As the politics around Ramcharitmanas heats up, an initiative known as #ManasSankirtan has been launched to popularize the Grantha composed by Goswami Tulsidasji. The initiative has been undertaken by Lokgatha.

Lokgatha’s movement to spread Ramcharitmanas

“My mother encouraged me in my childhood to read Ramcharitmanas daily. She made me read one page or 9 chaupais daily. This is how this beautiful Grantha entered my life”, writes Lokgatha while asking people to share their stories and experiences.

“In the last few days, several comments have been made on the Ramcharitmanas which in my opinion is not right. However, we can’t stop people from commenting. I request the readers of the Grantha to tweet their favourite choupai or doha with the #ManasSankirtan and ask others to tweet as well. If you love the Grantha then do tweet or comment”, the video appeal says.

This is a good initiative that like-minded Hindus should participate in to send a strong message to Hindudveshi (Hinduphobic) forces who are attempting to impose their misplaced ideas and opinions on the Grantha.

Politics around the Grantha

In recent times, there has been a concerted attack on the Ramcharitmanas by politicians from ‘secular’ parties. Bihar Education Minister RJD’s (Rashtriya Janata Dal) Chandrashekhar Yadav, who believes that ‘only Islam gives the message of love’, called for the burning of Ramcharitmanas saying it ‘promoted hatred’ for lower castes.

Yadav claimed books such as Manusmriti, Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas and Bunch of Thoughts by Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar worked towards keeping a majority of the population backwards. Yadav opined that Islam was the only religion giving the message of love and honesty.

Then came Samajwadi Party (SP) MLC Swami Prasad Maurya’s Hindudveshi (Hinduphobic) comment on the Grantha claiming it contained “insulting comments and sarcasm” targeted at particular castes and sects and some words hurt the sentiments of the Dalit community. While Maurya passed the unsavoury Hinduphobic comments, his party chief Akhilesh Yadav instead of condemning the MLC went on to condone him.

In fact, right from Maurya’s statement demanding a ban on the Grantha to the burning of Ramcharitmanas, Yadav seems to be the mastermind. The complicity of Yadav is also clear from the fact that Maurya was made the party’s National General Secretary.

Following his comments, copies of the Grantha were burnt in Uttar Pradesh’s Vrindavan by members of an organization identified as Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha. The members said they burnt copies of the Hindu Grantha to ‘express solidarity’ with Maurya.

This has become a toolkit of sorts where loose tongues like Maurya are allowed to comment on Hindu Granthas at will and the party later washes its hands off saying the comments are the ‘personal views’ of the leader in question.

Recently, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Shivanand Tiwari also said there is a lot of ‘kooda karkat’ (garbage) in Ramanaya along with diamonds and pearls. Leftist Hinduphobic author KS Bhagawan from Karnataka, who received protection from the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, demeaned Bhagwan Ram by calling Him a ‘drunkard’.

The constant attack on Goswami Tulsidas & his Ramcharitmanas

There is absolutely no doubt that a toolkit to deliberately target Prabhu Ram, Ramcharitmanas, and Ramayana has been activated by the Hinduphobic cabal. Earlier, Manusmriti was targeted by Hindudveshis who took its verses out of context to propagate falsehoods about the Grantha. The same template is now being repeated with Ramcharitmanas.

Goswami Tulsidas has also been repeatedly targeted by both the missionaries and the left-liberal cabal. He is well-known for the composition of Sri Ramcharitmanas, a work in Awadhi that awakened the masses. Even today, the left-liberal cabal attacks Shri Tulsidas labelling him ‘patriarchal’ and props up Kabir against Goswami Tulsidas, terming the latter anti-women.

However, the main reason the cabal hates him is that his works awakened the consciousness of the freedom fighters during Bharat’s freedom struggle. He is also attacked because Sri Ramcharitmanas continues to rule Hindu consciousness and keeps them connected to Prabhu Sri Ram, Bhagwan Mahadev, Sri Krishna, and Maa Durga.

Evangelical SF Andrews has written a book, The Renaissance in India, and its missionary effect. In this work, among several other things, he has highlighted how Hindus are rooted in Dharma owing to the characterization of Prabhu Sri Ram in the Ramcharitmanas.

“Tulsidas is one of the most exemplary Bhakti saints. A hundred million people know his work Ramcharitmanas verbatim and they love this work. It is recited in every village and during festive occasions, its story is enacted in the form of plays”, Andrews writes. Andrews considers Ramcharitmanas one of the biggest hurdles missionaries faced in their conversion attempts. He inadvertently admits that Ramcharitmanas keeps Hindus rooted in Dharma and brings spiritual solace to them.

“We might speak of it with truth as the Bible of Northern India। A copy of it is to be found in almost every village। and the man who owns it earns the gratitude of his illiterate neighbours when he consents to read aloud from its pages। The poet was very wise as he wrote his book in the vernacular, the language of the masses”, says JM McAfee. The popularity of this scripture can be understood from the fact that it is enacted annually during Ramlila.

Tulisdasji wrote this grantha at a time when Bharat was faced with Mughal invasions. Hindus did not know how many temples would be destroyed and how long they would have to struggle against the Islamic forces. In such an atmosphere, the grantha instilled spiritual fervour and courage in the Hindus. The grantha and Prabhu Sri Ram repeatedly defeated the agenda of the missionaries and other Hinduphobic groups. This grantha has primarily contributed to destroying the agenda of the break India forces.

Since their agenda has failed due to Prabhu Sri Ram, Bhagwan Mahadev, and other Devi-Devatas who continue to rule the Hindu mind, Granthakars are attacked by Hinduphobic forces. They question the composers so that their work can be termed unreliable.

However, the newly awakened Hindu consciousness as Ram Lalla returns home to Ayodhya is the Hindu society’s reply to Hinduphobics. It reminds them that those wanting to destroy Tulsibaba have themselves been destroyed!

And joining hands with Lokgatha in the #ManasSankirtan movement will be a befitting reply to the likes of Maurya, Yadav, Tiwari, Bhagawan and other Hinduphobes and also send a strong message that insult of Hindu Granthas would not be tolerated.

(Featured Image Source: TV9)