Sant Tulasidas: The Renowned Poet & Devotee of Shree Rama
I chant the name of Shree Rama again and again. Chanting Rama's name brings joy to the mind. Chanting His name even once is equivalent to chanting the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu. Oh beautiful one, please chant the name of Rama.”
I chant the name of Shree Rama again and again. Chanting Rama's name brings joy to the mind. Chanting His name even once is equivalent to chanting the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu. Oh beautiful one, please chant the name of Rama.”
Though said to have been revealed to Sage Valmiki by Narada Muni, this popular mantra (Ram Rameti Rameti) describes the depth of devotion embodied and experienced by Sant Tulasidas, the author of the Shri Ram-Charit-Manas & Hanuman Chalisa. The Shri Ram-Charit-Manas has become one of the most famous and beloved pieces of literature in Northern India, and has been instrumental in preserving and spreading this great epic of India to people abroad as well.
Sant Tulasidas was once so attached to his wife, he couldn't bear to be separated from her for a moment. One day, she told him that, “...If you would develop for Lord Rama even half the love that you have for my filthy body, you would certainly cross the ocean of Samsara and attain immortality and eternal bliss..” From that day forward, Tulasidas renounced his worldly life, becoming an ascetic and dedicating his life to devotion to Ram.
He wrote the Shri Ram-Charit-Manas during his fourteen year pilgrimage, directed by Lord Hanuman, the most ideal devotee of Lord Ram.
Looking at the life and devotion of Sant Tulasidas inspires us to have unadulterated, unlimited, and single minded devotion, or ananya bhakti, for the Supreme, no matter what we may call Him or Her. Tulasidas’s devotion was expressed through poetry and song, using verses composed in chaupai, or couplets. As musicians or music lovers, looking at his life, we see the possibility of complete surrender to the Supreme through the medium of music and art. We are but vessels in our artistic pursuit.
