by Tulsidas
In addition, the Hanuman Chalisa, a short devotional poem of forty verses in praise of Hanuman, is popularly ascribed to Tulsidas. Though the poem begins with a doha from the second book of the Ramcharitmanas21 and contains several lines that seem to have been taken from the epic, it remains doubtful that it was composed by Tulsidas. However, it is considered by many to be his most important work after the Manas. It is recited daily by millions of Hindus and is one of the most popular devotional poems of all time.
Tulsidas was a man of deep spiritual insight and a poet of extraordinary talent. His bhakti is joyous and intense, and very soon, his audience too is drawn into exuberant devotion to the ‘feet of Ram’. He charms and moves his audience with his delicate descriptions and enthrals them with the intellectual force and clarity of his discourses on points of doctrine. His achievements are significant: not only did he successfully recast the ancient story of Ram in the mould of bhakti, but by composing it in the vernacular he took away forever the need for its interpretation by the Brahminical elite. His synthesis of contrasting ideologies and points of view in the Manas made it acceptable to a wider audience and led to greater integration within the Hindu community. Nothing that can be said about the beauty of his great poem or the significance of its contribution to the religious and social landscape of northern India is enough. Thus, it is perhaps best that we now ‘listen’ to this great story in the manner that Tulsi asks—with our full attention. I hope, despite its many shortcomings, my translation will give my readers an appreciation of this great work.
Book I
BALKAND
(CHILDHOOD)
Mangalacharan
To Vanii and Vinayak,ii
The inventors of the alphabet, of letters, their names and their myriad meanings,
Of poetry, its sentiments, and the multitude of poetical metres,
And from whom originates all that is benevolent and good—
I make obeisance.
(1)
To Bhavaniiii and Shankar,iv
The personifications of faith and belief,
Without which even the greatest saints and ascetics
Cannot perceive the Divine present within them—
I bow in reverence.
(2)
The eternal guru,
Learned and wise, the very image of Shankar
Because of whose protection even the curved and crooked crescent moon1
Is venerated everywhere—
I salute with deference.
(3)
To Valmiki, king of the poets,
And to Hanuman, lord of the monkeys,
Of true wisdom and discernment,
Who disport themselves in the bright lands and pleasing forests of Sita and Ram’s glory—
I pay homage.
(4)
From whom springs life, who preserves and nurtures, and from whom arises dissolution,
She who destroys anguish, pain and torment
And from whom comes all good fortune—
I bow before her, Sita, Ram’s beloved.
(5)
He whose maya has in thrall the whole universe, including Brahma, the gods and the demon Asurs,
The brilliant splendour of whose presence manifests truth in this illusory world
As when a serpent is revealed to be a rope,
Whose feet are the only raft in which the world-ocean of this existence may be crossed to reach the farther shore,
He, who is the cause of all causes, supreme over them, yet distant from them—
I praise and offer him worship, Hari, whose name is Ram.
(6)
In accordance with the various Puranas, Vedas and Shastras,
And based on what has been related in the Ramayana and elsewhere,
Tulsidas, for his own delight and satisfaction,
Has composed the story of Raghunath
In elegant verses in the common speech.
(7)
Remembering whom ensures success,
The leader of Shiv’s retinue, with the countenance of a noble elephant—
May he bestow his grace,
He, the accumulation of wisdom, the repository of auspicious qualities.v
(0A)
By whose mercy the mute starts chattering,
And the cripple scales the mightiest mountain—
May he be moved to compassion,
He,vi whose fire burns away the filth of Kaliyug.vii
(0B)
He, whose body is as dark as the blue lotus,
Whose eyes are as bright as the red lotus—
May he make my heart his home,
He, who ever rests upon the Ocean of Milk.viii
(0C)
He whose body is radiant like the jasmine flower and the moon,
Uma’six beloved, the destroyer of Mayan,x
In whom resides compassion, and who loves the lowly and the meek—
May he show his mercy.xi
(0D)
I revere my guru’s lotus feet—
He who is an ocean of mercy, Hari in human form,
Whose words are like sunlight
In the dense darkness of delusion
(0E)
I revere the pollen-dust of the guru’s lotus feet—
Lustrous, fragrant and imbued with the flavour of love,
It is the pleasing powder of the life-giving Sanjivani root
That calms and heals the many categories of ills in this world.
It is as the pure ashes upon righteous Shambhu’sxii body,
From it arises good fortune and sweet delight.
It clears the mirror of the human mind of dirt,
And worn upon the forehead as a tilak, it confers mastery over all virtues.
