Ramnamis: Individualizing the Ram Story Ramdas Lamb The Ramnami Samaj is a religious movement founded by Scheduled Caste

Ram devotees (bhaktas) in the late nineteenth century in what is now central and northern Chhattisgarh.1 The sam aj has the twin goals of social upliftment for members of their caste community and the spread of the chanting of R amn am. To accomplish the latter, Ramnamis focus both on the chanting of the Name and also on recitation of verses from its "official" scripture, Tulsidas's R anas. The text is the Hindi telling of amcaritm the Ram story written in the sixteenth century. Over time, the Ramnami relationship to the M anas, as the text is commonly known, has become both complex and creative. This article takes a brief look at the evolution of this relationship and how the text and the Ram story itself currently fit into the religious life of the Ramnamis. Central India is one of the primary geographical centers of Ram bhakti, and knowledge of the many events and tales in the M a nas has long been integrated into the mythological and cultural ethos of the region. Consequently, from the early formation of the sam aj, its members were already familiar with Tulsidass version of the Ram story even though most were and still are illiterate. These early Ramnamis would memorize individual verses from the text by hearing them being chanted and would then integrate and intersperse these into their own chanting of R amn am, often with little or no understanding of the meanings of the verses. Gradually, however, some sam aj members became literate and began to understand the actual words they were chanting. As they did so, they eventually realized that, in addition to being infused with great wisdom and devotion to Ram, the M anas also contains verses that contradict Ramnami beliefs in the equality of all humans, irrespective of caste or gender. This became a problem for sam anas in very high reverence but aj elders, who held the M also had to acknowledge what appeared to them as errors in the text. It is important to note that from the early days of the movement, members learned to attribute authority of a statement or a person not based on authorship or individual status, but instead on what sam a j members considered to be alignment with their collective understanding of truth. Thus, while clearly acknowledging it as a great source of devotional teachings, a number of Ramnamis began to see the M anas as being in need of tweaking.

While many academics and journalists have come to see the politically correct term for members of the Scheduled Castes to be Dalit, it is not a label actually used for self-identity by most members of the caste grouping, especially those outside of Maharasthra. Instead, they tend to use either their sub-caste (jati) name or their sectarian affiliation if they have one. For the most part, Dalit is used as a term of selfidentity for those who have rejected Hinduism completely and have, to one extent or another, embraced Christianity, Islam, Ambedkar Buddhism, or Marxism. For the Ramnamis, Ramnami is the preferred label, although many use either Scheduled Caste or Harijan when needing to expressing their caste status.

At first, the more literate members and elders would simply advise followers to avoid chanting certain verses. Gradually, some began to actually cross out what they considered offensive words or even whole lines from their copies of the M anas. A few others began revising some verses both in their written versions of the text as well as in their chanting of them. A good example of this can be seen with respect to the first line of a two-line verse from Book 1 of the text (1.192). In its original form, the line reads: Vipra dhenu sura santa hita l i nha manuja avat ara (generally translated into English as, [Lord Ram] incarnated for the sake of Brahmins, cows, devt as, and sages.). The way the verse was changed and is now chanted by most Ramnamis is: R amn am dena sura santa hita l i nha manuja avatara. The revised verse means, [Lord Ram] incarnated to give [teach] R amn am to the devt as and sages. As this questioning process increased, some sam aj members decided to look at other works attributed to Tulsidas to see what they contain. Realizing that none of the other texts had the kinds of comments and verses to which they objected, a few began to suggest that such verses may well have been added by brahmins after the original writing. This gave them more justification for removing these verses from their own a nas. Several also started including in their chanting verses from versions of the M a mn am, bhakti, or truth. Eventually, verses these other texts of Tulsidas that praise of R from other poet/sants, such as Kabir, came to be included as well. When verses and couplets were found that fit into their devotional ethos and ideals but were not in the poetic metre (doh a and chaup a i ) that fit their chanting, the more creative Ramnamis would alter the metre of these verses to make them fit it. In this way, the chanting repertoire of some members came to include a number of verses that were not only from outside the M anas but from authors other than Tulsidas and the even the Ram bhakti tradition. The only criteria followed were that an included verse contain praise of a mn a m, bhakti, or truth and that it fit into the overall belief system of the sam aj. R In this way, not only did the Ramnami Samaj facilitate an editing of the M anas by its members, but it opened the door for a rethinking of scriptures and sources as well as how the Ram story is to be understood. It also inspired various members to develop their own unique corpus of verses to express their individualized understanding of Ram and Ram bhakti. Since this process began, the dominant alternate sources for additional verses have been various writings of Tulsidas and the poetry of Kabir. However, the last several decades have seen the rise in popularity of another source of Ram bhakti verses and praise, the Vishr a m S agar. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, a somewhat antinomian Ram bhakti movement arose in Rajasthan known as the Ramsnehi Sampraday. By the midnineteenth century, its followers had spread into central India. There, one of the early ascetic teachers of the group named Raghunathdas wrote the Vishr agar. a m S Although the number of Ramsnehis never grew large in the region, the popularity of the text extended into others sections of the Ram bhakti community. As literate Ramnamis looked to other sources of inspiration, the Vishr am S a gar attracted their interest. The text is written in the metre style found in the M anas and has three major sections,

