Several thieves came together one night to steal from Shri Goswamiji's dwelling. But they saw a dark-complexioned, beautiful young warrior standing with a quiver at his waist and a bow and arrow in his hands. They retreated and approached from another direction. There too, the guardian stood, aiming his bow as if about to strike. From every side the thieves approached, again and again through the long night, and on every side that radiant warrior protected the dwelling. His beauty stole their very hearts.
By dawn, the thieves were utterly transformed. Longing for that vision and inner purity entered their hearts. They came before Shri Goswamiji and asked: "Maharaj, who is that dark and beautiful young warrior? Where is he?"
Hearing this, Goswamiji fell silent. Tears began streaming from his eyes. In his heart arose this remorse: "Alas, for the sake of these worthless material things, my beloved Shri Rama Kripalji kept watch through the night!"
At that very moment, he distributed all his money, vessels, and possessions. The thieves fell at his feet, received the Shri Rama-mantra, pancha-samskara, and true instruction, and became fulfilled.
This is how it had begun. Shri Hanumanji told Goswamiji: "Ask for a boon." He replied: "My eyes are ever filled with longing for the darshana of the supremely beautiful Shri Rama in His kingly form. Please grant me this." Hanumanji indicated: "Come to Chitrakut. Darshana will be had there."
Goswamiji set out that very day. At Chitrakut, he sat at the place Hanumanji had indicated and began to wonder: when will my eyes behold that blessed sight? Just then, in the guise of royal princes, Shri Raghunandanji and Shri Lakshmaji, mounted on horses, wearing green garments suited to the hunt, came galloping after a deer and passed by.
Goswamiji looked but could not determine with certainty that it was them. Hanumanji came and asked: "Did you see your beloved Prabhu?" He replied: "I did not observe with full certainty. Please show me again."
Then Shri Pavana-tanayaji arranged the darshana properly. At the bank of the Mandakini, Shri Sita-Ramji were seated on a simhasana. Shri Bharatji held a chhatra. Shri Lakshmana and Shatrughna waved chamaras on either side. The compassionate Hanumanji granted that divine sight and made Shri Tulasi fulfilled.
In Kashi, a brahmana who had committed murder came on pilgrimage, crying: "Rama, Rama! Give alms to a murderer!" Goswamiji heard that he first uttered the supremely sacred name and yet called himself a murderer. He went out and inquired. Then he said: "Since you utter the name of my beloved Shri Ramji with such humility and remorse, you have already been purified. Come, sit with us." He seated the man in the row of diners and fed him Shri Rama prasada.
The brahmana pandits of Kashi were outraged. They convened a sabha and summoned him: "How can his sin have been absolved without prayashchitta?" Goswamiji replied: "You read the shastric texts but do not hold their essence with sincerity in your hearts. Look at how the Rama-tapini and other Upanishads describe the mahima of Shri Rama-nama." The pandits examined those texts and found that the glory was indeed truly written.
Still they demanded proof. They proposed a test: Nandi, the bull of Shri Vishvanathji, would be brought to the man. If Nandi ate from his hand, his purification would be established. So it happened, and all were convinced.
In Vrindavana, Goswamiji visited the temple of Shri Madana-Gopalji. As he wished to offer dandavat pranama, a Krishna-upasaka recited this doha: "Tulasi shall bow his head only when You hold the bow and arrow in Your hands." Then: "Concealing the murali and staff, He took up bow and arrow in His hands. Tulasi saw the devotion of His servant, and the Lord became Raghunatha." This was seen by all present, and a great cry of "Jaya!" arose.
Once at the Jnana-vapi, someone challenged him: "Shri Krishnachandra is the supreme avatari. The Bhagavata states all beings are partial manifestations, but Krishna is Bhagavan Himself. Why then do you worship the partial avatara Shri Ramji?"
Goswamiji, steeped in anurag for the beauty of Shri Rama-rupa, replied: "I was already worshipping the supremely beautiful son of the great Maharajadhiraja Shri Dasharathji with full anurag. Today you have informed me of His Ishvaratva as well. Consequently, my rati and priti for Shri Rama Shyamasundarji have surged twenty-fold!"
All recognized him as an ananya upasaka, and the saints joyfully grasped his feet.
