Ramcharitmanas
Ramcharitmanas, is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas. It has many inspirations, the primary being the Ramayana of Valmiki.
This work is also called, in popular parlance, Tulsi Ramayana, Tulsikrit Ramayana, Tulsidas Ramayana or simply Manas. The word Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama". It is considered one of the greatest works of Hindu literature. The work has variously been acclaimed as "the living sum of Indian culture", "the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry", "the greatest book of all devotional literature" and "the best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people".
Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit, but due to limited accessibility of the language, he chose to write it in the vernacular, Awadhi, making his work more accessible to the general public. Tradition has it that Tulsidas had to face much criticism from the Sanskrit scholars of Varanasi for being a vernacular poet. However, Tulsidas remained steadfast in his resolve to simplify the knowledge contained in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas to the common people. Subsequently, his work was widely accepted.
Ramcharitmanas made available the story of Rama to the common man to sing, meditate and perform on. The writing of Ramcharitmanas also heralded many a cultural tradition, most significantly that of the tradition of Ramlila, the dramatic enactment of the text. Ramcharitmanas is considered by many as a work belonging to the Saguna school of the Bhakti movement in Hindi literature.
In May 2024, during the tenth meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, the Ramcharitamanas manuscripts were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register. One manuscript was authored by Tulsidas, and the other was written in Arabic in the 18th century, showcasing the text's appeal in West Asia and other parts of the world.
Background
Tulsidas began writing the Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya in Vikram Samvat 1631. The exact date is stated within the poem as being the ninth day of the month of Chaitra, which is the birthday of Rama or Rama Navami. Ramcharitmanas was composed at Ayodhya, Varanasi and Chitrakoot.The Ramcharitmanas is written in vernacular Awadhi language. The core of the work is considered by some to be a poetic retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana by Valmiki. The Valmiki Ramayana is centered on the narrative of Rama. Rama was the crown prince of Ayodhya and is considered in Hindu tradition as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. However, the Ramacharitmanas is by no means a replica of the Valmiki Ramayana nor an abridged re-telling of it. Ramcharitmanas has elements from many other Ramayanas written earlier in Sanskrit, and other Indian dialects as well as stories from Puranas. Tulsidas is said to have some spiritual powers to see the events occurred till Tretayuga that he used to narrate Ramcharitmanas. He calls the epic Ramcharitmanas as the story of Rama, which was narrated by Shiva to his wife, Parvati. Tulsidas claims to have received the story through his guru, Narharidas as a child until he wrote it down as the Ramcharitmanas. His guru graciously repeated it again and again so that he could understand and remember it. Then he narrated the story and named it Ramcharitmanas as Shiva himself called it. The epic poem is, therefore, also referred to as Tulsikrit Ramayana.
Etymology
The word Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama". Additionally, Phillip Lutgendorf uses W.D.P Hill's English translation of the Ramcharitmanas titled "The Holy Lake of the Acts of Ram." The word Ram refers to the main character of the epic, the Hindu god Rama; carita means "acts or deeds" and manas loosely refers to the "mind or heart." Manas is also a proper noun, referring to a Himalayan lake, thus rendering Hill's entire translation of "The Holy Lake of the Acts of Ram."Manuscripts
A manuscript of the Ramcharitatmanas dated to 1648 CE is kept at a Hanuman temple in Tulsi Ghat, Varanasi.Structure
Ramcharitmanas consists of seven Kānds and composed of approximately 12,800 lines, divided into 1,073 stanzas. Tulsidas compared the seven Kāndas of the epic to seven steps leading into the holy waters of Lake Manasarovar "which purifies the body and the soul at once".The first two parts, Bāl Kāṇḍ and Ayodhyā Kāṇḍ, make up more than half of the work. The other parts are Araṇya Kāṇḍ, Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ, Sundar Kāṇḍ, Laṅkā Kāṇḍ, and Uttar Kāṇḍ. The work is primarily composed in the Chaupai metre, separated by the Doha metre, with occasional Soratha and various Chhand metres.
Invocations
Every chapter of the Ramcharitmanas begins with an invocation or Mangalācharaņ. It is customary in the Indian tradition of writing for the author to begin a new book with invocation to the gods to ensure that the sankalpa is finished unhindered. The first three or four verses of each Kānd are typically in the form of invocations.Bāl Kāṇḍ begins with a hymn honouring the goddess Saraswati and the god Ganesha, the deities related to knowledge, wisdom, speech and auspiciousness. The deities Lord Shiva, Lord Rama, and Goddess Sita are also honoured in succeeding verses. In the Pushpavatika Nireekshan chapter, the detailed description of the legendary garden Baag Taraag Pushpavatika is explained.
