Tulsidas

Goswami Tulsidas
Tulsidas Hindi pronunciation: [ttlstidt ast], also known as Goswami Tulsidas; (15321623) was
a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopherrenowned for his devotion to the god Rama.
A composer of several popular works, he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a
retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana in the vernacular Awadhi. He was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a
reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. He is also considered to
be the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn dedicated toHanuman, the
divine devotee of Rama. Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The Tulsi Ghat on
the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him.

Contents
[hide]

1 Quotes

2 About Tulsidas
o

2.1 On Tulsidass epic Ramacharritamanas

3 External links

Quotes[edit]

Tuslidas:I call him Rama. You can call him by any other name but have faith in him, surrender all
worldy desiresand passions to his will and without effort, become disciplined and principled.

Mother and father abandoned me at birth and the author of my life also did not write any
worth or merit on the page of destiny.

His confessional statements on his own experiences made in Kavitavali quoted in "A
Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 49

The world knows that to quell the belly-fire, I ate crumbs and morsels given by men
of caste, high-caste, low-caste or no cast.

In Kavitavali quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human

Ethics", p. 72

What did I not do, where did I not go, to whom did I not bow.

In Vinay Patrika quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of

Human Ethics", p. 276

[I] begged for crumbs and morsels door to door...Plodding and doddling around lanes.

In Kavitavali quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human

Ethics", p. 106

Mine is no caste or cult, what care I for one or the other...

No one is of any use to me, nor am I of any use to anyone.
Dont have a son to need, someones daughter to wed.
Tulsi is the slave of Rama, whoever may say whatever he likes.
Begged for food, slept in a mosque, have nothing to take and nothing
to give, call me a swindler or a saint, call me a Rajput or a Julaha.

A Muslim weaver is called a Julaha which Tusllidas preferred to be called, as he was

brought up by a Muslim couple who were weavers who had picked him up and brought him
up. Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 106

Tulsidas:The story of Ramachandra, as narrated in the Valmiki Ramayan and theAdhyatma

Ramayan, after reinforcing and revitalizing it with the essence of whatever the Puranas, the Vedas,
and other scriptures could give, I, Tulsidas, am writing for the delight of my own soul.

Am a servant of Rama,
Accredited to His Court,
What for should I
Be a Courier of man?

A couplet he composed when he refused to accept the honour as one of the Ratnas
(Jewel) as a poet in the Imperial court of Akbar by his friend Abdurrahim Khan-i-Khana.
Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 54

The story of Ramachandra, as narrated in the Valmiki Ramayan and the Adhyatma
Ramayan, after reinforcing and revitalizing it with the essence of whatever the Puranas,
the Vedas, and other scriptures could give, I, Tulsidas, am writing for the delight of my own soul.

In the invocation of his epic poetry of Ramacharitamanas. Quoted in "A Garden of

Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 91

He walks without legs,

hears without ears,
does all the deeds without hands.
He enjoys all the juices without a mouth,
spells all the truth without a voice,
touches everything without hands.

He see very object without eyes

and inhales all the scents without a breath.

Tulsidass definition of God in verse quoted in A Garden of Deeds:

Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics, p. 36

God refuses to be mine,

thine or his.
For him the truth is but one
but the proud and the vain have forged many out of their desires and fancies.

Tulsidas in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p.

36

Faith is that which dispels desire,

Devotion is that which generates knowledge.
And Vedas say that knowledge is that which fashions freedom.

Tulsidas in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p.

37

No virtue is equal to the good of others and

no vice greater than hurting others.

Tulsidas in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p.

37

I call him Rama. You can call him by any other name but have faith in him, surrender
all worldy desires and passions to his will and without effort, become disciplined and
principled.

Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p.

5

Yatha Raja Thatha Praja

As the Ruler, so the people.

Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p.

5

Paradheen sapanehun such naheen.

In dependence, there is no happiness, even in a dream.

Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics"

which principle Mahatma Gandhi adopted to give a national leadership motto, in P.7

Faith in the Creator, who is mainly in his Godness and Godly in his man-ness, is like a
human-self and can take him along.

His counsel on Humanism in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of

Human Ethics", p. 32