The Second Darshan: When Love Asks to See Again
At Chitrakut, Hanuman Ji arranged for Tulsidas to receive the darshan he had been longing for his whole life. Two princes on horseback passed through a forest path and something in their beauty arrested his heart. Yet the recognition did not crystallize fully in time, and they were gone. When Hanuman asked whether he had seen his beloved Prabhu, Tulsidas answered honestly: I could not confirm with certainty. Please show me again. That honesty is itself a teaching. There was no pretending. There was no forcing himself to say yes when the heart had not fully opened. He simply asked to be shown again. And Hanuman, moved by that humility, arranged it completely. On the bank of the Mandakini, the full royal court of Ayodhya appeared in the forest, and this time Tulsidas saw without any doubt. Prabhu's grace does not punish the seeker who needs to see twice. It rewards the honesty that admits it.
Bhaktamal, Tulsidas tilak; Bhaktisudhaasvada Tika
Ram Guards While His Devotee Sleeps
One night several thieves came to rob Tulsidas Ji's dwelling. From every direction through the long night they tried to approach, and each time they were turned back by the same radiant figure: a dark-complexioned young warrior, bow in hand, standing completely alert. When morning came, the thieves went before Tulsidas and asked who the guardian was. As he listened to the description, Tulsidas fell silent. Tears began to flow. He understood. For the sake of these worthless vessels and coins, his Shri Ram had stood vigil through the night while he slept. The remorse was complete and immediate. He gave away everything. Those objects could no longer be held by hands that knew Ram had protected them. The thieves who had come to steal possessions went home carrying something infinitely more valuable: they received the Rama mantra, found a teacher, and became devotees. The Lord had come to guard things and had stayed to transform people.
Bhaktamal, Tulsidas tilak, kavitt 513
The Power of the Name: Nandi Receives Prasad
A man who had committed a grave sin came through Kashi, announcing himself honestly with each step: Ram, Ram, give alms to a murderer. Tulsidas heard that cry and was moved. He invited the man in, fed him Rama prasad, and seated him alongside the other devotees. The pandits of Kashi were outraged. How could sin be erased without prescribed atonement rituals? Tulsidas answered from the shastras themselves, quoting the Rama Tapaniya Upanishad: the Ram naam is tarak Brahman, the name that carries one across all sin. The pandits pressed further. What proof was there this particular man had truly been freed? Tulsidas agreed to their test. He took a thaali of prasad, gave it to the man, and led the assembly to the stone Nandi at the Vishwanath temple. He addressed Nandi with complete reverence: through the glory of Ram naam, please accept this offering from his hands. Nandi ate every particle of prasad. The assembly broke into Jai. The victory was not Tulsidas's cleverness. It was the name's own power, witnessed in stone.
Bhaktamal, Tulsidas tilak, kavitt 511
Love Has Only One Answer: Vrindavan and the Bow
In Vrindavan, Tulsidas came with Nabhadas Ji and other Vaishnavas to visit the great temples. At the Madan Gopal temple, he wished to prostrate himself. A devotee of the Krishna tradition recited a verse in challenge, noting that Tulsidas would bow only when the Lord took up the bow and arrow in place of the flute. The verse circled through the assembly. Then something that could not be arranged by any human hand took place: the deity's form shifted, and Raghunath appeared holding the bow. Vrindavan broke into a great jaikara. Tulsidas did not argue doctrine or defend himself. His love had spoken, and his Lord had answered in the language his heart knew. Afterward, when someone pointed out that this proved Rama was the source of all avatars and not merely an amsha, Tulsidas said: you have just increased my devotion twenty times. The path of love does not diminish by contact with other forms of love. It deepens.
Bhaktamal, Tulsidas tilak; Vrindavan darshan episode
When Hanuman Ji Is the Only Recourse
The Mughal ruler summoned Tulsidas, wanting to see a miracle as proof of his God. Tulsidas replied quietly: I know nothing. I know only Rama. That answer displeased the emperor, and Tulsidas was imprisoned. From within the prison, with no worldly recourse left, he turned to the one who had always been near. He composed verses of prayer to Shri Hanuman Ji in the intimate voice of a servant who has no other door to knock on. Tradition holds that this is when the Hanuman Chalisa was written, one verse for each day of captivity, forty days of pure petition. On the fortieth day the invocation was answered. Countless monkeys descended upon the imperial city, entering every quarter, and the whole apparatus of imperial power was rendered helpless. The emperor relented, apologized, and remembered something he had not known before. Tulsidas had not performed a miracle for display. He had simply called upon the one who loves his devotees, and the rest followed naturally.
Bhaktamal, Tulsidas tilak; Hanuman Chalisa tradition
Hindi text from OCR scan (Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Prakashan, CC0). May contain errors.