Tulsidas

Early life

Tulsidas was born on the seventh day of the bright half of the lunar month Shraavana, corresponding to 11 August 1511. Most scholars identify Soron in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh as his birthplace, though in 2012 the government of Uttar Pradesh declared Chitrakoot as his birthplace. His parents were Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey. There is dispute over his Brahmin subcaste: the Mishrabandhus affirmed he was likely a Kanyakubja Dwivedi Brahmana, but Mata Prasad Gupta argued that because Tulsidas himself said his family sustained itself through alms, he may have been a Saryuparin Brahmin, as Kanyakubja Brahmins traditionally despised accepting alms.

The year 1497 appears in many current-day biographies, but Tulsidas and Sir George Grierson give the year as 1511. Biographers who disagree with 1497 argue that it would make his lifespan 126 years, which they consider unlikely, though Ramchandra Shukla held that such an age is not impossible for a Mahatma. Tulsidas was born after twelve months in the womb, with all thirty-two teeth, looking like a five-year-old, and uttering Rama instead of crying.

He was therefore named Rambola. According to the Mula Gosain Charita, he was born under the Abhuktamūla constellation, which in Hindu astrology endangers the father's life, so on the fourth night his parents sent him away with a female house-help named Chuniya or Muniya. In his works Kavitavali and Vinayapatrika, Tulsidas attests to his family abandoning him after birth.

Later life

After renunciation, Tulsidas spent most of his time at Varanasi, Prayag, Ayodhya, and Chitrakuta, but also travelled to many other places across India, studying with different people, meeting saints and sadhus, and meditating. The Mula Gosain Charita recounts his travels to the four Hindu pilgrimages of Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri, and Rameshwaram, as well as the Himalayas, and to Lake Manasarovar in Tibet, where tradition holds he had darshan of KaagBushundi.

Tulsidas hints in his works that he met Hanuman and Rama face to face. According to Priyadas' Bhaktirasbodhini, Tulsidas used to offer water from his pot to a tree, which quenched the thirst of a Preta. The Preta appeared and offered a boon; Tulsidas asked to see Rama. The Preta said he could guide Tulsidas to Hanuman, who came daily disguised as a leper to listen to Tulsidas's katha, arriving first and leaving last.

That evening Tulsidas followed the leper to the woods, fell at his feet, and the leper revealed himself as Hanuman. Hanuman blessed Tulsidas and told him to go to Chitrakuta to see Rama. At the beginning of the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas bows to a Preta and asks for his grace; Rambhadracharya identifies this as the same Preta that led Tulsidas to Hanuman.

Works

Twelve works are widely considered by biographers to be written by Tulsidas: six major and six minor. They are classified by language: Awadhi works include Ramcharitmanas, Ramlala Nahachhu, Barvai Ramayan, Parvati Mangal, Janaki Mangal, and Ramagya Prashna; Braja works include Krishna Gitavali, Gitavali, Sahitya Ratna, Dohavali, Vairagya Sandipani, and Vinaya Patrika.

He also composed the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman Ashtak, Hanuman Bahuk, Bajrang Baan, and Tulsi Satsai. It consists of around 12,800 lines divided into 1073 stanzas, grouped into seven books, and is about one-third the size of Valmiki's Ramayana. The work uses 18 metres, including ten Sanskrit and eight Prakrit metres.

Doctrine

Tulsidas's philosophy is found across his works, especially in the dialogue between Kakbhushundi and Garuda in the Uttar Kand of the Ramcharitmanas. His doctrine has been described as an assimilation and reconciliation of diverse tenets and cultures of Hinduism. At the beginning of the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas says his work accords with various scriptures including the Puranas, Vedas, Upavedas, Tantra, and Smriti. Ram Chandra Shukla elaborated on Tulsidas's Lokmangal as a doctrine for social upliftment.

According to Tulsidas, the Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman are one and the same; both are unspeakable, unfathomable, without beginning, and without parallel. It is the devotion of the devotee that forces the quality-less, formless Nirguna Brahman to become Saguna Brahman with qualities. He uses the example of water, snow, and hail, and the simile of a lake. In the Uttar Kand, Kakbhushundi debates Lomasa about whether God is Nirguna or Saguna; Kakbhushundi refutes Lomasa's arguments, and Lomasa curses him to be a crow.

Kakbhushundi accepts the curse but refuses to give up bhakti of Rama. Though Tulsidas holds both aspects equal, he favours the qualified Saguna aspect. Some authors contend from couplets in Ramcharitmanas and Vinay Patrika that Tulsidas vigorously contradicted Kabir's denial of Avatar.

Did You Know?

• The Sanskrit name Tulasīdāsa is a compound of Tulasī (basil plant) and Dāsa (servant or devotee).
• Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, a contemporary Advaita philosopher, composed a Sanskrit verse in praise of the Ramcharitmanas.
• Abdur Rahim Khankhana, a Muslim poet in Akbar's court, was a personal friend of Tulsidas and composed a couplet describing the Ramcharitmanas.