Rāmacaritamānasa
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Śrī Rāmacaritamānasa (Devanāgarī: श्रीरामचरितमानस) (Avadhi) is an epic poem composed by the 16th-century Indian poet, Goswami Tulsidas (c.1532–1623) (also transliterated as Tulasidasa). An English translation of Rāmacaritamānasa is "The Lake of the Acts of Rama". As mentioned in the Bāla Kaṇḍa of the composition, Tulsidas started writing it in Vikram Samvat 1631 (1574 CE) in Avadhpuri, Ayodhya. It was completed in two years and seven months. 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 Hindi 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.
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[edit] Language
It is written in Avadhi, which belongs to the Eastern Hindi language family.
[edit] Structure
The Rāmacaritamānas consists of seven books, of which the first two, entitled Childhood Episode (Bal Kand) and Ayodhya Episode (Ayodhya Kand), make up more than half the work. The later books are Forest Episode (Aranya Kand), Kishkindha Episode (Kishkindha Kand),Pleasant Episode(Sundar Kand), Lanka Episode (Lanka Kand), followed by an epilogue titled Uttar Kand. The work is composed in quatrains called chaupais, broken by dohas or couplets, with an occasional sortha and chhand, the latter being a hurried metre of many rhymes and alliterations.
[edit] Storyline
The Rāmacaritamānas is a retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, concerning the exploits of Rama, prince of Ayodhya. The great poem is also called Tulsi-krita Ramayana, or "The Ramayana of Tulsidas".
The poem revisits Ramayana of Valmiki, but is not a mere retelling of the Sanskrit epic. Where Valmiki has condensed the story, Tulsidas has expanded, and, conversely, wherever the elder poet has lingered longest, there his successor has condensed.
An unpublished English poetic translation of Ramacaritamanas is provided by (Late) Binda Prasad Khattri of New Market, Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Apparently, the translation can be sung essentially in the same way and with the same rhythm as the original Hindi work.
