The name Shri Ram Charitra Manas fills one’s soul with the thoughts of Lord Ram. There are quite few interesting tales about the composer Shri Goswami Tulasidas, who is regarded as one of the most noted composers of the Indian Classic Literature.
He was born in 1497 A.D to Aatmaram Dubey and Hulasi Devi. The moment he was born, instead of crying, he uttered the sound of Ram.
It was his wife who made him realise his purpose of life. He was married to Ratnavali with whom, he was in deep love. Once, when she was at her maternal place, Tulasidas could not bear the pangs of separation and went to see her. But there was a river he had to cross and it was in flood. Yet, with the ardent thought of seeing his wife, he risked his life, swam across and reached his wife. Ratnavali seeing him ridiculed him that if he could put that same love in Lord Ram, he could attain the greatest devotion. These words were an eye opener to Tulasidas. He renounced his marital life, became a sanyasi and reached Kasi.
Tulasidas regards Lord Hanuman is always his mentor. Every day, Tulasidas used to recite Ramayan in the temple. There was one old man who sat till the last till he finished the recitation. Tulasidas asked him who was he and found out that he was none other, but Lord Hanuman. Then, he advised Tulasidas to go to Chitrakut where he would get the darshan of Lord Ram.
In Chitrakut, one day when Tulasidas was taking a pradakshina of Kamadagiri Mountain, two young men passed in front of him on horseback. Tulasidas was mighty appealed by their beauty and radiance, yet could not recognise them as Lord Ram and Lakshman. They disappeared and it was only later when Hanuman came and told him, that he realised it. But, because of his unlimited devotion, they both appeared in front of him the next day again and blessed him.
Later, he also got blessed by Sages Bharadwaj and Yagnavalk and with their inspiration; he started composing Ramayan in Sanskrit. But a strange thing happened. He used to write the shlokas daily in the morning in Sanksrit, but by evening all used to disappear. He was wondered as to why this was happening. One night Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and said that the Ramayan was to reach all people irrespective of high and low, and hence they were disappearing. On Lord Shiva’s advice, Tulasidas went to Ayodhya and started writing Ramayan in Awadh language which could be understandable to all. It took 2 years, 7 months and 26 days to complete Shri Ramcharitramanas. Lord Shiva liked it so much that he imprinted the words Satyam, Shivam Sundaram on the work with his sign.
Shri Ramcharitramanas was liked by one and all. This made few poets jealous. One night, they sent two thieves to steal it. But the thieves were in for a surprise, when they saw two handsome young men with bows and arrows guarding his hut. They were none other than Lord Ram and Lakshman. The thieves realised their mistake and fell at the feet of Tulasidas. Tulasidas was moved by the Lord’s love towards him and then, made a second copy of Shri Ramcharitramanas and gave the original text to his friend Todarmal for safe keeping. The second copy was used for circulation and thus, became the most revered and popular work till date.
(Source : Shri RamcharitraManas )