A REVIEW
OF RAMCHARITMANAS

[Our religious leaders are
required to tell the society, that Hindu religion is the only religion in the
world which does NOT believe that God sitting in Heavens is going to
help the faithful. No! HE will never do this. In case HE has to help the
society HE has to come on this earth as an incarnation. Rest of the time, YOU,
as an individual has to take care of your family, and also act responsibly as a
member of a society, which is involved in SELF RULE]

Goswami Tulsidas lived in the sixteenth (1532- 1623) century. He had immensely contributed
for the sustenance of Hindu religion in very difficult times. It is widely
believed that he had received blessings from Lord Hanuman. Some say he was an
incarnation of Lord Hanuman, other say that he was an incarnation of Maharishi
Valmiki. He was definitely a man of vision and foresight, and with lot of
commitment for sustenance and revival of Hindu religion.

RAMCHARITMANAS, the Hindi version of
Ramayan written by Tulsidas in poetic form in Awadhi dialect, is worshipped and
read as a sacred book in all homes in north India. Before Ramcharitmanas became
popular, the entire Hindu scriptures were available, only in Sanskrit.

During that period, Hindu religion was fighting a losing battle for
survival. Temples were razed by Muslim rulers on the plea that in their
religion, destruction of places of worship of other religion had religious
sanctity, forceful conversion was taking place, and unmarried young girls were
forcibly taken away. To add to their woes, heavy “jizya” tax was also required
to be paid by Hindus. Survival of Hindu religion and society was becoming
extremely difficult and they were virtually on the mercy of Muslim rulers. The
condition was hopeless. The only hope was provided by the local temple priest
and the Brahmin who came to perform pooja in the house. Also the wondering
Sanyaasis, who would come and stay for a couple of days in the village temple.
They would invariably assure them that God’s help was not far away. Have faith
in God (they were told), and they had plenty of it, as there was no other
solace. Miraculous deeds of God were told to them, perhaps with a bit of
overdose, as there was no other way to keep their hopes alive.

Incidentally Bhakt Surdas, who belonged to the same era, was already doing
his bit to soothe the feelings of Hindus. He was presenting, through his
Bhajans, Lord Krishna, as a naughty child, and the relation between  Shri Krishna, and mother Yashoda, in such a
way that every mother could see a bit of Krishna in his child. He also, through
his Bhajans, romanticized the deeds of young Lord Krishna, as young Krishna
went around trees, along with young Gopies, with his flute.

The condition of Hindu society was such that Goswami Tulsidas had no other
choice. He wrote Ramcharitmanas in beautiful poetic form. The book is full of
praise of Lord Ram and the deeds Shri Ram performed. It is true that he
compromised on a bit of history, but history was certainly not his objective.
His objective was to sustain Hindu society in its difficult time. There were
lot of problem Hindu religion was facing at that time, and he was required to
address them. These problems
had not started recently, they, were the problem of attitude. And all this
started about 1500 years earlier. Outside invasion, oppression and inward
coiling of Hindu
society, and change in attitude. Then further invasions, far greater
oppression, and further inward coiling of Hindu society and further change in
attitude. And this cycle continued several times. The result of all this was
that Hindu society became passive. They were willing to accept almost
everything so that they can somehow manage to sustain themselves and hope for
the better times in future. Child marriages, even forced or compulsory Sati,
and oppression of females was the direct result of this.

Goswami Tulsidas did not make any efforts to
change that attitude. He was not required to, as at that time this attitude was
helping to somehow sustain the religion. That could wait. All his efforts were
directed in making sure that Hindu religion survives the difficult period. He
succeeded in his mission. He was aware of some serious problems in the society,
like: untouchable, caste and exploitation of females. Tulsidas addressed all
these problems in his Ramcharitmanas. In the episode of Shabri, he addressed
the problem of untouchables. In Uttarkaand, while describing Ram Rajya, he was
categorical in stating that every man was allowed to have one wife and that
there was no discrimination on the basis of caste. There were several problems
of his time which he seriously addressed, and also used a bit of diplomacy to
wade through the troubled waters. He however addressed the problem of dispute
between worshippers of Lord Shiv and Lord Vishnu, much more seriously, and tried
to address it several times.

The period in which Ramcharitmanas was
written was the period of rulers. But now we do not have any rulers, WE HAVE SELF
RULE. Yet even now, no effort is being made to reverse the attitude that
an average Hindu has.

Our religious leaders are required to tell
the society, that Hindu religion is the only religion in the world which does NOT
believe that God sitting in Heavens is going to help the faithful. No! HE will
never do this. In case HE has to help the society HE has to come on this earth
as an incarnation. Rest of the time, YOU, as an individual has to take
care of your family, and also act responsibly as a member of a society, which
is involved in SELF RULE. Your inaction, and expressing your
helplessness is an act of Adharm, which is totally unpardonable, unacceptable
and totally negative. You cannot sit in your drawing room, tea or coffee shop
and express your helplessness as to what is going on in India. No, you are
responsible for corruption, misgovernance, and decline of Hindu religion. YOUR INACTION IS UNPARDENABLE, AND
TOTALLY AGAINST HINDU DHARM.

JAGO INDIA JAGO!!!