वाल्मीकिस्तुलसीदासः कलौ देवि भविष्यति।
रामचन्द्रकथामेतां भाषाबद्धां करिष्यति॥
(भ.पु.प्र.प. ४.२०)
vālmīkistulasīdāsaḥ kalau devi bhaviṣyati ।
rāmacandrakathāmetāṃ bhāṣābaddhāṃ kariṣyati ॥
O Goddess [Parvati]! Valmiki will become Tulsidas in the Kali age, and will compose this narrative of Rama in the vernacular language.
[Bhavishyottar Purana, Pratisarga Parva, 4.20.]
“Shri Ramcharitmanas is Lord Ram in form of words, He has again appeared in Kalyug in form of Goswami Tulsidas’ words”
– Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Svami Rambhadracharya ji
“One must read 5-7 dohas of Shri Ramcharitmanas daily”
– Brahmarishi Devraha baba (believed to be a direct disciple of Jagadguru Ramanujacharya ji)
“निगमागमसार मानसका प्रत्येक पद पापराशिनाशी एवं अकाट्य। “
– स्वामी करपात्री जी महाराज“Every verse of Shri Ramcharitmanas, which is the essence of entire Vedic literature, destroys evil and is philosophically correct.”
– Abhinav Shankaracharya Dharmsamrat Karpatri ji“Too much indulgence in desires can cause regurgitation, a vomit. A controlled middle path is must. Tulsidasji shows us a medicine which helps in digestion.”
– Shri Morari Bapu, Nimbark Sampraday
“Kedaranätha(Shrila Bhakti Vinod Thakur) used to sit and talk with the gatekeepers to avoid getting into difficulty with his brothers. The soldiers used to tell him stories and
‘recite’ the Ramayana , to which Kedaranätha was very much attracted,and he began to recite the stories to his mother and maid-servant.”– [From ‘The Seventh Goswami’, Gaudiya Vaishnav sampraday]
(what is the possibility of illiterate gatekeepers reciting Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayan, it is Goswami Tulsidas ji’s Shri Ramcharitmanas that attracts everyone)
” Shri Ramcharitmanas is not written by Tulsidasji, it is written by Shri Ram Himself. quoting Kabirdasji, he adds – ‘Jo karein so Hari karein’ ) “
– Jagadguru Shri Kripalu ji Maharaj, revered as fifth Jagadguru by Kashi vidvad parishad
Praise by contemporary saints:
Surdas ji, a devotee of Krishna and a contemporary of Tulsidasji, called Tulsidasji as Sant Shiromani (the highest jewel among saints) in a verse extolling Goswamiji.
धन्य भाग्य मम ‘संत सिरोमनि’ चरन कमल तकि आयउँ।
दया दृष्टि ते मम दिसि हेरेउ, तत्व स्वरूप लखायो।
कर्म उपासन ज्ञान जनित भ्रम संसय सूल नसायोdhanya bhāgya mama ‘saṃta siromani’ carana kamala taki āyaum̐।
dayā dṛṣṭi te mama disi hereu, tatva svarūpa lakhāyo।
karma upāsana jñāna janita bhrama saṃsaya sūla nasāyo
Meerabai was a Ramanandi saint, a disciple of Raidas ji :
When her relatives continuously tried to kill her, she wrote a letter to Goswami seeking his guidance
स्वस्ति श्रीतुलसीगुणभूषण दूषण हरण गोसाईं
बारहिंबार प्रणाम करहुं अब हरहु शोक समुदाई
घर के स्वजन हमारे जेते, सबन उपाधि बढ़ाई।
साधुसंग अरु भजन करत मोहि, देत कलेस अघाइ।
बालपने से मीरा कीन्हि, गिरिधर लाल मिताई
सो तो अब छूटे नहीं क्यूँहो, लगी लगन बरियाई
हमको क्या उचित करिबो है सो लिखिए समुझाइ
svasti śrītulasīguṇabhūṣaṇa dūṣaṇa haraṇa gosāīṃ
bārahiṃbāra praṇāma karahuṃ aba harahu śoka samudāī
ghara ke svajana hamāre jete, sabana upādhi baढ़āī।
sādhusaṃga aru bhajana karata mohi, deta kalesa aghāi।
bālapane se mīrā kīnhi, giridhara lāla mitāī
so to aba chūṭe nahīṃ kyūm̐ho, lagī lagana bariyāī
hamako kyā ucita karibo hai so likhie samujhāi
[quoted in Shri Tulsicharit, Sudamakutir, Vrindavan]
In answer, Goswami ji sent her a letter with a verse asking her to get rid of all the so-called relatives who don’t love Shri Sita Ram:
जाके प्रिय न राम वैदेही ।
ताजिये ताहि कोटि वैरी सम जद्यपि परम सनेही ।
तज्यो पिता प्रहलाद विभीषण बंधू, भरत महतारी ।
बलि गुरु तज्यो कंत ब्रज बनितनी भे मुद मंगलकारी ॥
नाते नेह राम के मनियत सुहृद सुसेब्य जहां लौं ।
अंजन कहा आंखि जेहि फूटै बहु तक कहाँ कहाँ लौं ॥
तुलसी सो सब भांति परं हित पूज्य प्राण ते प्यारो ।
जासों होय सनेह राम-पद , एतो मतों हमारो ॥
(विनयपत्रिका -१७४ )
jāke priya na rāma vaidehī ।
tājiye tāhi koṭi vairī sama jadyapi parama sanehī ।
tajyo pitā prahalāda vibhīṣaṇa baṃdhū, bharata mahatārī ।
bali guru tajyo kaṃta braja banitanī bhe muda maṃgalakārī ॥
nāte neha rāma ke maniyata suhṛda susebya jahāṃ lauṃ ।
aṃjana kahā āṃkhi jehi phūṭai bahu taka kahām̐ kahām̐ lauṃ ॥
tulasī so saba bhāṃti paraṃ hita pūjya prāṇa te pyāro ।
jāsoṃ hoya saneha rāma-pada , eto matoṃ hamāro ॥
(vinayapatrikā -174 )
Then Meerabaai renounced her house and moved to Dwaraka followed by Vrindavan.
