Thulasi Das' doctrine

Tulsi's doctrine is derived from Ramanuja through Ramananda. Like the former, he believes in a supreme personal God, possessing all gracious qualities (sadguna), as well as in the quality-less (nirguna) neuter impersonal Brahman of Sankaracharya; this Lord Himself once took the human form, and became incarnate, for the blessing of mankind, as Rama. The body is therefore to be honored, not despised. The Lord is to be approached by faith (bhakti) disinterested devotion and surrender of self in perfect love, and all actions are to be purified of self-interest in contemplation of Him. Show love to all creatures, and thou wilt be happy; for when thou lovest all things, thou lovest the Lord, for He is all in all. The soul is from the Lord, and is submitted in this life to the bondage of works (karma); Mankind, in their obstinacy, keep binding themselves in the net of actions, and though they know and hear of the bliss of those who have faith in the Lord, they don't attempt the only means of release. The bliss to which the soul attains, by the extinction of desire, in the supreme home, is not absorption in the Lord, but union with Him in abiding individuality. This is emancipation (mukti) from the burden of birth and rebirth, and the highest happiness. Tulsi, as a Saryupareen Brahmin, venerates the whole Hindu pantheon, and is especially careful to give Shiva or Mahadeva, the special deity of the Brahmins, his due, and to point out that there is no inconsistency between devotion to Rama and attachment to Shiva (Ramayana, Lankakanda, Doha 3). But the practical end of all his writings is to inculcate bhakti addressed to Rama as the great means of salvation and emancipation from the chain of births and deaths, a salvation which is as free and open to men of the lowest caste as to Brahmins.

However it is important to understand that for Tulsidas "doctrine" is not so important. Far more relevant is practise, the practise of repeating Rama-Nama, the name of the Rama. In fact, Tulsidas goes as far as to say that the name of Rama is bigger than Rama Himself (कहउँ नामु बड़ राम तें निज बिचार अनुसार, ^[5]). Why is the name of Rama bigger than Rama? Because "Rama" is a mantra, a sound, the repetition of which can lead one to higher states of consciousness. Thus it is not Rama that "saves", but the name of Rama.

The literary worth of Tulsidas has been highlighted by Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla in his critical work Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihaas.Acharya Shukla has elaborated Tulsi's Lokmangal as the doctrine for social upliftment which made this great poet immortal and comparable to any other world littérateur.

Sources and manuscripts

In Growse's translation of the Rāmacaritamānasa^[6], will be found the text and translation of the passages in the Bhagatmala of Nabhaji and its commentary, which are the main original authority for the traditions relating to the poet. Nabhaji had himself met Tulsidas; but the stanza in praise of the poet gives no facts relating to his life – these are stated in the tika or gloss of Priya Das, who wrote in A.D. 1712, and much of the material is legendary and untrustworthy. Unfortunately, the biography of the poet, called Gosai-charitra, by Benimadhab Das, who was a personal follower and constant companion of the Master, and died in 1642, has disappeared, and no copy of it is known to exist.

In the introduction to the edition of the Ramayana by the Nagri Pracharni Sabha all the known facts of Tulsi's life are brought together and critically discussed. For an exposition of his religious position and his place in the popular religion of northern India, see Dr. Grierson's paper in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1903, pp. 447-466. (C. J. L.)

A manuscript of the Ayodhya-kanda, said to be in the poets own hand, exists at Rajapur in Banda, his reputed birthplace. One of the Bala-kanda, dated Samvat 1661, nineteen years before the poet's death, and carefully corrected, it is alleged by Tulsidas himself, is at Ayodhya. Another autograph is reported to be preserved at Maliabad in the Lucknow district., but has not, so far as known, been verfied. Other ancient manuscripts are to be found at Benares. An excellent translation of the whole into English was made by F. S. Growse, of the Indian Civil Service (5th edition, Cawnpore, Kanpur, 1891).

A person from non-Hindi background may find Sri Ramcharitmanas bit difficult to understand. This mainly arise from the colloquialisms, and the idiomatic and elliptical structure of the sentences. These very difficulties constitute its peculiar value to the student who wishes to learn the Sri Ramcharitmanas. It disciplines the mind into recognizing words which have been distorted and twisted, and teaches one that a sentence can be turned upside down and inside out and yet remain intelligible. A nice introduction to the grammar of the Sri Ramcharitmanas was written by Edwin Greaves titled "Notes on the grammar of the Ramayan of Tulsi Das"^[7] (1895).

Differences in Tulsi Rāmacaritamānasa and Valmiki Ramayana

There are numerous differences between Tulsi Rāmacaritamānasa and Valmiki Ramayana. One example is the scene in which Kaikayi forces her husband to exile Rama. In Tulsi Das it becomes considerably longer and more psychological, with intense characterisation and brilliant similes.