A section from the journey

Tulsidas: Rama in the People's Tongue

Tulsidas took the great tale of Rama, long kept in the old learned language, and sang it again in the everyday speech of the north. His Ramcharitmanas became the most beloved book of millions. He taught that simply to hold the Name of God, with love, is a path open to all. In Rama he saw both the perfect king and the dearest Lord of the heart.

Cast your mind back across our journey, to an early age, when we met a certain prince. , who gave up his throne to keep his father's word, who walked into the forest for fourteen years rather than break a promise. His name has meant right and noble rule ever since. Hold that memory. We are about to meet him again, in a new and tender way.

For long ages, the great story of Rama lived chiefly in the old learned language, the speech of scholars and priests. Most people could not read it for themselves. They could only hear it told. Then came a poet who opened the gate for everyone. His name was Tulsidas.

Tulsidas did a daring and loving thing. He took the whole life of Rama and sang it afresh in Awadhi, the plain everyday speech of his own corner of the north. Now a farmer, a mother, a child could follow every turn of the tale in the words they used at home. He called his poem the , which means something like the holy lake of Rama's deeds.

It is hard to say how loved this book became. For many millions across the north, it has been the dearest of all books, kept in the home, read aloud on long evenings, learned by heart, sung at festivals. Its verses have shaped how whole peoples imagine goodness, duty, and God. Few books anywhere have been so cherished by so many for so long.

How did Tulsidas love his Lord? Chiefly as a faithful servant loves a beloved master. This humble, devoted way has a name, , the servant's love. He did not claim to be God's equal or to merge into him. He asked only to serve at his feet, and to never forget him. There is great peace in that lowliness.

And he gave the people a path simple enough for anyone at all. You need not be learned, he taught. You need not master hard practices. Only take the Name of God into your heart and onto your lips, and say it with love. The Name itself, the , carries a power. Listen to how he praises it, in words kept for us in old translation.

“The gracious name of Raghupati; all-purifying essence of the Puranas and the Veda, abode of all that is auspicious, destroyer of all that is inauspicious, ever murmured in prayer by Uma and the great Tripurari.”

See what he claims for the Name. It is the very essence of the oldest scriptures. It is the home of all blessing. It is murmured even by the great gods themselves. Tulsidas sang that the Name can be greater than the form, for the form is in one place, but the Name can be carried everywhere, by anyone, into any moment. A poor and busy soul, who could never sit for years in study, could still hold the Name, and so hold God.

And so the deep idea we first met long ago comes back to us here, warmed and brought near. Rama's reign, the Rama-rajya, the rule where the strong protect the weak and the world runs as it should, is the old dream of , of right order. Tulsidas did not leave it locked in an ancient epic. He set it singing in the people's own mouths, as a Lord they could love with all their hearts.

Tulsidas taught that even the simplest soul, with no learning at all, can hold the Name of God with love, and that this is enough. Is there a single small thing you return to, again and again, that quietly steadies you? Hold it gently for a breath.