THE POET SAINT – SANT TULSIDAS

ॐ श्री रामाय नमः॥

Om Shri Ramaya Namah

SALUTATIONS TO LORD RAMA

Hulsi and Atmaram Shukla Dube lived in Rajapur, Uttar Pradesh. They were delighted when they discovered that Hulsi was to bear a child. However their excitement turned to consternation when, after twelve long months, Hulsi gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who unlike other infants, had thirty-two permanent teeth in his mouth and resembled a fully grown five-year old! Not just that, whereas other babies cried aloud as they gasped for their first breath their son utter the word “Ram”. What was even more surprising was that as the boy called out to Ram, an akashvani, a divine utterance from the skies, was heard naming the child “Rambolaa.”

This was the remarkable birth of one of India’s most renowned sages Sant Tulsidas. It is said that Tulsidas was an incarnation of Sage Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana.

Rambolaa was born at an inauspicious hour and his parents fearing ill luck abandoned the child. Hulsi’s kind hearted maid, Chuniya, immediately took on the responsibility of nurturing the child. Unfortunately, Chuniya died five years later and once again the child was left without a guardian. Narharidas, a Vaishnava ascetic of the Ramananda monastic order decided to take care of the child. It was Narharidas who gave Rambolaa the name Tulsidas.

Narharidas narrated the Ramayana several times to the young boy and soon Tulsidas became a sincere devotee of Lord Rama. When he was a little older, Tulsidas travelled to Varanasi to be tutored under the famed scholar Guru Shesha Sanatana. An astute student Tulsidas mastered Sanskrit grammar, studied the four Vedas, the six Vedangas, Jyotisha and the six schools of Hindu philosophy. His schooling continued for sixteen years. Once he had completed his education he returned back to his hometown.

The next phase in a Hindu’s life after Brahmacharya or student life is that of a Gṛhastha or householder. Accordingly Tulsidas married Ratnavali. Tulsidas loved his wife deeply. He got so attached to his wife that he could not bear to be a moment apart from her. Ratnavali wished to visit her father in her maternal home which was located across the river Yamuna, a fair distance away from her husband’s house. Knowing that Tulsidas would never agree to her going away she left when her husband was out of the house. In the evening when Tulsidas returned home and discovered that his wife was not home he felt miserable. He wanted her back immediately. Each moment away from her was torturous for Tulsidas.

Tulsidas decided he would leave right away and bring Ratnavali back from her parental home. By the time he reached the River Yamuna it was dark. There were no boats to cross the river. Tulsidas desperate to be with his wife decided that he would swim across the river. In some narrations it is said that Tulsidas saw a corpse floating across the Yamuna and in his desperation he used it as a boat to ride across the Yamuna.

Having crossed the river he headed towards his father-in-law’s house. He crept surreptitiously into his wife’s room. Ratnavali however, was not at all pleased to see him. In fact she was disgusted with his obsession for her. Curtly she said to him, “You long for my body which is nothing more than flesh and bones. You crossed the Yamuna because of your love for me. If you had even half that amount of desire and love for Lord Rama you would certainly cross the ocean of samsara and attain eternal bliss and immortality.”

Ratnavali’s words had a deep impact on Tulsidas. In fact it was her harsh words that transformed Tulsidas forever. He turned and walked away from not just his wife but also from all worldly obsessions and he never looked back again. He spent the next fourteen years visiting sacred places and contemplating on Lord Ram. Though he spent a large part of his life in Varanasi, Prayag, Ayodhya and Chitrakoot, Tulsidas also travelled to Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameshwaram. He lived the life of an ascetic spending his days in prayer and meditation.

While living in Varanasi Tulsidas would water the roots of a tree every day with the remaining water in the kamandal (water pot) that he carried with him. One day a spirit that lived in the tree spoke and said, “You have cared for me for a long time and hence I would like to offer you a boon. What is your desire?’

Tulsidas though surprised was quick to answer, “There is just one desire that I have held in my heart always and that is to have the darshan of Lord Ram.”

