Tulsidas is known as the one of the greatest poets in the literary world. He is the author of many books but one of the most revered is the Shri Ramcharitamanas. However, before Tulsidas gained world-wide admiration and recognition he overcame many hardships. Tulsidas was born to Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey in the year 1532 in Uttar Pradesh. At the beginning of his life, Tulsidas was deemed an unfortunate child as he was born under the ominous star Mool Nakshatra. He lost his parents early in life and was raised by Baba Narhari Das whom Tulsidas accepted as his preceptor. Amazingly, the first word Tulsidas uttered as a child was ‘Ram’. Consequently he was also known as ‘Ram Bola’ by the villagers.
Later in his life, he was married to Ratnavali, but this relationship ended some years later when he developed an inappeasable thirst for the Divine. He renounced all family ties and became an ascetic. His love for Shri Ram was unparalleled. The greater part of each day was spent in intense meditation on this form of God. His insatiable desire to see Shri Ram drove him to undertake a long pilgrimage across India.
Once an emperor heard of the sacrifices and greatness of Tulsidas and demanded that he perform a miracle but he said, “I have no superhuman power. I know only the name of Ram.” Angered by this statement, the emperor imprisoned Tulsidas. With unwavering faith, Tulsidas prayed to Shri Hanuman. Many monkeys entered the court of the emperor and this proved to him that Tulsidas was a saint.
A composer of several popular works, he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana based on Shri Rama’s life in the vernacular Awadhi. This text was put to the test by some Hindu scholars who felt that Tulsi should not have done the Avadhi version of Ramayana.The Ramacharitramanas was placed at the bottom of other texts and left in the Vishwanath Mandir. The next morning everyone was surprised to see Tulsi’s text above the rest and the following words stamped over them “Satyam. Shivam Sundaram”.
This convinced the world that this text of Tulsidas had the stamp of approval of the Lord. Today, Tulsi’s Ramcharitramanas is one of the most read scriptures throughout the world.
Some of his other writings include: Krishna Gitavali, Gitavali, Sahitya Ratna, Dohavali, Vairagya Sandipani and Vinaya Patrika. Besides these works, four other compositions by him are quite popular. They are: Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman Ashtak, Tulsi Tatsai and Hanuman Bahuk. The Hanuman Bahuka literally means The Arm of Hanuman and comprises 44 verses and is believed to have been composed by Tulsidas when he suffered acute pain in his arms at an advanced age. In the Bahuk, Tulsidas describes the pain in his arms and also prays to Hanuman for freedom from the suffering.
As we remember the great Kavi on Tulsi Jayanti on August 09, 2016, it may be quite beneficial to focus on the lyrics of his compositions as we sing them.
