Every one of us is familiar with the story of the Ramayana. We have seen it on television, read it in books, and seen it being performed every year as the drama Ram Leela. The modern familiarity with the story of Sri Rama owes a great debt to the poet Tulsidas.
The original Ramayana was written thousands of years ago by Rishi Valmiki. It was written in Sanskrit. Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit, but he chose to write his book in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi spoken in Uttar Pradesh, so that people could understand it themselves without depending on Brahmins to interpret the Sanskrit text, like in the case of Valmiki Ramayana.
He had to face a lot of criticism from the Sanskrit scholars of Varanasi for his use of Awadhi, but he remained steadfast, and with time, the immense popularity of his book proved him right. The availability of Rama’s story in vernacular fostered the tradition of Ram Leela—the dramatic enactment of Rama’s story held throughout India around Dussehra.
Tulsidas did not name his book Ramayana, but Ramcharitmanas. Here, Ramcharit means “the life story of Rama.” The word manas can be interpreted in two ways. The first meaning is that the life story of Rama was in the manas or mind of Lord Shiva. At the appropriate time, he narrated it to Parvati. Tulsidas says: Rachi Mahesh nij manas raakha Pai susamau Siva san bhasa.
By having Lord Shiva narrate the story of an avatar of Lord Vishnu, Tulsidas united the Shaiva and Vishnava arms of Hinduism, which otherwise used to fight for superiority. Tulsidas did not want his book to receive such an exalted status that it became distant from the common people, which was another reason for naming it manas. The word manas stands for Mansarovar—the archetypical lake of Hindu mythology. Ramcharitmanas literally means “the lake of the life story of Rama.” Just like a lake, Tulsi wanted his book to be easily accessible.
Unlike a temple, a lake can be approached from any side; there is no fixed entrance. Tulsidas wanted his book to bring peace of mind to its readers. He says: Ramcharitmanas ehi naama Sunat shravan paaia vishrama. This book is named Ramcharitmanas.
On hearing it, one’s mind is put at rest. The human mind is constantly surrounded by worries. This tires the mind. Hearing the Ramcharitmanas, one’s worries are removed, so a person enters rest.
A final reason for people liking Tulsidas’s book is that it ends on a happy note—Sri Rama’s coronation as the King of Ayodhya after Ravana’s defeat. It does not have a tragic ending like the Valmiki Ramayana, which ends with Sita entering the earth and Rama entering River Saryu.