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍ begins with the famous verse dedicated to the god Shiva: May He in whose lap shines forth Parvati, the daughter of the mountain-king, who carries the celestial stream Ganga on His head, on whose brow rests the crescent moon, whose throat holds deadly poison & whose breast is graced by serpent-king, & who is adorned by the ashes on His body, may that chief of gods, the Lord of all, the Destroyer of the universe, the omnipresent Shiva, the moon-like Shankar, ever protect me.
Araṇya Kāṇḍ first verse again extols Shiva: I reverence Bhagavan Śańkara, the progeny of Brahmā, the very root of the tree of piety, the beloved, devotee of King Śri Rama, the full moon that brings joy to the ocean of wisdom, the sun that opens the lotus of dispassion, the wind that disperses the clouds of ignorance, who dispels the thick darkness of sin & eradicates the threefold agony & who wipes off all calumny and obloquy.
Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ commences with the following verse: Lovely as a jasmine & a blue lotus, of surpassing strength, repositories of wisdom, endowed with natural grace, excellent bowmen, hymned by the Vedas, & lovers of the cow & the host of Brāhmaņas, who appeared in the form of mortal men through their own Māyā as the two noble scions of Raghu's lineage, the armours of true dharma, friendly to all & journeying in quest for Sita, may they Sri Rama & Laksmana both grant us Devotion.
Sundar Kāṇḍ begins with a hymn in the praise of Rama: I adore the Lord of the universe bearing the name of Rama, the chief of the Raghu's line & the crest-jewel of kings, the mine of compassion, the dispeller of all sins, appearing in human form through His Māyā, the greatest of all gods, knowable through Vedānta, constantly worshiped by Brahmā, Śhambhu, & Śeşa, the bestower of supreme peace in the form of final beatitude, placid, eternal, beyond the ordinary means of cognition, sinless & all-pervading.
Laṅkā Kāṇḍ begins with this hymn: I adore Śri Rama, the supreme Deity, the object of worship even of Śivā, the Dispeller of the fear of rebirth, the lion to quell the mad elephant in the form of Death, the Master of Yogīs, attainable through knowledge, the repository of good qualities, unconquerable, attributeless, immutable, beyond the realm of Māyā, the Lord of celestials, intent on killing the evil-doers, the only protector of the Brāhmaņas, beautiful & dark complexioned as a cloud laden with moisture, who has lotus-like eyes & Supreme Brahma, who appeared in the form of an earthly king.
Uttar Kāṇḍ begins with the following hymn: ''I unceasingly adore Śri Ramā, the praiseworthy lord of Jānakī, the chief of Raghu's lineage, possessed of a form greenish blue as the neck of a peacock & adorned with a print of Brahmāna's lotus-foot, which testifies to His being the greatest of all gods, rich in splendour, clad in yellow robes, lotus-eyed, ever-propitious, holding a bow & arrow in His hands, mounted on the aerial car named Puşpakā, accompanied by a host of monkeys & waited upon by His own brother Lakşmaņa.''
Kānd endings
Tulsidas ends every chapter in a similar manner describing the ending in the Sanskrit language.Every Kānd is formally concluded by Goswami Tulsidas. The following is an example of the ending of Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ:
Translation: "Thus ends the fourth descent into the Mānasa lake of Sri Rama's exploits, that eradicate all the impurities of the Kali age." All the other Kāndas are concluded in the same way where the word caturthah is substituted, according to the Kānd being concluded.
Narrative
Ramcharitmanas is structured around three separate conversations. The conversations happen between Shiva and Parvati, Sages Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya and finally Kakbhushundi and the king of birds, Garuda. Some scholars are of the opinion that there is also an underlying personal conversation between Tulsidas and Lord Rama all through the text of Ramcharitmanas.Bāl Kāṇḍ
The Child EpisodeTulsidas begins the story with an invocation to various deities, his guru and saints who have preceded him and those who will succeed him in the future. Homage is paid to Valmiki for bringing the Ramayana to the devotees of Rama. Next, the various characters of the Ramayana are introduced and praised beginning with the birthplace of Rama, the holy city of Ayodhya. Praises are bestowed on Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya and Rama's father and his queens Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Tulsidas then praises King Janaka, and his family. He goes on to praise the brothers of Rama - Bharata, Lakshman and Shatrughna and sings the glories of Hanuman, the constant companion to Rama, Sugriva, the monkey king and Jambavan, the leader of bears. Next, the characters of Sita and Rama are introduced.
The story of Ramcharitmanas is then underway. It begins with the meeting of two sages - Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya. Bharadwaj asks Yajnavalkya to narrate in detail the story of Rama. Yajnavalkya begins with how Shiva came about retelling the story of Rama to his wife Parvati.. Shiva explains five different reasons as to why Rama incarnated on earth in different ages or Kalpa. Each of these stories is discussed in detail, with the primary message being that Rama incarnated on earth to protect the righteous who followed the path of Dharma. The story then moves to the birth of Ravana and his brothers. Following this, the narration is done at different times by Shiva, Yajnavalkya, Kakbhushundi and Tulsidas.
