| Tulsidasji was born on the Shraavan Shukla Saptami, Vikrami Samvat 1554 in Rajapur, Uttar Pradesh, India in the present day Banda District, [1], during the reign of Humayun to Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey. The popular verse in this regard is- "पन्द्रह सौ चौवन बिसै कालिन्दी के तीर | श्रावण शुक्ला सप्तमी तुलसी धरे शरीर ||" [2] During his lifetime, Tulsidas wrote 22 different works[3] and although a Sanskrit scholar, he is renowned as a Hindi poet. He is regarded as an incarnation of Valmiki,[3] due to the following verse from Bhavishyottar Purana- "वाल्मीकिस्तुलसीदासः कलौ देवि भविष्यति | रामचन्द्रकथामेतां भाषाबद्धां करिष्यति ||" In Pratisarga Parva of Bhavishyottar Purana, Lord Shiva tells Mata Paarvati how Maharshi Vaalmiki got the boon from Lord Hanumaan to sing ShriRaamKathaa in vernacular language in Kaliyuga. Ramacharitamanasa, an epic devoted to Rama, was the Awadhi version of Ramayana of Valmiki.It is not exactly the "Awadhi version", but the original one of its kind. Apart from "Awadhi"- three other languages are also seen in the epic Ramacharitamanasa- they are "Bhojpuri", " Brijbhasa" and "the local language of people of Chitrakut".Like many translations of the original Sanskrit Ramayana, it is read and worshipped with great reverence in many Hindu homes in India. It is an inspiring book that contains couplets in verse form called chaupai ... |