Shri Nabhadas ji regards Goswami Tulsidas ji as the highest among all devotees. In his epic Shri Bhaktmaal, he dedicates a verse to Goswamiji and says that even a single word of epic Shri Ramcharitmanas, which is the essence of hundred crore Ramayanas, delivers a person who commits a sin as grave as Brahmhatya.
कलि कुटिल जीव निस्तारहित बाल्मीकि तुलसी भये॥
त्रेता काब्य निबंध कियो सत कोटि रमायन।
इक अच्छर उद्धरे ब्रह्महत्यादि परायन॥
अब भक्तन सुख देन बहुरि लीला बिस्तारी।
रामचरन रसमत्त रहत अहनिसि ब्रतधारी॥
संसार अपार के पार को सुगम रूप नौका लये।
कलि कुटिल जीव निस्तारहित बाल्मीकि तुलसी भये॥
श्रीभक्तमाल (पद १२९)kali kuṭila jīva nistārahita bālmīki tulasī bhaye॥
tretā kābya nibaṃdha kiyo sata koṭi ramāyana।
ika acchara uddhare brahmahatyādi parāyana॥
aba bhaktana sukha dena bahuri līlā bistārī।
rāmacarana rasamatta rahata ahanisi bratadhārī॥
saṃsāra apāra ke pāra ko sugama rūpa naukā laye।
kali kuṭila jīva nistārahita bālmīki tulasī bhaye॥
śrībhaktamāla (pada 129)
Shiksha guru of Nand das ji and Goswami Tulsidas ji was Shri Shesh Sanatan ji.
Once Nand das ji met Goswami Tulsidas ji and extolled Goswami ji and Shri Ramcharitmanas in a verse referring Goswami ji as an incarnation of Valmiki ji himself and Shri Ramcharitmanas as a protector from vices of material world.
श्रीमत्तुलसीदास स्वगुरु भ्राता पद वन्दे
शेष सनातन विपुल ज्ञान जेहिं पाइ अनंदे
रामचरित जिन लीन तापत्रय कलिमलहारी
करि पोथी पर सही आदरेउ आपु पुरारी
राखी जिनकी टेक मदन मोहन धनुधारी
वाल्मीकि अवतार कहत जेहिं संत प्रचारी
नन्ददास के हृदय नयन को खोलेउ सोई
उज्जवल रास टपकाय दियो जानत सब कोईśrīmattulasīdāsa svaguru bhrātā pada vande
śeṣa sanātana vipula jñāna jehiṃ pāi anaṃde
rāmacarita jina līna tāpatraya kalimalahārī
kari pothī para sahī ādareu āpu purārī
rākhī jinakī ṭeka madana mohana dhanudhārī
vālmīki avatāra kahata jehiṃ saṃta pracārī
nandadāsa ke hṛdaya nayana ko kholeu soī
ujjavala rāsa ṭapakāya diyo jānata saba koī[quoted in Shri Tulsicharit, Sudamakutir, Vrindavan]
Shri Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, one of the most acclaimed philosophers of the Advaita Vedanta tradition based in Varanasi and the composer of Advaitasiddhi, was a contemporary of Tulsidasji. On reading the Shri Ramcharitmanas, he was astonished and composed the following Sanskrit verse in praise of the epic and the composer.
आनन्दकानने कश्चिज्जङ्गमस्तुल्सीतरुः ।
कविता मञ्जरी यस्य रामभ्रमरभूषिता ॥ānandakānane kaścijjaṅgamastulsītaruḥ ।
kavitā mañjarī yasya rāmabhramarabhūṣitā ॥“In this place of Varanasi (Ānandakānana), there is a moving Tulsi plant (i.e., Tulsidas), whose branch of flowers in the form of [this] poem (i.e., Ramcharitmanas) is ever adorned by the bumblebee in the form of Rama.”
Even Muslims were inspired by the epic, Shri Ramcharitmanas, of Goswami Tulsidas ji
“The immaculate Ramcharitmanas is the breath of the life of saints. It is similar to the Vedas for the Hindus, and it is the Quran manifest for the Muslims.”
– Abdur Rahim Khankhana, one of the nine-gems of Akbar
पन्द्रह सौ चौवन बिसै कालिन्दी के तीर।
श्रावण शुक्ला सप्तमी तुलसी धरे शरीर॥
pandraha sau cauvana bisai kālindī ke tīra।
śrāvaṇa śuklā saptamī tulasī dhare śarīra॥
On Shrāvaṇa Śukla Saptamī, Vikrama Saṃvat 1554 on the bank of river Yamuna, Tulsidas was born.
– Apurv Agarwal