Goswami Tulsi Das became the representative poet of Aryan culture in the middle period of Indian history and in the most difficult time for Aryan culture. He was the most famous and most talented poet of Hindi literature. Exact information is not available about his life, but from many incidents of his life, his age and age etc. are estimated.
Tulsidas was a contemporary of the 16th century Mughal emperor Akbar. Most scholars consider Tulsidas to be born in AD 1532. He was born in a Brahmin family in Soron (Uttar Pradesh). His father's name was Atmaram Dubey and mother's name was Hulsi. Tulsi was born in the original constellation. According to the legends, Tulsi uttered the name Rama as soon as she was born, due to which she was called Rambola.
At birth, he had full teeth in his mouth. When Tulsi was a small child, his parents died and he had to earn a living by begging. While living in Kashi, he learned Sanskrit language from Guru Narharidas and studied the Vedas and Puranas. When he was young, he was married to Ratnavali, daughter of Deenbandhu Pathak. Tulsidas was very attached to his wife and could not bear the separation.
One day his wife went to her maternal home with her brother in his absence. Tulsidas also crossed the river at night and reached his in-laws' house. Seeing this lust, Ratnavali rebuked Tulsidas and said that you have loved my bone-skinned body so much, if such love had been kept in God, you would have been freed from worldly bondages.
This rebuke from the wife struck Tulsi's emotional heart and she became detached from the worldly life. He renounced his home and, visiting many places, settled in Kashi. While living here, he composed many texts. At the last moment, while singing the praises of Lord Shri Ram with happiness and peace, he left the body in V.No.1680 (AD.1623). This couplet is famous in relation to his death –
Samvat Solah So Asi, Arrows of Asi Gang.
Shravan Shukla Saptami, Tulsi Tajyo Body..
Tulsidas is a great poet of Ram-poetry because he put forward the circumstances of his era, a devotional, social, culture-oriented and guiding book for the entire human race 'Ramcharitmanas' composed of. Famous Historian 'Vencent Smith' Has considered Tulsidas to be the best man of his era and has accepted him as greater than Akbar.
Because Tulsidas conquered the hearts of millions of human beings through the literature he composed, Emperor Akbar's victories in front of him are negligible. Goswami Tulsidas was a great Ram devotee, great poet, great saint and great thinker of his time. He wrote many texts which turned the Indian public mind towards Ram Bhakti. Written by him 'Ramcharit Manas' It is the tallest pillar of his fame.
Tulsi Literature
Tulsidas was a great poet of the Ramabhakti branch of Vaishnava-bhakti. He composed in all the poetic styles prevalent in Hindi literature. According to Acharya Ramchandra Shukla, Tulsidas composed twelve texts. Some scholars consider the number of texts of Tulsidas to be 25.
Of these, Ramcharit Manas is the epic. Remaining compositions such as- Barvai Ramayana, Parvati Mangal, Janaki Mangal, Vairagya Sandipani, Ramagya Prashana, Dohavali, Kavitavali, Gitavali, Shri Krishna Geetavali, Vinay Patrika, and Ramlala Nahchu, etc., in the form of block poetry, Muktak poetry, Pragmatic Muktak and folk lyrical Muktak poetry. written in.
(1.) Ramcharit Manas: Ramcharit Manas is a Prabandha Poetry and is viewed with great respect not only in Hindi literature but also in whole world literature. Ramcharit Manas is a unique book of world-literature in terms of subject, purpose, emotion, language, management skills, verses, ornamental scheme, style, story flow, policy, religion and social concerns etc.
There is a detailed description of the story of Rama in this poem. There are seven chapters in the Ramcharit Manas, which have been called Kanda in imitation of Valmiki Ramayana. The first condition for a book to be a poem is that it should have at least seven chapters.
In this book, Shri Ram, the son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, is established as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Sita, the daughter of King Janak of Mithila, as an incarnation of Lakshmi. Through the story of Ramcharit Manas, the evil-haunting, devotee-Vatsal form of God has been worshipped.
The episodes of Ram Katha were prevalent in the Indian public since very ancient times. First of all, Maharishi Valmiki wrote an independent Prabandha Poetry by considering Dashrath Nandan Ram as Maryada Purushottam. In the 4th century AD, Ramakatha was made a part of the Mahabharata by considering Rama as an incarnation of Vishnu and in the ninth century AD the Alvar saints of South India gave a developed form to the Ram-bhakti tradition. Goswami Tulsidas took this tradition to its peak in Ramcharit Manas.
