Founder, Guru & Inspiration
PADMA BHUSHAN MAHARAJSHREE DR. RAMKINKERJI
An Emblem of Shree Ramcharit Manas
Noble souls come once in a millenium & when they depart their mortal bodies, they leave behind a rich legacy of their works & memoirs which serve multitude of generations to come! Saint poet Tulsidasa was one such super luminary, worlds immortal poet, a star in the firmament of medieval Indian poetry, the composer of the literary masterpiece “Shri Ramcharitmanas” a lyrical epic which is the epitome of our eternal religion & culture.
“Shri Ramcharit Manas” is an album of human life in all its phases & perspectives & in this respect Tulsidas has surpassed the greatest English dramatist Shakespeare (a virtual fact which many may find difficult to digest, I feign to compare) but Shakespeare who has depicted varieties of human character in his thirty seven plays, Goswami Tulsidasji has painted them all, in one single book, an impossible task which has no parallel in world literature! He has given candid expression to all kinds of emotions, desires & thoughts which generate in a human mind, leaving no sphere of human life untouched, a remarkable feat unprecedented in literary world.
Inorder to apprehend the beauty, profundity & depth of Shri Ramcharit Manas, one requires an insight, one needs to wear the lens of the poets’ perceptive envision. Just as it is not possible to visualize, microscopic as well as extremely distant objects by our limited sense of perception – without the aid of a microscope or a telescope, identically it is inconceivable to appreciate the poetical genius of Tulsi’s lyric, without imbibing the visionary lens of philosophy of the universally recognised prescient seer His Holiness Maharajshree Ramkinkerji!
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Pujya Maharajshree believes that Shri Ramcharitmanas is not just a poem, to be read like we relish Milton & Shelley, but an epic song, which has to be savoured aesthetically. Being the greatest, versatile, consummate, critic & appraiser of Tulsidas’s work in the last five centuries (undisputedly accepted by all expounders of Manas with unanimity), he has made a declaration & authenticated it in his expositions that “Like the Vedas, Puranas & Smritis, Shri Ramcharitmanas is a fountainhead of pure, effulgent knowledge, a treatise of philosophy, theosophy, psychology besides being a great reservoir of myth, folk wisdom & devotional expression on which people can constantly draw for all ages to come.”
An erudite scholar, a prolific writer, an integrated poet & an unequivocal orator of International renown, His Holiness Maharajshree has carved a distinct dignified identification for himself as the – “Living Embodiment of the sublime culture of “Shri Ramcharitmanas”. His contention is that Shri Ramcharti Manas is not merely sacrosanct history, a picture of the past, a marvellous painting on the canvas of life, but it is a “Mirror for the world” which reflects the present, Therefore, unlike a painting, it shall never become old & outdated, but shall always remain contemporary to the onlooker whose picture it will reflect for all ages to come!
This perception of His Holiness Maharajshree of “Manas as a mirror” can only be compared to that of the Greek Philosopher Plato in the long history of western thought, who once wrote that “Holy Scripture is a mirror. In it one sees the picture one should reproduce, As one reads one can compare oneself with what one is & what one ought to be”.
Maharajshree holds that the reflexivity of the scripture is a clue to the dynamic & living nature of Manas, one that presents a different picture to each onlooker, who gazes into it, to each interpreter & to each age. As a painting it would be a static fossilized thing restricted to the stands of museums or libraries of antedated antique value.
Manas therefore has become a “point of view” a way of looking at life & the world- a “Darshan shastra” the sanskrit term we commonly render as “philosophy”. Thru its lens the world is recreated. Therefore Maharajshree firmly believes that Manas is a means of reflection contemplation & introspection & a very good medium of critical self – assessment & he justifies with logical agreements & examples from the manas that the one who makes use of this mirror becomes Dashrath (father of Divine manifestation of supreme – Lord Ram & gains gratification) and one who does not use the mirror he is innately provided with, becomes Dashmukh (Ravana the villain character opposed to Divinity). Thus he not only authenticates his doctrines is conformance with scriptural principles, but his interpretations themselves have acquired a sort of canonical status, for practically all religious preachers, professionals & kathavachaks who cite his verses as authoritative proof or validation , of any point they wish to make, his doctriness serving as guiding reference lines for sekers.
