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.
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 these invaders and Muslim rulers. The condition was hopeless. The only hope was provided by 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, and all saints of that time had had no choice. They had to increase the emotional content of the Hindu religion further to make the society more passive so that society could pass through the difficult period. He wrote Ramcharitmanas in beautiful poetic form. The book is full of praise of Lord Ram and the deeds Shri Ram performed.
Yes all the saints then knew what they were going to do was dangerous. The emotional content of the religion was already high in view of lack of education and information. Further increase of emotional content would convert the Hindu Society from PASSIVE to SLAVISH. But that was the only visible way of survival of Hindu Society.
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 and Hindu Society. That could wait for better times. 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.
All his efforts were directed in making sure that Hindu religion survived 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 when Tulsidas Ji wrote MANAS was the period of oppressive rulers. But WE HAVE SELF RULE now. Even now, no effort is being made to REVERSE the SLAVISH attitude that an average Hindu has.
NOW our religious leaders are required :
- To ensure Purans, Ramayan and Mahabharat are accepted as actual history of various Yugs with NO supernatural Powers available to any of the characters. This will improve the physical content of the religion which is DANGERIOUSLY low, so that the Hindu Society START moving from Slavish to Passsive & then later to Pro-active Society.
- To revisit all areas where laxity was provided earlier like child marriges, killing of girl child and so many other issues.
- To tell the society, and every individual thereon, that Hindu religion is the only religion in the world which does NOT believe that God sitting in Heavens is going to help the society. No! HE will never do this. In case HE has to help the society HE has to come on this earth as an incarnation.
Remember Dharm Guru will not help, as they are responsible for this mess after independence. YOU, as an individual has to act responsibly as a member of a society. 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, mis-governance, and decline of Hindu religion.
Your inaction is unpardonable, and totally against Hindu Dharm.
JAGO INDIA JAGO
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