The spirit replied, “Though I do not have the power to grant you this boon, I can tell you that if you go to the Hanuman temple you will see Hanuman there disguised as a leper listening to the Ram Katha, the story of Ram. He will be the first to come for the reading and the last to leave. Go to him and pay your respects. He will help you reach Lord Ram.”

Tulsidas did exactly as he was directed. At the temple he noticed the leper sitting at the far back corner. The leper had arrived early and once the Katha was completed he left only after all the others had left. Tulsidas followed the leper who tried to quickly disappear into the woods. Tulsidas caught up with him and falling at the leper’s feet begged for help to see Lord Ram. Though Hanuman, disguised as the leper, tried to feign ignorance of what Tulsidas was asking of him, he eventually relented on hearing Tulsidas’s sincere and fervent pleas. He blessed Tulsidas and told him, “Lord Ram resides at Chitrakuta. Go there and you will be able to see the Lord.”

Tulsidas did go to Chitrakuta and was blessed with the vision of Lord Ram.

At the beginning of the Holy Scripture, Ramcharitmanas, penned by Tulsidas the great saint bows down in gratitude to a particular Preta, a spirit and asks for his grace. The Preta he refers to is none other than the one who led him to Lord Hanuman and eventually to the vision of Lord Ram.

Tulsidas not only had the good fortune to see Hanuman and Lord Ram but he also had a very special darshan of Lord Krishna. While in Brindavan Tulsidas went to the Shri Krishna temple to pray. Moved at seeing the idol of Lord Krishna, Tulsidas whispered, “Oh my Lord! Today you are looking so beautiful that I can find no word to describe you, but Lord, my head will bow only when you carry a bow and arrow in your hand.”

Hearing these words Lord Krishna took the form of Lord Ram with a bow and arrow and appeared before Tulsidas.

One day a murderer came to Tulsidas. He had been on the run and had had no food to eat for several days. Seeing the Sant the robber begged, “Swami I am a murderer but I implore you have mercy on me and give me some food. I am starving.”

Tulsidas invited the robber into his hut. He laid out the sacred food that he had offered to the Lord first. Both Tulsidas and the murderer sat together and ate their meal. Once the meal was over Tulsidas blessed the man and exonerated him of the sin of murder.

News of this incident spread quickly and the Brahmins of the area were affronted by Tulsidas’s actions. They came to him and asked indignantly, “How could you, a sage, sit and eat with a murderer? You offered him sacred food and absolved him of murder. How can a murderer be absolved of the heinous sin of murder?”

Tulsidas replied, “God forgives us of even our worst sins if we are truly repentant.”

The Brahmins were completely disbelieving and said, “We will only believe what you say if Lord Shiva’s sacred bull Nandi eats out of the hands of this murderer.”

They then took the murderer to the Shiva temple and brought him towards the bull. The murderer stretched out his palm filled with food to the bull. The bull looked up at the man and then very gently began to eat the food. The Brahmins shamefaced and humiliated at being proved wrong left quietly.

One day Tulsidas seeing a poor woman weeping at the death of her husband blessed the corpse and brought her husband back to life. Word of Tulsidas’s miraculous powers began to spread and even the Emperor Akbar in Delhi heard of his special powers. The Emperor was intrigued and summoning Tulsidas to his palace said, “I have heard that you perform miracles. I as Emperor command you to perform a miracle here in my court.”

Tulsidas humbly shook his head and said, “I do not know how to perform any miracles. All I know how to do is to chant the name of Lord Rama.”

The Emperor annoyed by the sage’s disobedience asked his guards to lock Tulsidas in the royal prisons. As the guards took Tulsidas the Emperor roared, “Remember you will be released only when you perform a miracle and not before that.”

The guards shoved Tulsidas into the prison and slammed the doors shut. Tulsidas closed his eyes and began praying to Lord Hanuman. Within moments hordes of monkeys entered the palace, the royal court, the residences and all the gardens. The Emperor’s guards watched helplessly as the monkeys took over every bit of the huge palace.

The Emperor realized his mistake and rushed to the prison, “Forgive me holy saint for questioning your powers. I need no proof of your greatness and I ask that you to find it in your heart to pardon me.”

The giant prison gates were opened and Tulsidas walked away as the monkeys too disappeared from the palace.

