The Ramcharitmanas 1
Page 5
I salute also the men and women of the city
For whom the Lord has no little affection—
For although they maligned Sita,12 he freed them from all their sins and sorrows
And let them dwell within his realm.
I pay homage to Kaushalya, whose glory is spread over the entire world—
She is the east
From whence rose the beautiful moon, Raghupati,
Who bestows happiness upon the world and is the frost that blights the lotus of evil.
To King Dasharath and all his queens,
Looking upon them as the image of perfection and bliss,
I do humble reverence in my heart, in word and in deed—
Be gracious to me, knowing me a devoted servant of your son,
By creating whom the Creator became great.
The very extreme of glory are Ram’s father and mothers.13
I venerate the king of Avadh,
Who had true love for Ram—
When separated from his Lord,
He gave up his precious body as a worthless blade of grass.
(16)
I salute Videh with his household—King Janak,
Who had deep love and devotion for Ram,
Which he kept secret, hidden in propriety and pomp,
But which was revealed the instant he looked upon Ram.
Amongst Ram’s brothers, I pay homage first at the feet of Bharat,
Whose principles and strict observance of the vow he took defy description,
Whose heart is ever at Ram’s lotus feet—
Like a bee greedy for honey, it never leaves Ram’s side.
I venerate the lotus feet of Lakshman,
Who is calm and handsome, and confers happiness upon his followers,
Whose fame is the staff upon which flies
The flag of Raghupati’s untarnished glory,
Who is Sheshnag of the thousand heads, who upon this earth
Became incarnate to drive away the terrors of the world—
May he always remain gracious towards me,
He, ocean of mercy, repository of virtue, Saumitri, Sumitra’s son.
I bow with reverence at the lotus feet of Ripusudan,xxv
Who is valiant, good-natured and devoted to Bharat.
I bow before the great hero, Hanuman,
Whose glory Ram himself has related.
Yes, I prostrate myself before him, Hanuman, son of the Wind,
Of profound intelligence, the purifying flame that destroys the forest of wickedness and vice,
And in the home of whose heart,
The bow-and-arrows-bearing Ram has come to live.
(17)
To Sugriv, lord of the monkeys; to Jamvant, chief of the bears; and to Vibhishan, king of the demons that wander in the night,
To Angad, and the others who make up the monkey host—
I offer homage at their gracious feet,
They, who though lowly and wretched in form, found Ram.
All those who are worshippers at Raghupati’s feet,
All the birds, animals, gods, men and demons—
I do obeisance at their lotus feet,
They, who without desire for reward or return, serve Ram.
To the sage, Shukdev, to the four mind-born sons of Brahma, Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatan and Sanatkumar, to Muni Narad,
And to all the munis most excellent, celebrated for their wisdom and learning—
To them I offer homage as I prostrate myself before them, touching my head to the ground—
O great munis, grant me your favour, knowing me to be your servant.
Janaki, Janak’s daughter, mother of the world,xxvi
Deeply beloved by him in whom resides all mercy—
Upon her two lotus feet I meditate,
That by her grace I may be granted immaculate understanding and clear intellect.
Again, in my heart, in word, and in deed, Raghunayak’s
Lotus feet I adore—he, who is all-powerful,
Lotus-eyed, bearing a bow and arrows,
The source of joy to his followers and the destroyer of their sorrows.
Words and their meaning, water and the ripples upon its surface, are the same—
Though called by different names, they are not different.
So also Sita and Ram, who hold the distressed most dear—
I prostrate myself at their feet.
(18)
I praise and adore the name Ram as borne by Raghubar14—
From it comes all light—of Fire, of the Sun and the Moon.15
It is Vidhi, it is Hari, it is Har—Creator, Preserver, Destroyer,
It is the life breath of the Vedas,
And, indescribable, without form, without attributes, incomparable, it is the abode of virtue.
It is the high mantra chanted by Mahesh,
Who declares it necessary for salvation even at Kashi.16
Its potency is known full well by Ganesh,
Who is worshipped before all others because of the power of the name.17
The first poet, Valmiki, knew the power of the name—
He had been cleansed and freed of blame by chanting it backwards.18
Learning from Shiv that the name of Ram is equal to the thousand other names of the Lord,19
Bhavani chants it with her beloved.
Seeing her joy in the name, Har rejoiced
And made her, that jewel amongst women, his own ornament.20
Shiv knows well the power of the name,
By which the deadly poison yielded nectar.21
Devotion to Raghupati is the season of rains;
Tulsi, his devoted servant, is the rice that grows in deep water,
And the two most excellent syllables of Ram’s name
Are the months of Savan and Bhadon.22
(19)
The two syllables are sweet and enchanting,
They are the alphabet-eyes of those devoted to the Lord.
Easy to remember and meditate upon, easy for everyone to chant,
Bringing gain in this world, and making the next possible,
Extremely pleasing to say, to hear and to meditate upon,
As dear to Tulsi as Ram and Lakshman—
When the two letters are uttered separately, their bond of love is broken,23
Yet, like the Absolute and the Soul, they are natural companions.
Devoted brothers like Nar and Narayan,24
They are the preservers of the world, the protectors of the elect,
Jewels that adorn the ears of fair Devotion,
Shining for the good of the world, clear and bright like the moon and the sun.
In flavour and satisfaction like the nectar that confers salvation,
Supporting the earth like the tortoise and the serpent Shesh,25
Like bees to the beautiful lotus of the heart of the devout,
And upon the tongue, like Hari and Haldhar to Jasomati,26
One is the royal umbrella, the other the jewel in the crown27—
Above all the other letters of the alphabet,
Says Tulsi, shine the two consonants
Of Raghubar’s name.
(20)
The name and the named may be understood to be the same,
But the love between them is that of a master and his follower, the latter attached to and consequent upon the first.
Name and form are both attributes of the Supreme Being,
Who is indescribable, uncreated and requires a clear mind and discernment to understand.
To conjecture and compare which of the two is greater and which smaller is wrong,
But upon hearing their attributes, the wise will understand the difference between them—
Form is clearly subservient to name,
For without name, form cannot be known.
Any particular form, without its name being known,
Cannot be recognized even if placed upon the palm of the hand;
But if the
name be remembered and meditated upon even without the form being seen,
The form enters the heart with special tenderness.
The nature of form and name is a tale beyond expression—
When understood, it gives joy, but it cannot be related.
Between nirgun and sagun, the Immaterial Absolute and the Incarnate, the name bears glorious witness—
It is the sagacious and skilful intermediary, who speaks both tongues, explains both points of view, and enlightens both sides.
Hold the jewelled lamp of Ram’s name
Upon the threshold of your tongue
If you want light, says Tulsi,
Within as well as without.
(21)
As their tongues chant his name, the yogis awake
In a state of detached separation from Viranchi’sxxvii illusory creation that is this world,
Experiencing the bliss of the Absolute, which is incomparable,
Indescribable, confers well-being and has neither name nor form.
Those who wish to know the hidden mysteries,
Can come to understand them by repeating the name.
Holy men who chant the name with absorption and passion
Become Siddhas and acquire miraculous powers.
Those who are in pain or deep distress, when they chant the name,
Their troubles disappear and they become light of heart and happy.
Thus there are in this world four kinds of Ram worshippers
And all four kinds are virtuous, without blame or guilt, and generous.
All the four are wise and clever, and rely upon his name,
But the enlightened devotee is especially beloved of the Lord.
In all the four ages of the world, in all the four Vedas, his name is mighty—
But it is especially so in the Kaliyug, where there is no other recourse.
Those who are free from all kinds of desire and sensual passions,
And immersed in the pleasure of devotion to Ram—
Their hearts are the fish
In the lake of nectar that is supreme love for his name.
(22)
Nirgun and sagun, the Immaterial and the Incarnate, are the two aspects of the Absolute,
Neither can be described, each is fathomless, uncreated, immortal and incomparable.
In my opinion, the name is greater than both forms,
For it has made both subservient to itself on its own merit.
Good men, knowing my devotion, should not regard this statement as bold or audacious
For I say this with conviction, understanding and heartfelt devotion—
Like the two aspects of fire are the two aspects of the Absolute:
One is latent within the wood, one is visible and can be seen.
Each aspect is in itself inaccessible, each becomes understandable and within reach by means of the name.
Therefore, I say that the name is bigger than both brahmxxviii and Ram himself.
The Absolute is all-pervading, one and indestructible,
The sum of all truth, consciousness and intense bliss.
Even though this constant, unchangeable, unchanging Lord dwells in our hearts
All living beings in this world are wretched and miserable—
But a true appraisal of the name followed by its utterance with diligence and perseverance
Makes the Absolute manifest in the same way that assaying a jewel reveals its worth.
Thus the glory of the name
Is greater immeasurably than the Absolute.
I declare that in my opinion,
The name is also greater than Ram.
(23)
For the sake of his followers, Ram took on the form of a man
And endured misery and sorrow to secure their happiness—
But, freely and easily repeating his name with love,
Devotees become abodes of joy and bliss.
Ram redeemed one ascetic’s wife,xxix
But his name has remedied the base acts of millions of evildoers.
To please Rishi Vishvamitra, Ram decided the fate of Taraka, Suketu’s daughter,28
Together with that of her army and her son—
But together with sin and sorrow, his name destroys a devotee’s despair
In the same manner that the sun puts an end to night.