The story now moves to the abode of Brahma where Brahma and the other Hindu Devas are found mulling on the ways to rid the earth of Ravana and his excesses. Unable to find a solution, they pray to Shiva and ask him for his guidance on where to find the supreme God who will come to their rescue. Shiva tells them that they don't need to go anywhere to find the Supreme God for he resides in the hearts of his devotees. All the Devas then pray to the supreme Brahman/Vishnu to rid the earth of the demons wreaking havoc on men as well as Devas. Brahman shows compassion to all and announces in an Akashvani that he will be born in the Sun Dynasty to save the Devas and his devotees from the demons.
The story then moves to Ayodhya. One fine day, Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, realizes that he has become old and still without children. He conveys his distress to sage Vasistha, the family guru, and seeks the way forward. Vasistha comforts Dasharatha and tells him that he will have four sons. Vasistha requests Rishyasringa to perform the Putrakām yajna. Tulsidas states that the birth of Rama and his brothers took place on the ninth day of the Chaitra month. It was the fortnight of the moon, known as the shukla period.
The story then moves on and Rama and his brothers are now grown-up boys. The sage Vishvamitra arrives at Dasharatha's royal court where the King receives his eminent guest with great honour. Vishvamitra lived in the forest and was performing great sacrifices. However, the demons Maricha and Subahu would always desecrate the ceremonial offerings. He knew that Rama had taken birth on earth to protect his devotees and so he decided to visit Dasharatha to ask him a favor. The sage asks the king to let his sons accompany him to the forest. Reluctantly the king agrees. Rama knew beforehand the intention of Vishvamitra in asking him to come along with him. He assures the sage that he would obey his commands. Lakshman kills Subahu and Rama kills Tataka and defeats Maricha, the dreaded demons.
The story then moves to the deliverance of Ahalya. Rama, Lakshman and Vishvamitra venture on a journey and reach the beautiful kingdom of the Videhas, Mithila. The king of Mithila, Janaka, welcomes the great sage and asks him who are the two boys accompanying him. Janaka is overcome by great emotion as he is able to sense the true nature of their mission. The brothers then set out to discover the beautiful city and visit Janaka's garden. This is an important section of the Ramcharitmanas as it portrays the first meeting of Rama and Sita.
In the meanwhile, King Janaka arranges a swayamvara ceremony for his daughter Sita. A swayamvara ceremony is a Vedic ritual in which a prospective bride selects her groom from among a group of suitors who attend the ceremony. Sita falls in love with Rama at first sight in Janaka's garden and prays to Parvati that she may get Rama as her husband. King Janaka sends a messenger to invite Rama, Laksman and Sage Vishvamitra to attend the swayamvara. Janaka puts a condition to identify the right groom for Sita. The great bow of Shiva by the name of Pinaka was kept in the arena. Any suitor who would be able to string Pinaka would be married to Sita. Many princes tried but failed to even nudge the bow. This caused great distress to Janaka who wonders aloud if the earth has become devoid of brave men. This statement of Janaka angers Lakshman who retorts that no one should talk in this vain manner, when a gathering like this, has the presence of scions of the Sun Dynasty. Rama gently nudges him to keep calm as Vishwamitra asks him to break the bow and make Janaka happy once again. Rama steps in and effortlessly lifts and strings the divine bow. In a swift move, he breaks the bow. The breaking of Pinaka causes a great noise that disturbs the great sage Parashurama in his meditation and he storms into the swayamvara arena in great anger vowing to kill whoever had dared to break the bow of lord Shiva. Lakshman enters into an argument with Parashurama, paying scant respect to the sage who was known for his bursts of anger and was known to slay whoever dared to oppose him. Ultimately, Rama brings him around. Parashurama discovers the real nature of Lord Rama as the ultimate Brahman, pays his respects and leaves for the forests for meditation. Sita places the wreath of victory around the neck of Rama in accordance with the rules of the swayamvara and is thus wedded to him.
However, Sita being his beloved daughter, Janaka desired to conduct a grand marriage of Sita and Rama in accordance with both Vedic and laukik customs. Janaka dispatches messengers to Ayodhya to inform Dasharatha and his family about the marriage of Rama and Sita and invites them for the formal consummation of the marriage ceremony. Dasharatha starts with a great marriage procession, consisting of Rama's family, friends and well wishers in addition to Shiva, Brahma and all Devas arrive in Mithila. Along with Rama-Sita, Bharat-Mandavi, Lakshman-Urmila and Shatrughna-Shrutakirti's marriages are also arranged.
After a grand wedding, the kind of which had never been witnessed in the universe, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya where there was a great celebration and much rejoicing.