RAMACHARITAMANASA


Tulasidas left Kashi and went again to Ayodhya. While he was in Kashi he seems to have composed two poems; 'Janaki Mangala' and 'Parvathi Mangala'. In Ayodhya he did rigorous tapas in, utter solitude for some time. Then he' made up his mind to write the 'Ramacharitamanasa'. He himself saw Sri Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana in this epic; and he enabled the readers, too' to see them.

Tulasidas has depicted most effectively in his 'Ramacharitamanasa' how by his own example Sri Rama, the God born as man, set an ideal before the people of this world. Just as Sri Rama is sketched as an ideal leader and king, Seetha Devi is portrayed as a gem of ideal womanhood. She shines as a bright lamp placed on the threshold, illuminating two homes - that of her parents and that of her husband. She was dear not only to her parents but also to her servants.

At the time of sending her to her husband's house, all the queens and their companions were sad. The very parrots in golden cages cried, "O, where is Seetha?"

This is just one example to show how Tulasidas's picture of the simplicity and goodness of Seetha Devi is different from Valmiki's picture. There are some very touching episodes in the 'Ramacharita- manasa', which are not found in other Ramayanas.
These delicate flowers of the poet's imagination give forth a sweet fragrance of Bhakti.