Recalling the lustre of the revered guru’s jewel-bright nails,
Fills the heart with divine insight
That rips apart the darkness of delusion with its radiance—
Fortunate indeed is the one in whose heart this vision dawns.
With it comes clarity of vision,
Dispelled are the shades and sorrows of the night that is this existence,
And the gems and jewels of the exploits of Ram become perceptible,
Whether obscure or manifest, wherever and in whichever treasure trove or mine they lie,
As when, by applying siddhanjan2 to the eye,
The aspirant, the wise and the learned
Are able to perceive, in astonished joy
The abundant treasures of Ram’s exploits—on mountaintops, in forests, and everywhere upon the surface of this earth.
(1)
The dust of the guru’s feet is a gentle and pleasing collyrium—
Like life-giving nectar for the eyes—that removes and remedies all defects of vision.
Having thus cleared my sight of impurities, with true discernment,
I relate the story of Ram, which gives deliverance from this existence.
First I bow in reverence at the feet of the Brahmans, gods of this earth,
Able to destroy the doubts born of ignorance—
In fair and loving words I salute,
The community of saints and sages, who hold within them all virtues.
The deeds of the pious are like the fruit of the cotton plant,
The product of which is dry, without blemish, and with manifold uses,
Which suffers hardship, but allows itself to be spun and woven and pierced by needles to cover the faults of others,
And because of which it has earned in this world renown that is worthy of being worshipped.
The community of saints and sages is glad and full of joy,
The animate form of Prayag, that most sacred of pilgrimage sites, the confluence of the three sacred rivers.
Here, devotion to Ram is the stream of the divine Ganga,
The habit of contemplation on the Absolute, the stream of the Sarasvati,
And discussions on rituals, prescribed and proscribed, and their p
erformance
To wash away the filth of Kaliyug, the River Jamuna, daughter of the Sun.
The tales of Hari and Har are the glorious braided stream of the three rivers,
Giving joy and gladness to all who hear them.
Unwavering faith in one’s own dharma is the imperishable banyan tree that grows in this place of pilgrimage,
And noble actions and good deeds the courtiers that attend upon this king of holy sites.
Easily accessible to everyone, every day and everywhere,
If resorted to with devotion and respect, it alleviates all sorrow—
This extraordinary and indescribable, most spiritual of sacred sites
Of manifest glory, and granting immediate reward.
Those who hear of the glory of this Prayag of holy men,
Understand it with joyful hearts,
And immerse themselves in it with deep devotion—
They receive the four rewards3 of existence in this life itself.
(2)
The result of this immersion is instantly visible—
Crows turn into cuckoos and storks into swans.
Hearing this, let no one be astonished,
For the influence of good company is no secret.
The sages Valmiki, Narad, and Ghatjoni,xiii
Have each related its effect upon them;
Whatever moves in the water, upon the earth, or in the sky,
Whether animate or inanimate, every creature in this world
That has attained wisdom or glory or salvation or power or virtue,
Whenever, wherever and by whatever effort,
Has done so by keeping the company of the good—
There is no other way either in the world or in the Vedas.
Discernment is impossible without association with the good,
And the company of the virtuous is unattainable without the grace of Ram.
Keeping company with the good and virtuous is the root of joy and felicity,
It is the consummation of all effort and endeavour, the fruit of the flower that is all the spiritual practices and good works performed for its attainment.
By association with the virtuous, the wicked are reformed,
As by the touch of the philosopher’s stone, base metal turns into gold.
If by mischance, or compelled by destiny, good men fall into bad company,
Like the jewel in the cobra’s hood, they still retain their noble qualities.
Even the divine words of Vidhi, Hari and Har,xiv and the compositions of poets and pandits,
Hesitate to describe the glory of the good—
I am as unable to describe it
As a vegetable seller is unable to describe the qualities of precious gems.
I bow in reverence to the saints of equitable disposition,
Who look upon none as either friend or enemy, but regard all equally
Like the auspicious flowers held as offering in cupped hands,
That bestow their fragrance equally on both hands.
(3A)
The saints who are pure of heart, and seek the welfare of one and all—
I acknowledge their benevolence and good nature.
Hear my childlike prayer and bestow your grace upon me,
And grant me ardent love for the feet of Ram.
