Bhakthi rathnakara- 3. Tulasidas- Tulasidasa mahima and his atrtainment of the

[Guest guest]

Tulasidasa

mahima and his attainment of the Lotus feet of Rama

 

The

greatness and fame of Ramcharithamanas

spread far and wide and it reached the ear of Akbar who was ruling the mogul

empire then. He called Tulasidas and asked him whether he can show Rama.

Tulasidas replied that Rama will come only if one has deep rooted devotion.

Akbar put him in jail telling him that he would not be released until he showed

Rama. Tulasidas prayed to Hanuman and a large crowd of monkeys came to Delhi and wrought havoc

in the city, reminding one of that done by Hanuman in Lanka. One of the

ministers of Akbar who was a hindu told him that it was the result of the

imprisonment of the devotee of Rama. Akbar released Tulasidas and asked

forgiveness. Tulasidas said that Rama had more than a million vanaras in His

armay and only thousands have come then

and the rest would also come and Rama will follow them. Akbar said that he had

had enough and he did not want more vanaras or Rama.

 

Tulasidas

spent the rest of his life reading ramacharithamanas during the day when

Hanuman would come and listen and during the nights he would chant ramanama. He

lived for 126 years and he continued this practice till the end. When his end

was near, he was reading aloud the scene from ramacharirhamanas in which

Hanuman comes and tells Bharatha that Rama was returning to Ayodhya.

 

jaasu

biraham sochahu dhinaraathee japahu nirantahragunaganapaanthee

raghukulathilak

sujanasukhadhaathaa aayavu kusala dhevamunithraathaa

 

Meaning,

"whose separation you are moaning and sing whose qualities day and niight, that Rama , who is

the protector of the sages , has come."

 

Tulasidas

in that instant saw Rama coming in the pushpakavimana with Seetah, Lakshmana,

Vibheeshana and the vanaras. The people assembled there were singing at that

time raamlakshmanajanakee jaybolohanumaanki loudly and the soul

of Tulasidas left his mortal coil and attained the feet of Rama.

 

The

greatness of Tulasidas and his ramacharithamanas lies in the fact that he

expresses his inner joy in writing on Rama whose presence he actually felt and

enjoyed and he commuicated the feeling to the listeners also. It is like

hearing a master musician or any other

artist who enjoys and is engrossed in his music or art so much that the feeling

is reflected in the heart of the others who listen to him, provided they are

attuned to him.

 

It is a

great blessing to read or write about such devoted souls like Tulasidas and

writing on his life has triggered a wish

to write about ramacharithamanas, which would be a reality if Lord Rama so

wills.