Ramayan

November 12, 2003

all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I would like to nkow if anybody could explain me what is the difference between thw Valmiki´s Ramayan and Tulsidas´Ramayan.

Unfortunately i have only got and read the last one, so it had been very difficult to me obtain an answer on it.

Thanks

November 13, 2003

valmiki is an ancient vedic rishi.

his ramayan is in sanskrit. that is original ramayan.

tulsidas, a great devotee of rama and hanuman, and a poet,

translated the ramayan in the local vraj bhasha 500 ears ago. this language is still spoken in UP, India.

This made ramayan available for reading and singing for all the common people.

one of his doha is:

chitrakuta ke ghata pe

bhai santana ki bhid

tulasidas chandan ghase

tilak kare raghuvir

another of his wisdom line is:

tulasi isa samsarame

bhat bhat ke log

saba se hila mila chalio

nadi naava sanjog

jai sri krishna! -madhav

January 2, 2004

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Although the question warrants essays and papers have been published on this I am attempting to answer this without treatment of the story and associated details. Some points for your observation:

1. Raamcharitmaanas of Tulsidaas is a book in line with Bhakti movement and so in line with devotional approach and associated presentation of the Primordial Lord in the human incarnation as King Raam and his exploits. Written in AD 1574 at the peak of Moghul Rule this book aims to bring out the precise of Vedas, Bhagvad Puraan ( and so Bhagvad Geeta), Adhyatma Raamaayan, Kamban's Raamaayan ( Tamil) and Vaalmiki Raamaayan in a common book in language of masses-Avadhi rather than Sanskrit which was getting restricted to the educated brahmins.

2. Vaalmiki Raamaayan is rich in expressing the feelings emphasising the human approach of the central characters and strictly adhering to the maryaada or boundaries of the Kshatriya King. Once the story begins, till Raam kills Raavan, his divinity is never referred. Attempts are being made to even cover-up events which may reveal that he is God in the human form ( Parashu Raam episode, Indra in Aranya Kaand)lest Raavan may know about it and be on guard.

3. Raamcharitmaanas completes the story of Raam's exploits by not only sharing with the reader all the human aspects of the incarnation but as it is a tale retold by Lord Shiva to Paarvati it extends the narration to even bring out divine Godly leelaa acts in the whole story e.g. Giving place in God's abode to noble soul of Jataayu or warriors like Baali/ Kumbhakar/ Raavan or accepting Raam as the most revered and effective name of all the God's names. In Raamcharitmaanas the divine acts of the God have also been shared with the user whereas in Vaalmiki's Raamaayan the description is only restricted to the earthy-human characteristics.

4. Vaalmiki Raamaayan and Raamcharitmaanas are therefore not two different books but complementary books. Tulsidaas acknowledges Vaalmiki's contribution of invigorating the ballad in Baal-Kaand of RCM. So that people do not stop reading Sanskrit or enjoying Vaalmiki Raamaayan, Tulsidas has left many portions like Ahalya- Gautam's Curse portion in Baalkaand/ Lakshaman-Seetaa altercation and Raavan-Seeta altercation in Aranya Kaand before the abduction or Raam-Seeta altercation in Lanka Kaand as these are only reflection of pure human trailts and a reflection of customs as prevalent in Kshatriya's Kings life at the time of writing Vaalmiki Raamaayan. But these are important portions in treatment of the Raam story.

4. A view is that as per Tulsidas his book is meant for singing, not only reading and so the human traits which do not bring lessons in code of conduct in current times after AD 1574 may have been deleted.

5. Tulsidas has incorporated subtle messages across every 5th chaupai of his composition which brings benefit to all individuals who read Raamcharitmaanas.These subtle messages make person action oriented ( Karma pradhaan) rather than fatalist (leaving everything to bhagya), acting noble without wickedness and without any intention to harm anyone and leave all actions to be merited by all knowing, just God.

At many places explicit messages are given. This explicit presentation is missing in Vaalmik's Raamaayan

7. The beauty in Vaalmiki's Raamaayan is that it is only after Raavan's killing in Vaalmiki's Raamaayan that the reader is reminded again that the hero is God's incarnation and that is done when hero is openly revered for his divine nature. This too after the hero is acting ignorant about his role and bound by Maryaadaa: outer limits of principled conduct not bothered if his action may bring infamy in his manner of treating Seeta in line with the prevalent tradition of treating a wife who wilfully leaves a home! In Kamban's and Tulsidas Raamcharitmaanas the reader is constantly reminded of the hero's divine play and many actions justified as pre-planned by God.

8. Probably it was reqd. in AD 1574 that the complex lord's treatment of human actions be presented in a manner which the common masses could understand. It is only after they understand the actions can they relate to pick up the subtle messages on code of conducted as exempliefied by the central character

9. Without reading Vaalmiki Raamaayan and Kamban Raamaayan one is not able to completely enjoy the whole RCM story and some portions raise queries. As RCM was primarily used by Kathaakars for explaining the story through pravachan or discourse it uses ellipse to provide opportunity to the one giving the discourse to explain the complete story.

10. Both books maintain the central story structure and convey the relevance of :

a) strong willpower and sticking to Truth the foundation of Dharma.

b) need to stick to principles while facing adverse situations

c) have action oriented approach with focus of putting all efforts behind a rightful cause.

d) universal benevolence and care and respect for all irrespective of position of power orriches but driven by love.

Hope this helps. These are points mentioned just as a lay-man's observation . I am no scholar.

Any query with respect to points mentioned in this reply are welcome at nitin.mathur@wipro.com

January 14, 2004

dear

i know little about it, according to my knowledge Valmiki wrote Ramayan which contains lavkush cand, chepak katha etc also and deals with the overall charitra of ram. On the otherhand Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas not ramayan so particularly covers ram as a character of Purushottam Ram for betterment and example of society.

thank you very much