(3B)
And now I salute the malicious and the malevolent,
Who, without reason, cause chaos and confusion,
Who look upon another’s loss as their gain,
Who rejoice in desolation and are sorrowful in prosperity,
Who, to the full moon of Hari and Har’s glory are like the moon-devouring demon, Rahu,
Who, in undoing the accomplishments of others, are as valiant as the thousand-armed warrior, Sahasrabahu,
Who have a thousand eyes to detect the faults of others,
And whose hearts are like flies to the ghee of another’s well-being.
As fierce as fire, in their wrath as unrelenting as Mahishesh, the god of death,
The wicked are as rich in evil deeds as Dhanesh, the lord of wealth, is in gold.
Their advent is as the rising of the comet Ketu, which bodes no good for anyone,
And as with the Rakshasa, Kumbhakaran, in their inaction lies everyone’s well-being.
They are willing to sacrifice even themselves to undo the accomplishments of another,
Like the hailstones that destroy the rice fields of the farmer.
I salute these malevolent people as I would the wrathful serpent Shesh,
As, thousand-tongued, they relate the faults of others.
Once more I bow before them, they who are like Prithuraj
And listen to the faults of others with ten thousand ears.
Once again, humbly, I bow before them as to Sakr,xv king of the gods,
They, who Sakr-like, forever delight in strong drink,
Who always prefer the thunderbolt of harsh speech,
And who, with a thousand eyes, regard closely the faults of others.
The natural disposition of the malicious is to burn with jealousy
Upon hearing of the good fortune of another, whether stranger, friend or foe—
Aware of their nature, I, with folded hands,
Entreat them with affection.
(4)
I have, for my part, made my humble request;
They, too, will not fail to do their part—
Even if you rear a crow with the greatest affection
Does it ever stop feeding on meat?
I pay humble homage at the feet of the virtuous and the wicked.
They each give pain, but between them there is a difference—
Separation from one takes life, while
Union with the other gives intense suffering.
Both are born into this world together, but are
As different from each other as the lotus and the leech;
The virtuous and the wicked are like nectar and wine—
Opposites, though they have the same progenitor, the bottomless ocean that is this world.4
The virtuous and the wicked, by their own deeds,
Attain to glory or dishonour.
Consider the good—nectar, the moon, the divine River Ganga and the sage,
And think of the vile—poison, fire, the stream of the Karamnasa that carries upon it the filth of Kaliyug, and the hunter.5
Virtue and vice are known to all,
But that which is in accordance with a person’s inclination is what pleases him.
The good tend to goodness,
The vile to wickedness;
Nectar is praised for giving immortality,
And poison for causing death.
(5)
The enumeration of the vices of the wicked and the virtues of the good is never ending,
For both are limitless, like the boundless and bottomless ocean;
Even so I have described a few of these virtues and vices—
For they cannot be embraced or discarded without being recognized and understood.
The virtuous and the worthless have both been born of Vidhi,
The Vedas have enumerated their merits and their faults and distinguished one from the other.
The scriptures, tradition and the Puranas all say,
That in Vidhi’s creation, good and evil are kneaded together.
Sorrow and joy, wickedness and virtue, day and night,
Good men and bad, high caste and low,
Demons and gods, the great and the small,
Life-conferring nectar and death-inducing poison,
Illusion and the Absolute, the Soul and the Supreme Being,
Prosperity and poverty, the beggar and the king,
The divine River Ganga and the Karamnasa, both of which flow through Kashi,
The arid desert of Marwar and the lush greenery of Malwa, the Brahman and the butcher,
Heaven and hell, attachment and renunciation—
&nb
sp; The Vedas and the Shastras have divided vice from virtue.
The Creator has made up this universe
With the inanimate and the animate, with virtue and vice.
The saints extract the good and reject the bad,
As the swans of the sacred lake, Manasarovar, separate milk from worthless water.
(6)
When the Supreme Being blesses us with this discernment,
The heart renounces vice and dwells in virtue;
But under the influence of time and the force of fate,
Even the good may deviate from goodness.
The devotees of Hari remedy their lapse from virtue,
And by destroying sorrow and evil, restore glory untarnished;
Similarly, though the wicked may deviate from vice in the company of good men,
The evil in them is never effaced and their inherent nature remains unchanged.
Impostors wearing the guise of good men and taken as such by the world,
Are worshipped for the luminescence of their appearance;
In the end their true nature stands revealed, their deception cannot be sustained
As in the case of Kalnemi, Ravan and Rahu.6
A good and righteous man is honoured even when he assumes a form that is not pleasing,
As it was in the world with the bear, Jamvant, and the monkey, Hanuman.
Bad company is detrimental, good company is a gain—