Lord Rama

The Ramayana is undoubtedly the most popular Hindu mythological book of all time. It is a complete story, a moving parade of devotion, love, romance, drama, plotting, sacrifice and valour; a virtual treasure of Indian cultural values and colourful episodes of our past which shaped our thinking, beliefs and philosophy. Few remain untouched by the austere and idealistic nature of Rama, the impeccable character of Sita, the devotion of Hanuman. Indeed, today, the Ramayana is enjoyed by children and adults alike. However, around 400 years ago, the situation was hardly the same. The Ramayana, written in Sanskrit by Valmiki, had hardly acquired the acclaim and devotion that it commands today. Owing to the class divisions that were strictly observed in medieval Indian society, Sanskrit was restricted to the Brahmin community, and non-Brahmins were not allowed to study or speak the language. As a result, the epic itself was also restricted to the Brahmins and the common people could only hear the learned populace recite it, but did not understand or appreciate it.

In the 16th Century, in the North of India, was born a great scholar by the name Goswami Tulsidas. His family circumstances forced him to renounce the world and become a saint. After visiting many Indian shrines, he gradually developed an unparalleled devotion for Lord Rama. When he saw the plight of the common man, who was deprived of this love for God, and that such a beautiful story was deprived of public acclaim, he decided to commit himself to this cause. He produced a book called the Ramcharit Manas (the character of Rama) in Avadhi, the colloquial tongue of North India at the time. This met with extreme hostility from the Brahmin class, who wanted to confine the Holy Scriptures to an elite community.

Tulsidas

However, the response that the book got once it was published was so overwhelming that it silenced the worst of its critics.

Consisting of seven kaands or parts, each of them relating to a special stage of Lord Rama’s life, the book shows humans the proper way of living, devotion to God, obedience to elders and a path of moral duties. In a simple and clear language that the common folk enjoyed and still continue to enjoy, in the form of beautiful rhyming dohas (couplets), Tulsidas illustrates the character and the deeds of Rama in different colours. This made him overwhelmingly popular among the community, but he still retained his modesty and remained a simple man.

Since then, the Ramcharit Manas has been a part of almost every Hindu household in the North of India. The Sundarkand, relating to the adventures of Hanuman in his search for Sita Maata is recited by most people twice every week. All communities have weekly gatherings in which the Ramcharit Manas is sung with utmost devotion, where the reader forgets himself and goes into a trance in the bhakti of Lord Rama. In fact, there is a monthly reading of Akhand Ramayan (the complete Ramcharit Manas), which is recited for 30 hours at a stretch. Such is the magic of the work and its author that the Ramcharit Manas still records more sales than any other book in North India.

Anjan Soumyanarayanan