Tulsidas Life History
Tulsidas was a great devotee of Lord Rama and Hanuman. He was a composer of Ramcharitmanas, and great devotee of Lord Rama. It is believed that one has to take several births to attain this honor which Tulsidas was able to attain in his life. He was respected and worshipped by his followers and disciples. He was born in 1589 in Rajapur (Chitrakuta), a village on the banks of the Yamuna river in Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey.
Tulsidas was an unfortunate child and has go through various problems and sufferings during his childhood days. Later he was married to Ratnavali. He immensely loved his wife, and due to this one day he had to listen to harsh words uttered by his wife remarking, “ that if Tulsidas was even half as devoted to God as he was to her body of flesh and blood, he would have been redeemed from his suffering”. Tulsidas left her instantly and decided to devote his life in the worshipping of Lord Rama. He also gained wisdom from Guru Baba Narharidas.
He spent most the time of his life in Chitrakoot, Kashi and Ayodhya. He composed various scriptures while wandering from one place to another. His compositions include: Ramcharitmanas, Ktiwali, Janakimangal, Vinayapatrika, Geetawali, Hanuman Chalia, Barve Ramayana etc.
Major Compositions of Tulsidas
Tulsidas was a scholar of Sanskrit language and composed various scriptures in his life span. His most epic composition “Ramcharitmanas” is still read by people with immense faith and devotion.
It elaborates the various aspects of life and deeds of the Lord Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is an immortal poetic classic and considered to be one of the best in the world literature.Dohavali. It is a work consisting of 573 miscellaneous Doha and Sortha verses. The verses are aphorisms on topics related to tact, political wisdom, righteousness and the purpose of life. Katvali is also a composition describing the life history of Lord Rama in the form of verses. Like the Ramcharitmanas, it is divided into seven Kands or books and many episodes in this work are different from the Ramcharitmanas.
Gitavali is a collection of songs and also divided into seven kands. Other than these, Barve Ramayana, Hanuman Bahuk, Ramlal Nahchu, Janaki Mangal, Rmgya Prashna and Sankat Mochan are some of his small compositions. Hanuman chalisa is second most popular composition of Tulsidas, after Ramcharitmanas.
Tulsidas as a community guide
Tulsidas tried to remove malpractices through his compositions . He used to criticize the social issues prevailing in the country and preached people about their negative effects. He made various attempts to raise up the practice of true worshipping, protection of brahmins, and honor of ancient scriptures. He wanted to create a ram rajya where everyone can live a peaceful life without any malpractices. Many people tried to destroy his compositions out of jealousy.
Even today Ramlila is held every year in various parts of the country. On Tulsidas Jayanti people recite verses from Ramcharitmanas and his other compositions. It is said that he spent his last days of life in Kashi and died in 1680 on Shravan Tritiya at the bank of Asi Ghat while chanting the name of Lord Rama.