What the Sundarkand is
The Sundarkand is the fifth of the seven books (kands, or sopans, "steps", as Tulsidas calls them) of the Shri Ramcharitmanas, the retelling of the Ramayana that Goswami Tulsidas composed in Awadhi in the late 16th century, beginning in 1574 CE by tradition. Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana also has a Sundara Kanda, much longer and covering the same events; the text here is Tulsidas's, which is the one sung in homes and temples across North India. It is short enough to recite in one sitting of two to three hours, and complete enough to stand on its own.
Why "sundar", beautiful? Tradition gives several answers: Hanuman was called Sundar by his mother Anjana; one peak of the Trikuta hills, on which Lanka stood, was called Sundar; and above all, this is the book in which the story turns. Everything before it is loss and searching. Here Sita is found, Rama's messenger shows what devotion can do, and the way to Lanka opens.
What happens
The kand falls into three movements:
- Hanuman in Lanka (dohas 1–27). Encouraged by Jambavan, Hanuman leaps the ocean, passing the tests of Mainak, Surasa and a shadow-catching demoness. He subdues Lankini, meets the devotee Vibhishana, and finds Sita in the Ashoka grove as Ravana threatens her. He drops Rama's ring, delivers Rama's message, wrecks the grove, allows himself to be bound by Meghanada's Brahma weapon, lectures Ravana in open court, and burns Lanka with his own tail. He returns with Sita's crest-jewel.
- Return and march (dohas 28–35). The monkeys celebrate, Jambavan tells Rama what Hanuman did, and Rama declares himself for ever in Hanuman's debt. Hanuman asks for nothing but devotion. The army marches to the sea.
- Vibhishana and the ocean (dohas 36–60). In Lanka, Mandodari and Vibhishana plead with Ravana and are ignored; Vibhishana is kicked out of the court and comes to Rama, who accepts him over Sugriva's doubts and crowns him king of Lanka. Rama sits for three days asking the ocean for a path, then lifts his bow; the ocean surrenders and suggests the bridge that Nala and Nila will build.
Why it is so loved
The Sundarkand is the only book of the Ramayana whose hero is not Rama but his servant. Hanuman in these pages is enormously strong but never proud: he grows huge when that serves the task and shrinks to the size of a mosquito when that serves it better, and every time he is praised he hands the credit to Rama ("all that was your glory, Raghurai", 33.5). Many of the Manas's most-quoted lines are here: "How can I rest before Rama's work is done?" (1.6), "Without Hari's grace one does not meet saints" (7.2), "The only real trouble is forgetting you" (32.2), "Without fear there is no love" (57.7). The second half adds the fullest statement in the Manas of sharanagati, refuge: Rama's vow that no one who comes to him is turned away (43–48).
How and when it is recited
A Sundarkand path is most often held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the days associated with Hanuman, and on Hanuman Jayanti, as well as before a new venture, in times of difficulty, or as a thanksgiving. Families and groups (mandalis) usually sing it together to a simple repeating tune, often beginning with the Hanuman Chalisa and ending with the Hanuman and Ramayan aartis. The closing doha states the traditional fruit of hearing it: whoever listens with reverence "crosses the ocean of existence without a boat" (60.6).
About this edition
The text follows the Gita Press reading as published on two independent devotional sites, compared word by word; where they differed, the reading supported by metre, rhyme and the traditional gloss was kept. Verses are numbered as in Gita Press: the chaupais within each doha group are numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on, and the group closes with its doha (and, where present, chhand or sortha). Groups 39, 49 and 56 end with two dohas, marked (क) and (ख). The three opening Sanskrit shlokas are shown as the Mangalacharan. The transliteration is a guide to pronunciation, and the English and Hindi translations and notes are Bhakti Arohan's own.