Goswamiji has presented high ideals in front of the society through various characters of Ramcharitmanas and gave new heights to the work started by Valmiki. Dasaratha and Janaka as king, Vasistha and Vishwamitra as master, Kaushalya and Sumitra as mother, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna as sons, Sita as wife, Sugriva and Vibhishana as friends and The characters of Hanuman and Angad as servants have been established as ideals.
King Dasaratha is a truthful devout king who protects the religion by giving his promise and the love of the son by giving his life. Sita is the embodiment of the ideal Indian woman who, with her husband's duty and her reason to go to the forest, also dissuades Ram with a logical answer- 'Jiya Binu Dehu, Nadi Binu Wari. Taisiya Nath Purush Binu Nari.' Tulsi's Lakshmana is fickle and fiery in nature, but is a unique ideal of brotherly love.
Bharata's character is the climax of modesty. Human character cannot go above this. Bharat's character is so bright that even nature sympathizes with him- 'Jahan jahan jain bharat raghuraya, tahan teh megh karhin navchaya.'
There are arrogant characters with demonic characters like Khar, Dushan, Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath who have lost their religion and policy. Such characters end up at the hands of Rama, symbolizing the victory of truth over untruth and good over evil.
Wonderful treatise of coordination: Ramcharit Manas is a wonderful book of coordination. By coordinating the various religious sects and sects prevalent in India, he made them a single focal point 'Ram' Linked to. During the Delhi Sultanate (13th-16th century AD) and the Mughals (16th-18th century AD) there was an atmosphere of bitterness between the Shaiva, Shakta and Vaishnava sects of Hinduism.
Even between the Sagunopasaks and the Nirgunopasakas there was bitterness. The followers of all the sects used to reject the opinion of the other by saying that their own opinion is superior. Goswami Tulsidas made a successful attempt to end this bitterness through Ram Charit Manas.
In this book, Tulsi declared Shiva, the deity of the Shaivas, and Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, as each other's lord, friend and servant. Ram Bhakt Tulsi said 'Sevak Swami Sakha Siya-Piya Ke, Hit Nirudhi Sab Bidhi Tulsi Ke' Praising Shankar by saying.
Not only this, Tulsi, from the mouth of her lord Rama- 'Auru ek guput mat sahi kahan kar jori, sankar bhajan bina nar bhagati na pavai mor' He showed the way of worshiping Lord Shiva to the devotees of Ram and got success in bringing the Shaktas and Vaishnavas closer by praising Shiva-wife Gauri from the mouth of Ram-wife Sita- 'Jai Jai Giribar Raj Kisori . Jai Mahesh Mukh Chand Chakori.'
Tulsi did 'Sagunahi agunahi nahi kuthu pierda, village sage Puran Budh Beda' By saying that he tried to bridge the gap between Sagunopasaks and Nirgunopasaks. Tulsi, ending the distance between the path of devotion and the path of knowledge, said- 'Bhagathi knowledge is not kuchu bheda, ubhay harhim bhav sambhav kheda.'
According to Hazari Prasad Dwivedi- 'The entire poetry of Tulsi is a virote effort of coordination. According to Grierson- 'India's Lok Nayak can be one who knows how to coordinate' Tulsi's mind is a colossal effort of coordination. He coordinated the confluence of Dvaita-Advaita, Nirguna-Saguna, Maya and Jiva and non-discrimination, knowledge of Karma, Bhakti, Brahman, Shudra, Shaiva, Shakta, Vaishnava Samaj culture as well as Bhava-paksha and Kala-paksha. is.
A mature composition of literature: From the point of view of literature also Ramcharit Manas is a mature work. Classical features have been well maintained in it. Its language is simple, in which all the three powers of language – Abhidha, Lakshna and Euphoria have been sung in abundance. The classical method of verses and ornaments has been used in the entire book and the ripeness of the rasas is context-friendly and character-friendly.
In this Shringar Rasa, Veer Rasa, Bhakti Rasa (Quiet Rasa) predominate. Tulsi has also displayed great skill in the characterization of the characters. The entire epic is written in couplets and chapais. It is a musical poem, whose verses mesmerize the listeners. As a whole it is the ideal religious text of Indian culture.
More than 500 Ph.D. and D.Litt. Degrees: World's first research book on Mahakavi Tulsidas 'Ramcharit and Ramayana' Italian scholar L.L. P. Tessitori wrote. He received his PhD for this treatise from the University of Florence in AD 1911.
The second research work on Tulsidas was done in London in AD 1918 by J. N. Kapner did it. The first PhD on Tulsidas in India was done by Baldev Prasad Mishra from Nagpur University in AD 1938. In 1949, Harishchandra Rai did his PhD on Tulsidas from London and Father Kamil Bulke did his D.Phil from Prayag University. degree obtained.
So far, more than five hundred PhD and DLit degrees have been awarded worldwide on Tulsidas's literature. No research work has been done on such a number of writers in Hindi.
Most Words Used: Tulsidas has used the most words in the world. He has used more than 36 thousand different words in his works whereas Shakespeare has used about 35 thousand words.
World's Best Books: About 250 critical books have been published on Tulsidas. Renowned Russian writer Varatrikov declared Ramcharit Manas as the best epic out of 2,796 languages of the world. He translated Ramcharit Manas into Russian between AD 1938 to 1942 when World War II was going on.
(2.) Vinay Patrika: Written in Braj Bhasha, this free poem contains verses related to Vinaya, tied in many ragas and raganis. In this, there is a poignant depiction of the self-request of liberation and the wish of salvation from the adorable god Rama. This is a masterpiece of devotional service. There is a predominance of daily-feeling and calm-rasa in its songs. It has a beautiful description of thoughts related to knowledge, devotion and detachment and its songs are sensitive and musical. Its language is Sanskritic and contains a small amount of Perso-Arabic words.
(3.) Kavitavali: This is a block-poetry, in which Goswami has praised his Ishta-dev Ram. It is full of Vatsalya, makeup, disgusting and terrible tastes. It has a lively depiction of the Kewat context, the burning of Lanka and the battle of Hanumanji. It follows a sequence and plan.
(4.) Geetavali: This is also a beautiful geet-poetry of Tulsi, in which a beautiful description of Ramcharit has been given in the songs of Braj Bhasha. This is a simple and lila-oriented composition in which there is a live and heart touching description of Vatsalya Ras.
(5.) Dohavali: It describes the devotion of Rama in the form of couplets. It contains a compilation of 573 couplets. These couplets are used in the form of utterances in the public mind.
(6.) Question: This is a classical text of astrology. There are seven cantos in this book and the story of Rama is described in couplets, which contain questions and answers. Divided into couplets, octaves and cantos, this book is a mixed composition of various auspicious and inauspicious episodes of Ram Katha. It lacks story-chain and many couplets have translations of Valmiki's Ramayana.
(7.) Barvai Ramayana: In this short book, the events related to Ramkatha have been described by binding it under Barvai verse.
(8.) Ram LallanHachhu: This is a ritual song. Some mentions in it are different from the Ram-Vivah story. It is written in the verses of the Eastern-Awadhi language.
(9.) Krishna Geetavali: In this, Krishna's character in Braj Bhasha has been described in the verses.
(10.) Vairagya Sandipani: There are verses related to dispassion, in which there is a discussion of the simple principles of religion and knowledge.
(11.) Parvati Mars: This short-book describes the marriage of Shiva-Parvati.
(12.) Janaki Mangal: This too is a short book. इसमें ब्रज भाषा में राम और सीता के विवाह का वर्णन किया गया है।
(13.) हनुमानबाहुक: इस लघु रचना में हनुमानजी को सम्बोधित करके उनके प्रति भक्ति भाव से पूर्ण प्रार्थनाएं लिखी गई हैं। यह एक प्रौढ़ रचना है जिसमें भाषा और भाव नवीन ठाठ के साथ उपस्थित हुए हैं।
महान् लोकनायक तुलसी
