. Todar (who was not, as formerly supposed, Akbar's finance minister, the celebrated Raja Todar Mal) was his close friend, and a beautiful and pathetic poem by Tulsi on his death is extant. He is said to have been resorted to, as a venerated teacher, by Raja Man Singh I of Amber now Jaipur (d. 1589-1614), his son Jagat Singh, and other powerful princes; and it appears to be certain that his great fame and influence as a religious leader, which remain pre-eminent to this day, were fully established during his lifetime

Tulsidas's most famous poem is Rāmacaritamānasa, or "The Lake of the Deeds of Rama". It is popularly called Tulsi-krita Ramayana and is as well known among Hindus in North India. Many of its verses are popular proverbs in that region. Tulsidas' phrases have passed into common speech, and are used by millions of Hindi speakers (and even speakers of Urdu) without the speakers being conscious of their origin. Not only are his sayings proverbial: his doctrine actually forms the most powerful religious influence in present-day Hinduism; and, though he founded no school and was never known as a guru or master, he is everywhere accepted as both poet and saint, an inspired and authoritative guide in religion and the conduct of life.

Tulsidas professed himself the humble follower of his teacher, Narhari-Das, from whom as a boy in Sukar-khet he first heard the tale of Rama's exploits that would form the subject of the Rāmacaritamānasa. (Narhari-Das was the sixth in spiritual descent from Ramananda, the founder of popular Vaishnavism in northern India.)

A link to the english translation of the Rāmacaritamānasa can be found on the following link

http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramacharitamanasindex.htm

enjoy

[shaheediyan]

Tulsi Das was a vehement defender of the smarta tradition and his verses in the Ramacharitamanas and Dohavali have been seen to be attacking the Shudra Bhagats (most likely followers of Kabir Ji and Ravidas Ji etc) due to their brave stance against monopilisation of God by Brahmans.

"In this kaliyuga the devotees describe bhakti by reciting verses, songs and couplets, stories and anecdotes while they scorn the Veda and Puranas" (Dohavali 554)

"The shudras dispute with brahmans. The caste angry looks and scold: 'are we something less than you? Whoever knows brahman, becomes a noble brahman'" (Ramacharitamanas)

Above translations by David N. Lorenzen

[unbreakable]

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[Silence]

satguru bina hor kachi hai bani

anything not approved by guru sahib is FALSE

concentrate on maharaj's bani and naam simran

this is just a waste of time, gurbani clearly tells us reading such things will not help us ji:

paath pario ar bed bichario nival bhuyangam sadhe

pyare in bidh milan na jahin lakhna me keye karam aneka"

[shaheediyan]

Stop with your childish comments.

No one here advocated any Sikh using Tulsidas's thoughts to attain mukti.

Kam simply posted the article for educational purposes.

This post falls within the Hinduism/Other Indian religious traditions section of the forum, if it doesn't interest you then don't read the content contained within this section.

[Silence]

ok sorry

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[Kam1825]

Goswami Tulsidas has take n the stance as Shaheediyan has pointed out. Maybe this is the reason why his works could not be included with the bani of the bhagats who gained a great status through their prema bhagti.

However i must nsist the works of Tulsidas do have alot to offer people who want to learn. The different Khands in the Rama Charitars are very interesting and the work can be used in comparison with the ram avtar by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

[Mithr]

Thanks Kam for posting this article. I think Sikhs should learn all the religious ways for Gian purpose. We may not agree with Tulsidas, but nothing wrong with learning about this great man who is the first in india to have dared to write Ramayan in Hindi against all opposition of the Brahmans of that time. Currently his translation of Ramayan is almost as revered as the Valmiki Ramayan.

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[Mithr]

That's true too unbreakable.

[tSingh]

Its worth keeping in mind that Guru Maharaj gave his own version of the Ramayana (Ram Avtaar) alongwith sections of the Bhagvat Purana (Krishnavtar) in Sri Dasam Granth, so I would be cautious in castigating it. In Ramavatar Guru Maharaj celebrates Sri Ram Chandra's kshatriya virtues. The quotation identified by David Lorenzen is true (a scholar who has done sterling work on bhakti traditions like kabirpanthis and dadupanthis - both of whom as it turns out have drawn on Sri Ram Chandra as their saguna ishtadev, at least among the books, few ashrams and sadhus I've met).

However many of the crucial aspects of the bhakti movement are found within ramcharitmanas such as sadh sangat, nam simran, and contrary to the earlier post...everyone (including the ajaati bhilni tribe girls who were devoted to Sri Ram Chandra) being qualified for mukti through raam bhagti. I guess the million dollar question is for most bhakti traditions, in the realm of mukti all of us are equally qualified (adhikari), but in terms of the structure of society, did these traditions desire an end to varnashramdharma as a social model....or a modification of it? The extent to which Guru Maharaj worked with kshatriya dharma makes me think the latter not the former, and perhaps a more horizontal model removed of its notions of pollution, its inherent prejudice and the premise of birth rite (just thinking aloud). Furthermore, the inspiration for many of the bhagats was a vaishnav understanding of saguna braham. Namdev on 'raghu ram', Ramanand himself being linked to the Sri Viashnav tradition (ramanuj), dhanna bhagat being his disciple and attaining mukti through devotion to hari, etc.

[Malwe Da Sher]

removed of its notions of pollution, its inherent prejudice and the premise of birth rite (just thinking aloud).

with you 100% on that one

[Silence]

oh my, kshytra a part of hinduism no?

are you insinuating that the khalsa panth are part of the hindu dharam?

its unbelievable how complicated people can make sikhi :shock:

jap naamm and get all gyan

i sure do like the ring of that

[tSingh]

so did tulsidas! lol.

[tSingh]

in answer to your question...no i'm not giving my opinion, and no i'm not making things complicated, merely pointing out basic facts which you can see for yourself by reading Ram Avatar and reading basic information about the bhagats. I am totally unconcerned whether something 'sounds like hindu dharam', I'm bothered about what my Guru's teachings are, removed of any political bias and modern paranoia.

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[shaheediyan]

Unbreakable, with all due respect; you can't learn everything by asking questions on SA. If you recieve some guidance, you should appreciate it and make effort to learn like everyone else.

tSingh - to clarify - I was not commenting on mukti through Vaishnav systems, Ram bhagti etc - I was specifically commenting on recieving mukti from following a man (and works) as rightfully respected, productive and artistic as he was, who had tainted beliefs.

Thanks.

[tSingh]

I concur shaheediyan, but was just giving him his due, that he was also instrumental in opening up mukti which traditionally within varanashramdharma was only really accessible for 'dvaijaatis' to all regardless of 'varan'.

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[Malwe Da Sher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama