The Ramcharitmanas 3

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 IV

  KISHKINDHAKAND

  (KISHKINDHA)

  Mangalacharan

  Beautiful as the jasmine flower and the blue lotus,

  Of great strength, abodes of wisdom,

  Graceful and comely, accomplished bowmen,

  Praised by the Vedas, holding cows and Brahmans dear,

  Who appeared in the form of men through their maya as the two noble sons of Raghu,

  Protectors of true religion,

  Wayfarers intent on their search for Sita—

  May they grant me devotion.

  (1)

  Fortunate are the wise who incessantly sip

  The life-giving nectar that is Ram’s name,

  Produced by the churning of the ocean that are the Vedas,

  That annihilates the impurities of the age of Kali in every way,

  The imperishable,

  That ever shines in the beautiful and glorious moon of divine Shambhu’s lips,

  The remedy for the diseases that are life and death, that imparts happiness,

  And is divine Janaki’s life.

  (2)

  How is it possible not to worship Kashi,

  The abode of Shambhu and Bhavani,

  Knowing it to be the birthplace of salvation,

  A treasury of spiritual knowledge and the destroyer of sin?

  (0A)

  Foolish is the one who does not worship

  Shankar, who drank the deadly poison

  That was burning the host of gods,

  For who is as merciful as Shankar?

  (0B)

  Once more, Raghurai set forth,

  And drew near the mountain Rishyamuk.

  There lived Sugriv with his ministers.

  Seeing them, the two brothers of immeasurable might, approach,

  Sugriv was greatly afraid and said, ‘Listen, Hanuman,

  Those two men are abodes of strength and beauty.

  Assume the form of a young Brahman student and go take a look,

  And when you have ascertained who they are, let me know by a sign.

  If they have been sent by the evil-hearted Baali,

  I will flee and at once leave this mountain.’

  Taking on the form of a Brahman, the monkey went up to them

  And, bowing his head, he thus questioned them:

  ‘Who are you, one dark-complexioned, the other fair,

  Who roam this forest in the guise of Kshatriyas?

  Walking upon the hard ground with your soft feet,

  Why do you wander in the forest, masters?

  Your bodies are delicate, charming and beautiful,

  Yet you suffer the intolerable sun and wind of the forest.

  Are you any of the three great gods?i

  Or are you Nar and Narayan?

  Or are you the original cause of the universe,

  The lords of all the worlds,

  Become manifest in human form

  To help us cross the ocean of this existence and to destroy the burdens of this earth?’

  (1)

  ‘We are the sons of Dasharath, the king of Koshal,

  And have come to the forest in obedience to our father’s command.

  Our names are Ram and Lakshman, we are two brothers,

  And with us was my young and beautiful wife.

  But some night-wandering demon here has carried Vaidehi off,

  And it is in search of her, Brahman, that we roam the forest.

  We have told you about us,

  Now, Brahman, tell us your story.’

  Recognizing the Lord, Hanuman fell and embraced his feet—

  His bliss, Uma, cannot be described.

  His body trembled with joy and no words came to him

  As he gazed at the lovely guise the Lord had assumed.

  Then, collecting himself, he sang a hymn of praise,

  His heart full of joy at having recognized his own Lord.

  ‘That I questioned my Lord was as it should be,

  But why do you ask, like a mere man?

  I wander lost in the power of your maya,

  And, therefore, I did not recognize my Lord.

  First, I am dull-witted and deluded,

  Sinful at heart and ignorant,

  And then you, my master, forgot me,

  You who are the divine Lord, friend of the lowly.

  (2)

  Though my faults are many, master,

  Let not the servant be apart from his Lord.

  Master, the soul is deluded by your maya,

  And can find release from rebirth only by your grace.

  And what’s more—I swear upon you, Raghubir—

  I know neither worship nor any other way of pleasing you.

  A servant relies on his master, a child on its mother,

  And thus both remain free of care, but a master must take care of his servant.’

  Thus saying, Hanuman fell at the Lord’s feet, deeply agitated,

  And his heart, filling with love, revealed his own true form.

  Then Raghupati raised him and clasped him to his heart,

  And soothed him with his own tears.

  ‘Listen, O monkey, do not feel small in your heart,

  You are twice as dear to me as Lakshman.

  All say that I am impartial,

  But a devotee is especially dear to me, for he has no other refuge but me.

  And he alone is exclusively devoted to me,

  Who never wavers from the belief, Hanuman,

  That he is the servant and this creation, animate and inanimate,

  Is the manifest form of God, his master.’

  (3)

  When Hanuman, son of the Wind, saw the Lord so pleased with him,

  His heart rejoiced and all his anguish disappeared.

  ‘Master, upon the mountain lives the chief of the monkeys—

  His name is Sugriv, and he is your servant.

  Make friends with him, master,

  And knowing him to be in distress, render him free of fear.

  He will have a search launched for Sita

  By sending millions of monkeys in every direction.’

  In this way, explaining everything to them,

  Hanuman took both the brothers upon his back.

  When Sugriv saw Ram,

  He thought his birth greatly blessed.

  Bowing his head at his feet, he met him with reverence,

  And Raghunat
h and his younger brother embraced him in return.

  The monkey king wondered to himself,

  ‘Will they, dear God, offer me their friendship?’

  Then Hanuman related the full circumstances

  Of both sides,

  And making the sacred fire bear witness,

  He united them in firm friendship.

  (4)

  Once they became allies, they kept nothing back,

  And Lakshman related all of Ram’s adventures.

  Said Sugriv, his eyes full of tears,

  ‘Lord, the daughter of Mithila’s king will be found.

  Once, I was sitting here with my ministers,

  Deep in thought,

  When I saw, flying through the sky,

  A woman helpless in an enemy’s power, wailing piteously,

  And calling out, “Ram! Ram! O Ram!”

  Seeing us, she threw down her veil.’

  Ram asked for the veil, Sugriv gave it to him at once—

  Ram pressed it to his heart, sorrowing deeply.

  Said Sugriv, ‘Listen, Raghubir,

  Don’t be so sad, but take courage in your heart.

  I will help you in every way

  To find Janaki and bring her back.’

  Upon hearing his friend’s words,

  Ram, ocean of compassion and might embodied, rejoiced.

  ‘Tell me, Sugriv, the reason why

  You are living in this forest.’

  (5)

  ‘Lord, Baali and I are two brothers,

  There was so much love between us that it defied description.

  Once, the son of the demon Mai—Mayavi was his name—

  Came to our town, Lord.

  In the middle of the night, he shouted at the city gates.

  Baali could not suffer this challenge from an enemy,

  And rushed out, and, seeing him, Mayavi fled.

  Now I, too, had gone with my brother.

  Mayavi ran into a mountain cave—

  Then Baali said to me,

  ‘Wait for me for a fortnight,

  If I do not return by then, assume that I have been killed.’

  I waited there for a month, Kharari,

  And then there came from that cave a great stream of blood.

  I thought he had killed Baali and now would come and kill me,

  So I blocked the mouth of the cave with a boulder and left.

  When the ministers saw the city without a master,

  They forced the kingdom upon me.

  Meanwhile, Baali slew the demon and returned home,

  And seeing me upon the throne, he took me as his enemy,

  And, like an enemy, he beat me severely

  And took my wife and all that I had.

  For fear of him, compassionate Raghubir,

  I wandered the whole world utterly wretched.

  He cannot come here because of a curse,1

  But even so I remain afraid in my heart.’

  When the compassionate Lord heard his devotee’s distress,

  His two mighty arms began to tremble.

  ‘Listen, Sugriv, I will kill

  Baali with a single arrow.

  Even if he takes refuge with Brahma or Rudra,

  His life will not be saved.

  (6)

  Those who are not distressed at a friend’s sorrow,

  Merely to look upon them incurs great sin.

  The mountain of one’s own troubles should appear as trifling as a speck of dust,

  While a friend’s sorrows, though small as a speck of dust, should appear as great as Meru.

  Those who do not inherently understand this,

  Why do such fools insist upon friendship?

  To stop from treading the wrong path, and help to walk the path of virtue,

  To make manifest good qualities and conceal the flaws,

  To give and take without doubt or suspicion in one’s mind,

  To always help with all one’s power,

  And, in times of misfortune, to be a hundred times more loving—

  These, declare the Vedas, are the qualities of a good friend.

  He who falsely speaks sweet words to one’s face,

  But, deceitful and duplicitous, harms one behind one’s back,

  He whose heart is as crooked as a snake’s movement, brother—

  It is best to leave such an evil friend.

  A foolish servant, a miserly king, a bad wife,

  And a deceitful friend—as painful as thorns are these four.

  Dear friend, on the strength of my support, give up sorrow,

  For I will serve your cause in every way.’

  Said Sugriv, ‘Listen, Raghubir,

  Baali is very strong and exceedingly steadfast in battle.’

  He showed him Dundubhi’s bones and the palm trees.2

  Effortlessly, Raghunath hurled the bones away and with a single arrow split the trees in two.

  Seeing his immeasurable strength, Sugriv’s friendship grew,

  And he was confident now that Ram would slay Baali.

  Again and again the monkey chief bowed his head at Ram’s feet,

  And recognizing the Lord, he rejoiced in his heart.

  When this knowledge came upon him, he said these words,

  ‘Master, with your grace, my heart is now still.

  Renouncing all luxury, wealth, family and fame,

  I will serve only you.

  All these are obstacles that hinder devotion to Ram—

  So say the holy men, the worshippers of your feet.

  In this world, friends or enemies, joy or sorrow

  Are created by maya, they are not the real truth.

  Baali is my greatest benefactor, for by his favour

  I met you, Ram, the destroyer of sorrow—

  When we battle someone in a dream,

  We are abashed when we understand the truth on waking.

  Now, Lord, show me your grace in this one way,

  That, abandoning all, I worship you day and night.’

  Hearing the monkey’s words of renunciation,

  He who holds a bow in his handii laughed and said,

  ‘All that you say is true—

  My friend, my words are never proved false.’

  O Khagesh, Ram makes us all dance

  Like a conjurer’s monkey—so the Vedas declare!

  Taking Sugriv with him, Raghunath

  Set forth, bow and arrows in hand.

  Then Raghupati sent Sugriv ahead,

  Who, made bold by Ram’s presence, went up to Baali and roared a challenge.

  Hearing him, Baali sprang up in fury,

  But Tara, his wife, clasped his feet with her hands, and, reasoning with him, said,

  ‘Listen, my husband, the ones with whom Sugriv has allied himself

  Are two brothers of immense strength and power.

  They are Lakshman and Ram, the sons of the king of Koshal,

  And can vanquish even death on the field of battle.’

  Said Baali, ‘Listen my fearful and beloved wife,

  Raghunath looks upon all impartially,

  So even if he were to kill me,

  I would still have found my Lord.’

  (7)

  So saying, proud and haughty Baali set forth,

  Considering Sugriv of as little account as a blade of grass.

  The two closed in combat. Baali ridiculed and threatened Sugriv,

  And, with a great roar, struck him a blow with his fist.

  Sugriv fled in dismay—

  Baali’s fist had struck him like a thunderbolt.

  ‘It’s as I had said, merciful Raghubir—

  He is not my brother, he is death!’

  ‘You two brothers look the same,

  For fear of mistaking you for him I did not shoot.’

  Ram touched Sugriv’s body,

  So that it became as hard as adamant and all his pain disappeared.

  He then placed a garland of flowe
rs around his neck

  And sent him back, endowing him with enormous strength.

  Again they closed in combat and battled each other in many ways

  While Raghurai watched from behind a tree.

  Sugriv tried every deceit and trick, and put forth all his strength,

  But he was afraid and finally accepted defeat in his heart.

  Then Ram drew his bow,

  And struck Baali in the heart with his arrow.

  (8)

  Struck by the arrow, he fell in distress to the ground,

  But sat up again when he saw the Lord before him,

  Dark of form, with his matted hair coiled upon his head,

  His eyes aflame, and an arrow fitted to his bow.

  Gazing on him again and again, Baali laid his heart at his feet,

  And, recognizing his Lord, felt he had received the reward of his birth.

  In his heart was love, but his words were harsh

  As he looked at Ram and said,

  ‘You have descended to earth for the sake of righteousness, master,

  But you have killed me as a hunter would.

  I am your enemy, and Sugriv your dear friend!

  For what fault, Lord, have you killed me?’