 as ayan," "Krsn entitled "Itih The first section contains nearly . . . a yan," and "R a ma yan." . fifteen pages in praise of Ra mnam. Its style and sentiment reflect that which is found in a nas where the exclusive focus is on praise of the name. The the early pages of the M "Ra ma yan . " section is divided up into seven chapters with the same titles as those of the M a nas and following the same basic story lines, but with significant divergences in the narrative. Here, Raghunathdas uses his creativity to present Ram and Ram bhakti primarily from the nirgun . (formless) theological perspective of the Ramsnehis. Because the Ramnamis are exclusively nirgun . in their theological orientation as well, the Vishr a m a gar has become an important source to provide them with an added dimension in S their broadening reconceptualization and individualization of the Ram story.

Most outsiders to the Ramnami Samaj are unaware of how it has adapted and modified the M anas, although there has been criticism from some caste Hindus familiar with the practice who claim the sam a j is desecrating a holy book. Yet, since the earliest days of the Ram story, the process of adapting and altering it relative to the community using it seems to have been more the norm than the exception. No one knows when the story first came into form. While Hindus traditionally consider Valmikis R to be the ayana am . original telling, Buddhists look to the Dasaratha Jataka as their early source. Both date from a similar time period and may well have been inspired by a long tradition of oral story telling in which the Ram story was a part. In addition, scholars such as the noted Sanskritist J.L. Brockington, see the current version of Valmiki much larger and newer (by several centuries, at least) than the original penning of the tale. Another early variant of the story is the Jain R am ayana . , which is said to predate the current version of Valmiki. It is noteworthy that both the Buddhist and Jain stories have elements not found in Valmikis work. Since then, several hundred other tellings of the Ram story have appeared as well (see 300 Ramayanas by A.K. Ramanujan). The vast majority of these are not copies or translations of an original story but are retellings of the story from different cultural and religious perspectives. Tulsidass M anas, for example, is significantly different from the Valmiki telling and more in line with the medieval Adhy a tma R a m a yana . . Even the Ma nas itself has not been free of changes, both recent and obvious, as well as older and less apparent. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Maharajah of Kashi arranged for the publication of a version of the M anas based on several of the manuscripts in his familys library that were believed to be dated near the time of Tulsidas. Although there was no certainty that they were extact duplicates of the authors work, a text based on them was nevertheless published. This version came to be seen as the standard for many in North India. In the early part of the twentieth century, various commentaries (kshepak) began to be added in verse to the text in some publications of it, often without identifying markings. This led many to mistaken these additions as being from Tulsidass hand. Later, an eighth chapter (Lavkushk a nda ) was added to the M anas as . well. It includes story elements found in Valmikis expanded version but knowingly rejected by both Tulsidas and the author of the original Adhy atma R am ayana . . This added chapter functions to give a more brahmanical direction and interpretation to the text. Needless to say, the Ramnamis reject it completely.

In conclusion, most Hindus understand and accept that there are multiple tellings of the Ram story, and that they can vary a great deal. However, the one commonality that is essentially found in all the tellings used by devotees is that the text promotes living a life based on the concept of dharma and gives praise for devotion to the Divine using the name of Ram. For most Hindus today, the M anas best exemplifies these, and Mahatma Gandhi called it the greatest story of devotion ever written. For Ramnamis, as well, the M anas continues to be given great respect and devotion. At the same time, they acknowledge that it is still a book, and for them, no book is absolute. Instead, they put their primary focus on repetition of the name of Ram, along with love of God and respect for fellow beings. The Ram story is seen as a vehicle to help them on the path to these goals, and if changing it in places can aid in that process, then so be it. As the Ramnamis undertake their recreation of the Ram story, they not only continue a long tradition of this practice, but they enhance the vitality of the M a nas, both for themselves and for those who listen to their chanting. In this way, they have added another dimension to the ever-expanding literary genre that relates the eternal story of Ram. [Note: for more information on the Ramnami Samaj, see the authors Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India, SUNY Press, 2002.]