Ram himself broke Bhav’s bow—
But the power of his name demolishes the fears of this existence.
The Lord restored the Dandak29 forest and made it charming and pleasant,
But his name has made pure uncountable hearts.
Raghunandan destroyed many demon armies,
But his name has destroyed all the evil of Kaliyug.
Raghunath gave salvation to his faithful servants
Shabari and the vulture, Jatayu,
But his name has redeemed innumerable evildoers—
Its virtues are proclaimed and celebrated in the Vedas.
(24)
Ram, as all men know, extended his protection
To two, Sukanthxxx and Vibhishan,
But his name has given refuge to countless of the poor and humble—
Its virtues are acclaimed and shine forth in the world and in the Vedas.
Ram gathered an army of bears and monkeys
And made no little effort to build the bridge to Lanka,
But the mere calling of his name dries up the ocean of this existence—
Reflect upon this, good people, in your minds.
Ram killed Ravan and all his kin in battle,
And with Sita, he then departed for his own city;
Ram became king, and Avadh his capital,
And gods and sages recounted his virtues in glorious song.
But his servants meditate upon his name with affection,
And vanquish the strong and mighty armies of worldly illusion and delusion with no effort,
To walk, immersed in devotion, along the paths of their own happiness.
By the grace bestowed upon them by his name, they have no care or sorrow, even in dream.
The name is bigger than brahm and Ram,
It is the giver of boons to the givers of boons.
Mahesh knew this when he selected it
From the hundred crore verses of the story of Ram.30
(25)
By the grace conferred upon him by the name, Shambhu became immortal,
And though his attire31 is unsightly, he is the sum of all bliss.
It is by the blessing conferred upon them by the name that
Shukdev, Sanak and his brothers, and the various sages, saints and ascetics partake of divine bliss
Narad knows the glory and power of the name,
And so is as beloved of Hari and Har as Hari is beloved of the world.
By chanting his name, he pleased the Lord who bestowed his favour upon him,
And Prahlad became the foremost of all devotees, the jewel in the crest.
Dhruv in sorrow repeated Hari’s name,
And received a fixed, everlasting and unparalleled place in the skies.
Hanuman, son of the Wind, meditated upon his sacred name
And kept Ram’s favour and affection.
The dissolute Ajamil, the elephant, and the prostitute,32
All obtained liberation by the might of Hari’s name.
How much more can I extol his name?
Even Ram himself could not adequately describe its glory.
The name of Ram is the wish-granting tree, Kalpataru,
It is the abode of blessedness in the age of Kali,
And by meditating upon it Tulsidas
Was transformed from bhang into the sacred tulsi.33
(26)
In all the four ages, in all time, past, present or future, and in all the three worlds,
Living beings have been freed from sorrow by chanting his name.
In the opinion of the Vedas, the Puranas, and all the saints,
T
he love of Ram is the fruit of all virtue.
In the first age, it was through meditation; in the second, through sacrificial rites;
In the Dwapar agexxxi the Lord was propitiated through worship;
But in this age of Kali, which is the root of corruption, and where there is only filth,
Where the souls of men are fish in a reservoir of sin—
In these terrible times, the name is the wish-fulfilling Kalpataru
And by meditating upon it, all the deceptive illusions of this world that trap and entangle are destroyed.
In the Kaliyug, Ram’s name is the giver of all that is wished for and desired,
It makes easy the afterworld, and in this world it protects like a father and mother.
In the Kaliyug neither good deeds, nor piety, nor enlightened understanding is of any use—
The name of Ram is the only support.
The Kaliyug is the demon Kalnemi, the repository of treachery and evil,
And Ram’s name the wise and able Hanuman.
The name of Ram is Narkesharixxxii,
Kaliyug is Kanakakasipu,
And those who chant the name are like Prahlad,
Protected by he who destroyed the enemy of the gods.
(27)
Whether with feeling or without, whether in anger or indolence,
Chanting the name yields felicity in all ten directions.34
Remembering the name of Ram and bowing my head to Raghunath,
I sing his virtues—
He will mend all my various faults,
He, whose grace in bestowing grace never decreases.
Ram, the superlative Lord, has a servant as unworthy as me;
Yet, in keeping with his merciful nature, he, in his compassion, looks after me.
The world and the Vedas know a good master’s ways—
In humble words he recognizes devotion.
Rich or poor, villager or city-dweller,
Learned pandit or blockhead, vile and low or celebrated and famous,
Good poets or bad poets—according to their abilities,
All men and women praise their king.
And a virtuous, wise and benevolent king,
Who is a part of God himself, and in this world, the most compassionate,
Hears their sweet words of praise and respect,
And in their discourses, recognizes their devotion and humility.