Poetic Inspiration

Hindu Poetry

Ramcharitmanas (Sacred Lake of the Acts of Rama)
by Tulsidas.

Tulsidas, a Hindu poet of northern India, tells an ancient religious story of duty and devotion.

Prince Rama is exiled from his father's kingdom for 14 years. Devotion to Rama leads his wife, Sita, and his brother Lakshmana to go with him. But the ten-headed demon king Ravana kidnaps Sita and carries her away to the island of Lanka. Rama allies with the monkey people in a great war against Ravana. He kills Ravana and rescues the faithful Sita. At the end of his exile, Rama returns home in triumph to become king.

The story of Rama, called the Ramayana, was originally written in the ancient Sanskrit language of India. Tulsidas's epic poem retells the deeply devotional tale in a dialect of the Hindi language. Hindus believe Rama was a human form, or incarnation, of the god Vishnu. The brave, devoted Rama serves as a model of behavior and devotion for Hindu men; as the loyal, dutiful Sita does for Hindu women.