Author Description

Rāmcharitmānas literally means the "Lake of the Deeds of Rām".Tulsidas compared the seven kānds (literally 'books', cognate of cantos) of the epic to seven steps leading into the holy waters of a Himalayan lake (or mānas, as in Lake Mansarovar or Manasbal Lake) which "which purifies the body and the soul at once." The core of the work is a poetic retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, centered on the narrative of Rām, the crown prince of Ayodhya. The great poem is also called Tulsi-krit Ramayan (literally, 'Tulsi-created Ramayan' or, more loosely, 'The Ramayan of Tulsidas'.Tulsidas (who is also sometimes called Tulsidas-ji or simply Tulsi) began writing the scripture in Vikram Samvat 1631 (1574 CE) in Avadhpuri, Ayodhya. The exact date is stated within the poem as being the ninth day of the month of Chaitra, which was the birthday of Lord Ram, Ram Navami. A large portion of the poem was composed at Varanasi, where the poet spent most of his later life.Today, it is considered one of the greatest works of Hindu literature. Its composition marks the first time the story of Ramayana was made available to the common man for song and performance. Thus, the text is associated with the beginning of the storied tradition of Ramlila, the dramatic enactment of the text.