Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas beautifully describes Lord Ram's birth with precision and lyrical aplomb. The epic, written in Avadhi, is still sung and recited by millions. Tulsidas, a committed Ram bhakt, describes the time and milieu of the Lord's birth as the ninth day of the waxing moon in the sacred month of Chaitra, when the moon had entered the asterism named Abhijit, which is so dear to Hari. The atmosphere was one of joy and celebration, and the entire cosmos was vibrating with the imminence of the emergence of the Lord.
Tulsidas weaves in several complex thoughts and emotions, associating virtues like mercy and compassion with Ram. When Lakshman asks Ram for a definition of dharma, the Lord replies that there is no greater dharma than the benefit of others, and no greater sin than causing injury to others.
Tulsidas brings out Kaushalya's sense of amazement at how she, an ordinary lady, could be the mother of one who is the master and ruler of the world. Ram smiles at her puzzlement and sets her at ease by narrating many stories of the past, explaining how he has come to be born and how she is his mother.
As the emotion of vatsalya rises in her, Kaushalya asks Ram to shed his divine form and adopt that of a normal child. The Lord complies, and all of a sudden, the divine form disappears, and he becomes a child crying in the arms of his mother. This whole depiction combines a kaleidoscope of emotions, where the birth of an avatar blends effortlessly with the expectations of a mother.
