Recreation of The Ram of Popular Imagination by Tulsidas

Abstract

Goswami Tulsidas is one of the most popular poets of Hindi, his uniqueness lies in the way he gave a new dimension to ‘Ram-Katha’. It is common to discuss the reason for Tulsi's popularity in social discourse, whether it is a pandit for Rama or the devotion and religious tendency of the people of India. Many writers came in the medieval period, but no one could reach the height of fame that Tulsidas gained which is relevant even today. In fact, the reason behind his popularity has been projection of the Rama as 'Lok Nayak'. The world in which Tulsi's Rama is enshrined is India of the 16- 17th centuries, which is plagued by various inequalities. Tulsi has depicted this inequality-ridden society through ‘Kali-Yuga’. It has physical, mental, and materialism exposure; Poverty, famine, pestilence, femininity, hypocrisy, crooked earth, crippling policy, wicked-gentleman, water-leech etc are prevailing. In such an era, 'Ram' has been shown not particularly in traditional form and connecting him with the struggles of life, where Rama was born with the aim of suppressing the wicked, which is meaningful in all the ages. Human society can be impacted through cultural exchange. For the welfare of the human society, suffering from the narrowness of discrimination of caste and creed, by shedding the Ganges of Ram Bhakti in the mind of man, he took shelter of the Ramayana like Amrit Sanjeevani Katha Sagar with tradition and there is no other religion like ‘Parhit-Selfless’. He taught the art of living life through Ram Katha. Tulsidas coined such a 'Rama' in ‘Ramcharitmanas’ who, despite being in human form, the effect he leaves in front of the society, is supernatural. The personality of Rama that emerges in the Indian psyche is that of a ‘Maryada Purushottam’. That form somewhere tries its best to show us the ideal path to cross the worldly ocean. Tulsidas exposes various forms of Rama such as ‘Parabrahma’, ‘Sitapati’, ‘Devotee’, ‘World-Saviour’, ‘Anuj Snehi’, ‘Sakha Snehi’ etc., as well as projecing Rama as the hero in social inequalities. Tulsidas tried to establish the same through ‘Ram Rajya’.

Therefore, it is called:

Sur Sur Tulsi Sasi, Udgan Keshavdas

Ab ke Chhavi Khadyot Sam,  Jahan Tahan Karat Prakas