Uttar Kaanda
218 - Greatness of the Ramayana; Tulasidasa's prayer and reward of reciting this poem
Chhands
Description
Listen, my stupid soul : who has not been saved by adoring Sri Rama, the purifier of the fallen? The harlot (Pingala), Ajamila, the hunter (Valmiki), the vulture (Jatayu), the elephant and many other wretches have been delivered by Him. Even abhiras (a hilly tribe inhabiting the south-west coast in the ancient times), Yavanas, Kiratas (Bhilas), Khasas (another hill-tribe found in Assam), Candalas (the pariah) and others, the very embodiments of grievous sin, are hallowed by merely uttering Your name even once : I adore You, O Rama. Men who repeat to others, listen to (when repeated by others) or chant alone this narrative of Sri Rama (the Ornament of Raghu's race) thereby wipe out the sins that are incident to the Kali age as well as the impurities of their soul, and ascend to the Abode of Sri Rama without any difficulty. Nay the Chief of the Raghus cures the perversities, caused by the fivefold* ignorance, of those men who treasure up in their heart even a few Caupais (small four-footed verses) of this narrative that appeal to them as most charming. If there is anyone who is all-beautiful, all-wise and all-merciful and who is fond of the forlorn, it is Rama and Rama alone; who else can compare with Him as a disinterested friend and a bestower of eternal bliss? Nowhere can we find a lord like Sri Rama, by an iota of whose grace even the dull-witted Tulasidasa has found supreme peace.