गोस्वामी तुलसीदास अपने समय के सर्वश्रेष्ठ कवि, संत, रामभक्त एवं विचारक ही नहीं थे अपितु वे महान लोकनायक भी थे। महाकवि अपने युग का ज्ञापक एवं निर्माता होता है। तुलसी ने मध्य-कालीन भारत में हिन्दू जाति में व्याप्त निराशा को अनुभव किया तथा अपनी रचनाओं के माध्यम से समाज में भक्ति एवं विनय के साथ-साथ शौर्य, साहस एवं स्वातंत्र्य भाव का संचरण किया।
भक्ति-काल के निर्गुणोपासक सन्त, धर्म और समाज में प्रचलित परम्पराओं की निन्दा कर सामाजिक और धार्मिक मर्यादाओं पर भी प्रहार कर रहे थे जिनके प्रभाव से लोगों का मूर्ति-पूजा तथा पौराणिक धर्म से विश्वास उठने लगा था। ऐसे समय में गोस्वामी तुलसीदास ने सगुण भक्ति का मार्ग खोला तथा राम के रूप में समाज को ऐसा महानायक प्रदान किया जो शक्ति, शील एवं सौंदर्य की प्रतिमूर्ति था।
वह सर्वशक्तिमान, दयालु, दुष्टहंता, भक्त-वत्सल तथा मोक्ष प्रदान करने में समर्थ था। उन्होंने रामचरित मानस के पात्रों के माध्यम से प्रजा में आदर्श समाज की रचना का संदेश दिया। उन्होंने जनभाषा में रामचरित मानस की रचना करके उसे सर्वजन के लिए सुलभ बनाया। उन्होंने समाज को आचरणगत दूषण त्यागकर दीनता और हीनता से स्वतः मुक्त होने का संदेश दिया। उन्होंने श्रीराम को गौ, ब्राह्मण, धरती, स्त्री, दीन-दुःखी एवं शरणागत का रक्षक बताकर वस्तुतः मानवता आधारित सम्पूर्ण हिन्दू-संस्कृति का रक्षक बताया।
महात्मा बुद्ध एवं शंकाराचार्य के बाद भारत में यदि कोई सबसे बड़े लोकनायक हुए तो वह गोस्वामी तुलसीदास ही थे जिनका शिक्षित एवं अशिक्षित, धनी एवं निर्धन, राजा एवं प्रजा आदि सम्पूर्ण समाज पर व्यापक रूप से प्रभाव पड़ा। उनकी रामचरित मानस घर-घर गाई जाने लगी। उसके सामूहिक गायन के विशाल आयोजन होने लगे।
रामचरित मानस को आधार बनाकर नगर-नगर एवं गांव-गांव में रामलीलाएं खेली जाने लगीं। लोग संकट के समय, अपनी सत्यता प्रमाणित करते समय एवं एक-दूसरे को धैर्य बंधाते समय रामचरित मानस की चैपाइयां बोलकर सुनाने लगे। समाज में ऐसी व्यापक क्रांति कोई महानायक ही कर सकता था और तुलसीदास ने उसमें सफलता प्राप्त की।
संस्कृति के रक्षक एवं समाज सुधारक
गोस्वामी तुलसीदास भारतीय संस्कृति के रक्षक, पोषक एवं उन्नायक थे। उनका स्वयं का व्यक्तित्त्व हिन्दू-धर्म और संस्कृति का प्रतिनिधि व्यक्तित्व था। वे त्याग, तपस्या एवं साधना की प्रतिमूर्ति थे। उन्हें हिन्दू शास्त्रों का अद्भुत ज्ञान था। उन्होंने जो कुछ लिखा वही धर्म, संस्कृति एवं परम्परा बन गया। उन्होंने हिन्दू-धर्म में प्रचलित आडम्बर तथा पाखण्डों का रामचरित मानस के माध्यम से खण्डन करके वास्तविक धर्म की प्रतिष्ठा की।
उन्होंने दया, करुणा, परोपकार, अहिंसा आदि नैतिक गुणों को निजी जीवन और सार्वजनिक आचरण का आधार बताया तथा अभिमान, पर-पीड़ा, हिंसा आदि दुर्गणों को पाप तथा नर्क की तरफ ले जाने वाला घोषित किया। तुलसीदास अपने समय के महान् समाज सुधारक भी थे। उन्होंने लोगों से पाखण्ड पूर्ण आचरण, दम्भ, कपट, हिंसा एवं अनाचार त्यागकर सद्व्यवहार एवं सादगी पर आधारित जीवन जीने का मंत्र दिया। उन्होंने कलियुग में होने वाले कदाचारों का विशद वर्णन करके लोगों को उनसे दूर रहने के लिए कहा।
कुछ लोग तुलसीदास पर नारी-विरोधी मानसिकता रखने का आरोप लगाते हैं किंतु वे गलत हैं। माता कौशल्या, सीता, मन्दोदरी और तारा के उज्जवल चरित्रों की प्रशंसा करके उन्होंने यह स्पष्ट कर दिया है कि वे समाज में किस तरह की नारी चाहते हैं। वे उच्छृंखलता और कदाचार के विरोधी हैं न कि नारी जाति के।
‘ढोल-गंवार शूद्र पशु नारी’ वाला संवाद समुद्र के मुंह से कहलवाया गया है और यह तत्कालीन समाज में नारी के प्रति प्रचलित धारणा को व्यक्त करता है, यह संवाद राम अथवा किसी ऐसे पात्र ने नहीं कहा है जिससे यह कहा जा सके कि तुलसीदास नारी की प्रताड़ना करके उसे नियंत्रण में रखना चाहते थे। न ही यह बात गोस्वामीजी ने अपनी ओर से कही है।