Tulsidas was born in 1532 A.D. He had to struggle hard from early childhood. His parents deserted him because he was born under an ominous star (Mul Nakshtra). Since his parents abandoned him, he was brought up by Baba Narhari Das, whom Tulsi calls his preceptor. He was married to Ratnawali, daughter of Dinabandhu Pathak, whom he loved intensely. Once chastised by her for his excessive passion he renounced the world and became a devotee of Lord Rama.
Ramcharitmanas, Vinayapatrika and Gitavali are the most prominent works of Tulsidas. Ramcharitmanas his magnum opus is one of the most outstanding epics in world literature.
Tulsidas had full command of Braj and Awadhi, the most popular language of poetic expression in his time. He preferred Awadhi for his EPIC and BRAJ for his lyrics, and BHOJPURI-tinged Awadhi for his 'MANGAL KAVYAS' He understood the people and their minds ,and in the character of LORD RAMA he gave them the highest human ideal that could be the anchor of man's purest thoughts in a world of sorrow and sufferings. Tulsidas achieved a synthesis between various warring religious sects and orders among the Hindus. He also struck a compromise between the NIRGUN and the SAGUN modes of worship. His Ramcharitmanas is the quintessence of all scriptures and philosophy, and his other works are equally instinct with great power.
Tulsidas is a master of verbal art. His works cover a vast range and infinite variety of sound patterns from the simplest to the most complex, and from the most delicate to the most tempestuous. The verbal structure in his earlier works, such as Nahchhu, Janaki-Mangal and Parvati-Mangal, are simple i.e. soft and straight. In Ramcharitmanas, there is a synthesis of the simple and the complex and Vinay-patrika is characterized by a remarkable cohesion of sound and sense – by a kind of compactness in which hard philosophical is cast into tough verbal moulds.
Tulsidas' poetic creation teems with all kinds of emotive experience, but they are invariably controlled by an inherent moral consciousness which imparts a peculiar purity and dignity to them. Being an epic writer, he has naturally covered a vast canvas of human life in all its phases and portrayed all the passions at different level of intensity. His innate faith in the piety of human soul which is pre-eminently symbolized by the moral character of his hero-purges the emotions of their baser elements. Whether it is the portrayal of love and valour, of sorrow or indignation, of humility or remorse, there is always a pleasant sophistication about it. He has an equal command of the beautiful and the sublime, he can be more impetuous and also most refined according to situations. Some of the sentiments and their expressions may sound out-of-date today, and the modern reader may fail to share or appreciate them. The cardinal sentiment, Bhakti itself, may not evoke a proper response in him. But there are other basic sentiments to which he responds inevitably: the manifestation or form of expression might have changed with social conditions, but their essential affective quality remains the same. Rama's serenity and dignity, his commitment to a noble cause, Bharat's devotion to his elder brother, and Lakshman's indignation against all kinds of injustice and offence, Hanuman's valour combined with a complete sense of dedication to the master. Sita's chastity and selfless love, Ravana’s indomitable pride: all these have been depicted with such empathy and ingenuity that they transgress the limits of time and place.
