Tulsidas was a Hindu sage, a devotee of Rama, who went on to become a world-renowned poet, primarily because of his epic poem, Ramcharitmanas. The word ‘Tulsi’ denotes a sacred variety of basil, which is worshipped by the Vaishnavas (followers of Vishnu and his avatars like Rama and Krishna)and ‘Das’ means a devotee. Tulsidas is believed to be an incarnation of Valmiki, the sage who wrote the epic Ramayana (in the Sanskrit language).
He was born in Uttar Pradesh on the banks of the holy river Ganga anywhere between 1554 to 1568 as Rambola. Within four days of his birth, his parents abandoned him because he was born on an inauspicious day under the influence of the Abhuktamula constellation. This influence causes an immediate danger to the life of the father of the child, as per Hindu astrology. He was left with his mother’s servant who took care of him till he was about four.
At the age of five, he was adopted by his guru, a Vaishnava ascetic called Narharidas, who gave him a formal initiation at the age of seven into the monastic order via Virakta Diksha. He also gave him his new name – Tulsidas. He was then sent to Varanasi to study the four Vedas, Sanskrit grammar, Jyotisha Vidya (astrology), and Hindu philosophies from Guru Shesha Sanatana. He spent most of his adult life in Varanasi, Prayag, Chitrakut, and Ayodhya, writing poems, plays, and verses in vernacular Awadhi. Besides Ramcharitmanas, some of his other important works are – Krishna Gitavali, Dohavali, and Vinaya Patrika.