Goswami Tulsidas.....
Goswami Tulsidas was considered to be an
incarnation of the Sage Valmiki.He was born in Rajpur,
Uttar Pradesh in the year 1532 and was the son of Atmaram Shukla Dube and Hulsi.
In his childhood days he was known as Ram Bola and Tulsiram.
A couple of strange things occured when he was born.
He did not cry and he was born with all thirty
two teeth in his mouth,truly un-natural phenomena.
At a very young age,Tulsidas showed a great deal of
interest in Shastras and other Vedic knowledge.It was most
impressive to see a young boy with the sort of ambition
which he possesed.
Tulsidas was married to Ratna.
He became very attached to her and could not bear even
a moment's separation from her.One day his brother-in-law
visited his home and Ratna sent Tulsidas to fetch some
vegetables in the marketplace.When Tulsidas returned,
his wife had disappeared.She had left with her brother
to visit her parents.
He braved the stormy weather and proceeded to finding her.
In his rush to find his wife,he grabbed a carcass of a bull,
while caught in the floods.In another instance,he grabbed hold of a snake.
This he did without being aware that he was doing it.
When he got to his father-in-law's house,he climbed up
a tree and entered into Ratna's room.
Ratna
was embarrased,ashamed and a bit furious.She spoke to him
in a rather sharp tone saying that rather than being
attached to her body of bones and filth,if he had half as much love
for Shree Raama that he would achieve bliss.
Heartbroken and dejected,he bowed and paid his respects
to his wife Ratna and immediately left her presence.
He abandoned his wife and the other aspects of family life
and resorted to the life of an ascetic.For many years he visited
places of pilgrimage.
His travels took him to a temple where Hanuman used to
appear in the disguise of a leper.Hanuman was the first to arrive
there and the last to leave.Tulsidas met with Hanuman
who bestowed upon him the vision of Shree Raama.Under
the directions of Hanuman,Tulsidas wrote the Ramacharitra
Manas.He spared no effort to express the emotions contained therein.
Once some thieves went into Tulsidas's ashram to steal.
To their amazement,they discovered that there was a
guard with a bow and arrow guarding around the ashram.
They obviously did not steal but the next day they asked
Tulsidas who this guard was.Tulsidas realised that the
Lord had become his protector.In an act of further detachment
from material things,he distributed his possesions to the poor.
He lived in Ayodhya for a while and then moved to
Varanasi.He even travelled to Brindavan where he visited
a temple of Lord Krishna.Looking at the murthi of Lord
Krishna,he desired to have the Darshan of Lord Raama.
Shree Raama appeared before him with His bow and arrow
and Tulsidas was very pleased.
Tulsidas wrote twelve books and the most renowned was
and still is the Ramayana also called the Ramacharitra Manas.
At the age of ninety one in the year 1623 A.D. at Asighat
in Varanasi,Goswami Tulsidas departed from this mortal
world and achieved the ultimate grace of Shree Raama.
Pandit Bhadase Maharaj.
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