Hindu

Tulsidas

Hinduc. 1532 – c. 1623Rajapur (Chitrakoot), Uttar Pradesh, India1,686 quotes· 20 sources

Tulsidas was a 16th-century Hindi poet-saint and ardent devotee of Lord Rama, best known as the author of the Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Ramayana in Awadhi. His devotional poetry made the story of Rama accessible to common people and remains one of the most beloved texts in the Hindi-speaking world.

Goswami Tulsidas was born in Rajapur, Uttar Pradesh, into a Brahmin family and reportedly faced hardship from childhood before becoming a devoted ascetic. He is primarily celebrated for composing the Ramcharitmanas, an epic retelling of the Ramayana in the vernacular Awadhi language that democratised access to the Rama narrative. Beyond this masterwork he wrote several other texts including Vinay Patrika, Kavitavali, and Hanuman Chalisa, the last of which is recited daily by millions of Hindus. He was a central figure of the Bhakti movement, emphasising personal devotion to a personal God over ritualism or caste hierarchy. His influence on Hindi literature and popular Hinduism is unparalleled; he is often referred to simply as Goswamiji or the 'poet-saint of Varanasi'.

Wisdom

Having thus acquired the rare gift of Devotion the sage prepared a funeral pile and discarding all attachment from his heart ascended it.

Everyone follows their own imagined path; the endless variety of misdeeds cannot be put into words.

Following their own duties according to their caste and stage of life, the people walked the path of the Vedas and experienced happiness.

Truthfulness, obedience to God, and considering others' wives as one's own mother are the greatest virtues. If one can't realize God by practicing these, then the speaker is a liar.

I make obeisance to the eternal preceptor in the form of Lord Ākara, who is all wisdom, and resting on whose brow the crescent moon, though crooked in shape, is universally adored.

I bow to the lotus feet of my Guru, who is an ocean of mercy and is no other than Lord Hari Himself in human form, and whose words are like sunbeams that dispel the darkness of ignorance.

With my discerning eyes now brightened, I proceed to tell the story of Rama, which brings liberation from the cycle of worldly existence.

Men who, having heard the glory of this moving Prayāga in the form of the assemblage of holy men, appreciate it with an enraptured mind and then take a plunge into it with extreme devotion, obtain the four rewards of human existence during their very lifetime.

Contact with noble souls is the root of joy and blessings. It is the ultimate goal and fulfillment of all endeavors, while other practices are just the beginning.

The wicked burn with jealousy when they hear of others' welfare, whether they are friends, enemies, or neutral.

A good person naturally inclines towards goodness, while a wicked person is drawn to wickedness.

When Providence blesses someone with the ability to discern, their mind leaves evil behind and becomes enamored with goodness.

Bad company is harmful, while good company is a valuable asset in itself, a truth recognized in the world and by the Vedas.

I lack confidence in my intellectual abilities, so I humbly ask for your guidance.

I am humble, but my ambition is high. I hope that good people will appreciate my words, while those with evil intentions will laugh at them.

The tale of the Lord of Raghus brings forth blessings and wipes away the impurities of the Kali age. By its association with the auspicious glory of the Lord, my composition will be blessed and will captivate the mind of the virtuous.

Those born in the terrible Kali age, who act like crows but pretend to be swans, and abandon the Vedic path to follow the evil way.

The goddess Saraswati, the great Lord Shiva, Brahma, the Tantras, the Vedas, and the Puranas constantly sing His praises, saying 'not that, not that'.

The Vedas justify it in this way: they have sung the glory of remembering the Lord, who is one, desireless, formless, nameless, and unborn, and who is Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss, the supreme effulgence, all-pervading, and all-formed.

The Lord's glory is charming, but my speech is rough.