Goswami Tulsidas (गोस्वामी तुलसीदास): His Life and Works

Tulsidas at a Glance

His Life: What His Own Works and the Records Say

Tulsidas says little about himself, but what he says is clear. In the Kavitavali he calls himself Rambola, the name he had as a child, and he writes that his mother and father left him as a baby: “मातु पिता जग जाय तज्यो”. He grew up poor, and he never says why he was left.

In the Ramcharitmanas he says that he first heard the story of Shri Ram from his guru, as a child, at a place called Sukarkhet, and did not understand it then: “मैं पुनि निज गुर सन सुनी कथा सो सूकरखेत। समुझी नहिं तसि बालपन तब अति रहेउँ अचेत॥” He does not give his guru’s name.

He also gives the day he began the Manas: Ram Navami of Samvat 1631, a Tuesday, in Ayodhya: “संबत सोरह सै एकतीसा। करउँ कथा हरि पद धरि सीसा॥ नौमी भौम बार मधुमासा। अवधपुरीं यह चरित प्रकासा॥” That is 1574 CE, the only date in his life that he wrote down himself.

Two things from his own time survive outside his poems. Nabhadas, a devotee who lived then, wrote in his Bhaktamal that Valmiki had come again as Tulsidas: “कलि-कुटिल-जीव-निस्तार हित वाल्मीकि तुलसी भयो”. And a settlement deed of 1612 (Samvat 1669), written in his own hand, was kept with the Maharaja of Kashi; the scholar George Grierson published a photograph of it in 1889.

He spent most of his later life in Varanasi, where Tulsi Ghat is named after him. He died there, at Assi Ghat, in 1623 (Samvat 1680). The year is accepted by everyone; the day is not, and the dohas that give it differ. Encyclopaedia Britannica’s article on Tulsidas says the same: little is known about his life, and he lived most of his adult life in Varanasi.

What Devotees Tell

Most stories about Tulsidas come from two books written long after him: the Bhaktirasbodhini of Priyadas, written in 1712, and the Mula Gosain Charit, which says it was written by his disciple Benimadhavdas but became known only in the 1920s; many scholars think it is a much later work. Devotees hold these stories dear, and we tell them here as stories.

Rambola. The Mula Gosain Charit says he was born after twelve months in the womb, with all his teeth, and that his first word was “Ram”. Born under an unlucky star, he was given away as a baby and raised by a maid.

Ratnavali. He loved his wife Ratnavali so much that one night he followed her to her father’s house, across a river in flood. She told him that if he loved Shri Ram as he loved her body of bone and skin, he would have nothing to fear. He left home that day. Her words are told in a doha, in more than one version, for example: “अस्थि-चर्म-मय देह मम तामै जैसी प्रीति। तैसी जौ श्रीराम महँ होति न तौ भवभीति॥”

Hanuman ji and Shri Ram’s darshan. A spirit he gave water to every day told him how to find Hanuman ji: an old man who came first and left last at every Ramayan katha. Hanuman ji guided him to Chitrakoot, where Shri Ram came to him, and devotees still sing: “चित्रकूट के घाट पर, भइ सन्तन की भीर। तुलसिदास चन्दन घिसें, तिलक देत रघुबीर॥”

The Manas at Kashi Vishwanath. Pandits are said to have put the Manas under other books in the temple overnight and found it on top in the morning, signed “सत्यं शिवं सुन्दरम्”. This one is told only in the Mula Gosain Charit, and scholars note that the phrase is a modern one.

The emperor’s prison. Priyadas tells that the king of Delhi jailed Tulsidas for refusing to show a miracle, and that monkeys overran the fort until he was set free. Priyadas does not name Akbar, and in his telling Tulsidas prays to Hanuman ji in his heart; later tellings say the prayer was the Hanuman Chalisa. More on our history of the Hanuman Chalisa page.

The Works of Tulsidas

Scholars accept twelve works as his, six in Awadhi and six in Braj:

The order in which he wrote them is not certain; only the Manas carries its own date. The Hanuman Chalisa, the Hanuman Bahuk and the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Ashtak are not on this list, but devotees have always taken them as his.

Tulsidas and Hanuman Ji

The Hanuman Chalisa names its poet in its last chaupai: “तुलसीदास सदा हरि चेरा। कीजै नाथ हृदय महँ डेरा॥” No record gives the year it was written; our history of the Hanuman Chalisa explains what is known.

The Hanuman Bahuk has a story of its own. The Gita Press edition says that around Samvat 1664 (about 1607) Tulsidas had a deep pain in his arms that no medicine or mantra could cure. He began a prayer to Hanuman ji, and the pain left him. That prayer of 44 verses is the Bahuk; in its first verse he names himself: “कह तुलसिदास सेवत सुलभ, सेवक हित संतत निकट।”

The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Ashtak is also taken as his, and so, by many, is the Bajrang Baan, although scholars list neither among his works. In Varanasi, the Sankat Mochan temple is said to have been founded by him.

गोस्वामी तुलसीदास का जीवन परिचय

गोस्वामी तुलसीदास श्रीराम के भक्त कवि थे। उन्होंने अवधी में रामचरितमानस लिखी, जो उत्तर भारत के घर-घर में पढ़ी जाती है, और हनुमान चालीसा भी परंपरा से उन्हीं की मानी जाती है। उनके जीवन की बहुत-सी बातें उनके बहुत बाद लिखी गईं, इसलिए नीचे साफ़ लिखा है कि कौन-सी बात उनकी अपनी रचनाओं से पता चलती है और कौन-सी परंपरा से।

विद्वान बारह रचनाओं को निश्चित रूप से तुलसीदास जी की मानते हैं। अवधी में: रामचरितमानस, रामलला नहछू, बरवै रामायण, पार्वती मंगल, जानकी मंगल और रामाज्ञा प्रश्न। ब्रज में: दोहावली, कवितावली, गीतावली, कृष्ण गीतावली, विनय पत्रिका और वैराग्य संदीपनी। इनका ठीक क्रम पता नहीं है; केवल रामचरितमानस में उसकी तिथि दी गई है। हनुमान चालीसा, हनुमान बाहुक और संकटमोचन हनुमान अष्टक परंपरा से उनकी मानी जाती हैं।

रत्नावली की सीख, हनुमान जी से भेंट, चित्रकूट में श्रीराम के दर्शन और बादशाह की कैद जैसी कथाएँ प्रियादास की भक्तिरसबोधिनी (1712) और मूल गोसाईं चरित जैसी बाद की पुस्तकों से आती हैं। भक्त इन्हें श्रद्धा से सुनते और सुनाते हैं।

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions people often ask about Goswami Tulsidas, in English and in Hindi.

Read the Hanuman Chalisa in Hindi with its meaning, the history of the Hanuman Chalisa and the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Ashtak.