("Rama's Deeds
Holy Lake") The Ramayana, the first of the two major Sanskrit epics, is
retold in vernacular form.
The Ramcharitmanas were composed in Avadhi, an eastern
variety of medieval Hindi, by the poet-saint Tulsidas (1532–1623).
Tulsidas started writing the work at Ayodhya in 1574,
according to evidence.
This book is by far his longest, with approximately 10,000
lines, and is often regarded as his best.
The poem is organized primarily into sets of six to eight
verses written in the chaupai form, each followed by a verse written in the
shorter doha form.
(The doha verse either summarizes the previous chaupai
verses or acts as a foreshadowing of future events.) At the beginning of each
of the seven parts, there are poems written in larger meters, such as savaiya,
as well as invocations in fluid Sanskrit poetry.
Tulsidas was a superb epic poet, as shown by the vast bulk
of his work and the excellent lyrical quality of his poems.
Tulsidas, like all of the Ramayana's vernacu lar retellings,
did not just translate Rama's narrative, but also interpreted it according to
his own religious ideas.
Tulsidas' two most significant alterations to the poem are
an overabundance of focus on devotion (bhakti) and the salvific force of Rama's
name, which Tulsidas values more than Rama himself.
Tulsidas also incorporates legendary material from a range
of other sources, including the Shiva Purana and the Adhyatmaramayana, to name
a few.
This content is mostly added to the opening and end chapters,
which are where Tulsidas deviates the most from the original epic.
One hypothesis contends that Tulsidas attempted to overcome
strict sectarian bounds by having the deity Shiva narrate most of the work in
the guise of a conversation to his bride Parvati.
Later in the narrative, Shiva is replaced as narrator by
Bhushundi, a carrion-eating crow who represents the strength of devotion to
save even a common carrion-eating crow.
The Ramcharitmanas is known as the "Bible of Northern
India," because to its immense effect on the religiosity of common people.
Tulsidas met considerable resistance from brahmins who
deemed it sacrilegious to translate the Ramayana into a common language,
according to mythology, yet the work has a huge following among ordinary
people.
Many individuals can still recite substantial chunks of the
book from memory ("discourses" (katha) on the text may attract
hundreds or thousands of people), and many of the lyrics have become proverbial
idioms in contemporary Hindi.
Millions of people watch the Ram Lila, a theatrical
pre-sentation, each fall, in addition to reading or hearing the scripture.
The oldest and most traditional Ram Lila, conducted in
Ramnagar, Benares, employs Ramcharitmanas literature and takes great delight in
its traditionalism.
For further detail, check Philip Lutgendorf's 1991 book The
Life of a Text.