Maharajshree claims that every word of Shri Ramcharit Manas is a “Mantra”- a spiritually efficacious word, charged with power & therefore it is a living manifestation of eternal wisdom, which conveys deep, hidden concealed messages which need to be unfolded to be assimilated by the human intellect – Therefore it calls for elaboration, explanation & commentary. A mere retelling or a straightforward narration will not give us insights into this encyclopedia of wisdom. Though it is not difficult from the linguistic point of view, being dense & allegorical, full of references to the puranas etc. this encyclopedia of wisdom needs interpretation.
Symbolic Interpretation of the Manas is an innovative technique, which P. Pujya Maharajshree masters in & this commanding technique is very scientific – He moves away from the literal interpretation of the story & re-interprets the events & principles to make them relevant to archetypal & contemporary human situations & the ease with which, without any prior preparation, he interprets this metaphorical poetic marvel, within the realms of words, the readiness with which the verses & phrases come to his lips & the concealed mysteries of the obscure passages get illuminated before his ethical eye – it renders the beholder speechless, gaping & stupefied! How else could it have been possible if he was not a “Realized Master” who has touched the summits of rendition, who is a witness to all what he describes! Something that is most surprising is that to understand his analytical philosophy & innate psychology, one does not necessarily need to be a rigid theistic devotee, a God-fearing or God-loving believer. Whether he is an atheist or a compulsive theist, if he has a healthy, judicious, prudent intellect, a genuine, curiosity & quest for the ultimate truth (being the only condition) I am sure he will be automatically drawn into the fourth dimension of Divine Grace, the internal strifes & sorrows which he is experiencing in his mind, the clashing conflicts & restlessness that he is riddled with, shall get gradually resolved, once he is exposed to the enlightening discourses of His Holiness Maharajshree & the perils of his conscience, the torturing corrupting woeful traits will automatically sublimate & cherished peace & serenity will settle!
And may I clarify, that this amazing state is not achieved by a process of mesmerization or by imaginary flights into a utopian world of fantasy (scathing attacks made by critics towards devotional sentiment) Maharajshree’s ideology is not marred by superstituions limitations, orthodoxy or blind belief – albeit like an adept physician, he offers an extra-ordinary potion of bountiful practical potent solutions which adhere to scriptural decorum & at the same time nurture the tender emotions of the heart, with love & enduring devotion! Though he does not resort to music, orchestra or any easy popular means normally used to attract the masses, his increasing – universal popularity both among the masses & the classes, speak volumes in way of appreciation of his classical philosophy; the new dimension to the Ramayan tradition which he has consciously introduced; a standard he has set & a height that he has reached which no subsequent expounder has been able to surpass or shall ever be able to in future (could be a debatable question). It is for these reasons he has definite claims to be considered among the “greatest philosopher of all times & countries, a literary genius, his literary merits shall give him this status if not today then the dawn of the morrow shall declare him as the “philosophical prodigy of the 20th century”.
Inspite of all his glittering literary merits, the uncountable feathers in his cap, achievements, recognitions, laurels with no single peer among galaxy of literates, not even for a flip of a second, even in his unconscious, does he take the credit for pioneering a renaissance movement in reflective psychosis and spirituality.
“Ramcharitmanas is the breath of my life”, he confesses! “Knowledge is eternal”, a keyword & essence of our evolved culture – For your admiration I am gratified, but I am only instrumental, every individual is finite! Where there is beauty, there is light”? Such are the frank admissions of this modest messiah & master to many!
Param Pujya Maharajshree has penned more than 100 books, few of which have been translated into other languages- like Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya. I would humbly plead with all our readers to drink from this “Amaranthine ocean of knowledge”, share this infinite, life-giving nectar with your friends & foes & contribute to a peaceful, happier world which we shall leave as a legacy for coming generations to dwell!
I am sure that you will be a recipient of the benign incessant grace of the Divine Lord Shree Ram for this thoughtful deed of merit.
May the Lord Bless.
Jai Siyaram!