Bringing Integrity in the Society:

The Tulsi Way

During the time of Saint Tulsi Das, the most burning problem faced by the society was a division of society into many sects. There were many divisions such as SAIVA, SAKT, VAISHNAV etc. and each one of them did not respect and value the other classes. Tulsi Das, through his writing in the great Ram Charit Manas, tried to break this wall. The following lines are worth mentioning in this respect which throws light on this important issue:

[1] शिव द्रोही मम दास कहाव ! सो नर मोहि सपनेहुँ नहिं  भावा

[2] संकरप्रिय मम द्रोही सिव द्रोही मम दास। ते नर करहिं कलप भरि घोर नरक महुँ बास

Its meaning is that if someone is a devotee of Rama but insulting lord Shiva, Lord Rama never like to look for him. So how is such person called him/her self a devotee of Lord Rama?

It is also inferred that Lord Shiva is the topmost Vaishnava as it-“vaishnavanam yatha shambhuh “without Shiva worship how anyone can be a Vaishnava?”

Before killing Ravana, Ram used to worship Shakti (Goddess Durga) which shows that being Vaishnav, he was equally respecting the Shakti. Besides, setting up of Rameshwaram before crossing sea is a testimony of the fact that Ram is the topmost Shaiva (Worshipper of Shiva).

Thus, through his (Tulsi Das) writings, he tried to bring synchronization and coordination in the society and consequently broken the wall prevailing in the Hindu society. It is, therefore, for his bringing coordination in Indian society he is called as Lok Nayak. The title of Lok Nayak is given to three people till date. The first Lok Nayak title is given to Gautam Buddha, second is Tulsi Das and third is to Jay Prakash Narayan.

Thus, by bringing unity in the contemporary Indian Society, he tried to uplift the moral of the people which were totally broken down as a result of hundreds of years of slavery. To make the people free from slavery, it was essential to bring the sense of unity in them and also a sense of respect for each and every class of society and in this respect, Great Saint Tulsi Das successfully broke the invisible wall between the different classes of people.  

About Ram Charit Manas: An Exploration 

The holy book namely Ram Charit Manas written by Goswami Tulsi Das is one such book which has got the privilege to be kept in red cloths next to Bhagwat Gita. Though the Ramayan written by Valmiki is the original Ramayan and considered to be basic Ramayan which is used by other authors to write Ramayan in their own way and languages. However, all these Ramayanas are not worshipped by the Hindus as it is done for Ram Charit Manas. There are many holy books of Hindus, the number may be a few hundred including Vedas but only two books have been worshipped by the Hindus by placing them in red colour cloths. They are Gita and Ram Charit Manas.

Gita is written in Sanskrit. It is undoubtedly not only the holy book but also the greatest book on Philosophy written till date, if we consider the views of some of the great scholars on this. Ram Charit Manas is in Awadhi, the language which is spoken widely in the Awadh region of India which is now Faizabad.  There are many things in Ram Charit Manas which is direct translation of the different verses of Gita. For example a few of them is placed below:

In Geeta, Lord Krishna said

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे

The same thing is also mentioned by Tulsi Das in Ram Charit Manas as under:

जब जब होंही धरम की हानि

बाढहि असुर अधम अभिमानी

तब तब प्रभु धरी मनुज शरीरा

हरही कृपानिधि सज्जन पीरा

Another verse from Geeta

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि

Its translation in Hindi in Ram Charit Manas

कर्म प्रधान विश्व रचि राखा । जो जस करै सो तस फल चाखा 

Similarly, there is a number of such instances and similarities between these two holy books. The reason might be the fact that Goswami Tulsi Das has studied all the contemporary literature available as on date on Hindu religion and the crux of all those books, he tried to present in Ram Charit Manas. He might be motivated by the fact of producing the summary of entire literature which is in Sanskrit and not understandable to a vast majority of people in a language understandable by all and hence the benefit of all those literature should be disseminated down to the masses.

Tulsi Das started writing Ram Charit Manas at the age of 78 and completed by the age of 80. Thus, it took him two years to write this great book.

After leaving his home and family, he had studied all the contemporary literature in detail which was in Sanskrit and not understandable to a vast majority of people in India. Secondly, there was a need to compile all those literature and their wisdom in one such book so that it is easier for the people to read and understand because it was not possible for an ordinary person to go through entire literature available as on date on Hinduism. Motivated by these facts Tulsi Das might have started writing Ram Charit Manas.

Therefore, in Hindu mythology, it is also said that the “Punya” derived from reading Ram Charit Manas is equivalent to the “Punya” derived from reading all the sacred books of Hindus. 

Differences in the Concept of Ram

Ramayan is all about the story of Rama, the eldest son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya. However, there is a difference in the concept of Ram used by different authors from Bhakti period. Some of the poets who have used the term Ram are Tulsi Das, Valmiki, Kabir Das etc. Moreover, in Guru Granth Sahib also the name appears for approximately 2,500 times.

The Ram of Valmiki was simply a prince and son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, but the Ram of Tulsi Das besides being the prince is Maryada Purushottam (The best of the Man who will never break the ethics). Ram was made the incarnation of Lord Vishnu by Tulsi Das. While writing Ram Charit Manas, Tulsi Das’s prime assumption was that the Ram is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Maryada Purusottam and therefore, throughout his writings in the great book, this assumption is an undercurrent. On the contrary, the Ramayan by Valmiki is simply a story of Ram and in the conclusion, he had drawn inferences that he is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

The Ram of Valmiki is having all kinds of human emotions which make him a prince just above an ordinary prince, however, the Ram of Tulsi Das is devoid of these worldly emotions which put him in the category of God. For example, Valmiki’s Ram does not forgive Kaikeyi for her deeds and due to which he has to face exile. On the other hand, the Ram of Tulsi Das did not even remember any of the misdeeds of Kaikeyi and always he used to treat her as his mother and most of the time he used to pay respect to Kaikeyi more than Kaushalya, his actual mother. 

There are other contemporary Indian writers from the Bhakti period who have also used the term Ram in their writings. For example, Kabir Das has extensively used the term Ram in his writings. The Ram of Kabir is not the son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, but is the Almighty, meaning thereby, he used the term Ram to address the Almighty. Though Kabir Das’s almighty was NIRGUN BRAHMA, still he uses the term Ram to address it and hence ultimately it is the personification of the Almighty which he believed to be without any physical shape and structures. 

  

The reason behind portraying Ram as Maryada Purushottam by Tulsi Das might be many. It may be the fact that he wanted to present before the people of India a person who can be imitated and free from all kinds of defects, needless to say, that it would be an ideal character. Secondly, it might be that fact that he wanted to portray a personality which only on the basis of its character and self-belief can challenge a mighty king of that time. Thirdly, if such character is possessed by any person then he/she can be equated to the God.

In Bible, it is said that “Ability to forgive your enemy is the highest form of spirituality”. Jesus Christ did it. When he was given the punishment of death, he was praying to the God to forgive those people who were involved in it because, according to him, they did not know what they are doing. Similar to that the Ram of Tulsi is full of forgiveness. He forgave many people who tried to harm him in some form or other.

Thus, Tulsi’s Ram is an example to people and a way to attain spirituality. So, any person can attain spiritual heights by following the principles laid down by the Ram of Tulsi Das in Ram Charit Manas.