Tulsīdās (c.1543–1623,) or Tulasīdās, also Gosvāmī Tulsīdās, was a leading Hindu devotional poet and a devotee of the God-king Rāma. Tulsīdās’s Rāmacaritamānas is one of the most influential works for the Hindus of northern India.
According to tradition, Tulsīdās was born in Rājāpur or Ayodhyā and lived most of his adult life at Varanasi. He is understood to have lived for 120 years, the time assigned to a sinless person.
A part of the theistic Bhakti Movement in medieval Hinduism, Tulsīdās owes much of his inspiration to the monotheistic devoutness of the Vaiṣṇavite sects, who worshipped the God Kṛṣṇa. Tulsīdās aimed to reorganize the theme of Rāma and make it a prevailing living faith. Over the centuries, this system has come to dominate the Hindu culture of northern India.
Tulsīdās is principally remembered for the Rāmacaritamānas (c.1574–77, ‘The Holy Lake of Rāma’s Deeds,’) a retelling of the seven cantos of Sanskrit epic Rāmāyaṇa. Written in Awadhi, an Eastern Hindī dialect, the Rāmacaritamānas remains the most-popular account of the story of Rāma. Tulsīdās’s bhakti (devotional) approach, concern for moral conduct, and the idea of salvation through Rama have had a profound effect on India’s art, culture, and society.
Tulsīdās also produced a substantial body of devotional work. His surviving texts include the Kṛṣṇa Gītavalī, a series of 61 songs in honor of Kṛṣṇa, Hanumān Bāhuk, a popular collection of songs addressed to Hanumān, and the Vinaypatrikā, a ‘petition to Rāma.’
Tulsīdās’s Dohāvalī, Kavitāvalī are supplementary poems derived from the story of Rāma and Sītā, and the sacred places and deities associated with them.
The Royal Navy’s Frederick Salmon Growse (1837–93,) a gifted scholar of India, translated the Rāmacaritamānas into English under the still in-print title The Ramayan of Tulsidas.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Tulsidas
The elephant passing through the market-place is always beset by curs, but he cares not. He goes straight on his own way. So it is always, when a great soul appears there will be numbers to bark after him.
—Tulsidas
No virtue is equal to the good of others and no vice greater than hurting others.
—Tulsidas
It is sinful to even see the face of a man who does not feel his friend’s pain. Treat your own mountain-like pain as though it were a speck. Treat your friend’s speck-like pain as though it were a mountain.
—Tulsidas
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Rabindranath Tagore Bengali Poet, Polymath
Kalidasa Indian Sanskrit Poet, Dramatist
Subhashita Manjari Sanskrit Anthology of Proverbs
Bhartrihari Hindu Philosopher, Grammarian
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Indian Hindu Philosopher
Kabir Indian Mystic
Basava Indian Hindu Philosopher
Virgil Roman Poet
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) Roman Poet
John Milton English Poet