It so happened, that some of Tulsidas’s ardent followers visited him and presented him with several valuable gifts. Tulsidas, an ascetic, had no desire or use for anything valuable. Hence he did not pay much attention to all the presents left in his ashram. Some robbers had noticed that several valuables had been left at the holy man’s ashram. They thought to themselves, “What use are these valuable to an ascetic. He will not even notice if anything is missing. We will rob him of all this and he will be none the wiser.”

Hiding themselves, they waited till the sun set. At night fall the sage went to sleep. The robbers who noticed that the ashram was quiet and that the sage had gone to sleep came out of hiding and headed towards the ashram. When they reached the ashram they were alarmed to see a strong young man patrol the ashram armed with a bow and arrows. Prudently they decided on going back into the woods to hide. A few hours later they decided they would make a second attempt to steal from Sant Tulsidas. This time too when they neared the ashram they saw the armed man still vigilantly keeping guard. Once again the robbers went back into hiding. They tried for a third time to rob the ashram and were again prevented from doing so for fear of the strong young guard. It was then that a feeling of guilt began to appear in the hearts of the robbers. They realized that stealing from a pious sage was sinful and they decide to go to the sage and ask for forgiveness for their wicked intentions.

Early the next morning the robbers went to Sant Tulsidas’s ashram. They fell at his feet and said, “Forgive us revered sage. We had tried to rob you of your precious possession last night. We tried not just once but three times and failed because your ashram was so well guarded.”

With a gentle, benign smile, Sant Tulsidas looked at the robbers and instantly forgave them.

However the robbers’ curiosity got the better of them and they asked, “Venerable Saint who was that strong, young man armed with a bow and arrows circling your ashram throughout the night?”

Tulsidas was startled by this question as until then he had given neither the valuables nor the guard the robbers spoke of much thought. But at the mention of a strong, young man armed with a bow and arrow Tulsidas exclaimed, “On Lord what have I done!” Tears streamed down his face as he continued, “Lord Rama, forgive me. It was never my intention to bother you. You were forced to come down to protect me because I had kept these gifts in my ashram. Forgive me Lord.”

Indeed it was Lord Rama who had taken form that night to protect his most ardent devotee. Then glancing at the valuable gifts for the first time, he said, “See that all these are distributed right away to the poor and the needy.”

Tulsidas was a great saint, poet, reformer, and philosopher. He was a prolific writer. The most renowned of his works is the Ramcharitmanas. . It is believed that he wrote this book under the directions of Lord Hanuman. Considered a retelling of the Valmiki Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas, written in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi, is credited with making the story of Rama accessible to the common masses in a language they could understand easily as opposed to the Sanskrit versions which only scholars could understand.

The second most read piece of literature by Tulsidas is the Hanuman Chalisa, a poem that praises Lord Hanuman's devotion to Ram. His other works include Dohavali, a collection of at least 573 miscellaneous Doha and Sortha in Braja and Awadhi and Kavitavali, a collection of Kavitas (poems) in Braja. The Gitavali is a book of 328 Braja songs. In Krishnavali, Tulsidas has penned 61 Braja songs in praise of Lord Krishna.

His famed Vinaya Patrika has 279 hymns and prayers of which the first 43 hymns are addressed to a variety of deities and to some of Rama’s courtiers, and attendants. The remaining hymns of the Vinaya Patrika are dedicated exclusively to Lord Rama.

He also wrote the Barvai Ramayana which is a compilation of 2-line couplets that recount the main events of Shri Rama’s life. Sant Tulsidas has many more major and minor works to his credit. His poems, hymns and prayers are sung and chanted with devotion by spiritual seekers across the country. He is considered one of the most famous representatives of the Bhakti school of Hinduism.

LIFE LESSONS

1. From Sant Tulsidas’s story we learn that it is never too late to change our ways for the better.

2. Like Sant Tulsidas we must learn to forgive.

3. Like Sant Tulsidas we must attempt to develop single minded focus on God.

4. Like Sant Tulsidas we must never use our talents or God-given gifts to show- off.

5. From Sant Tulsidas we can learn humility.