Yogi Adityanath explains Ramcharitmanas chaupai in House, slams Samajwadi Party for insulting Hindus

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at the Samajwadi Party for burning the copies of Ramcharitmanas and cited the act as "an insult to the 100 crore Hindus".

Addressing the House during the discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address during the budget session, the CM, who is also the mahant of Gorakshpeeth, also came out with the analysis of the chaupai (verse) – Dhol, ganwaar, shudra, pashu, naari, sakal taadna ke Adhikari – that has been questioned by SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.

Earlier, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had also said that he would ask Adityanath in the assembly about the meaning of chaupai.

Referring to the verse, the CM said that it finds mention in Ramcharitmanas in a scenario when Lord Ram, enraged by the ocean god’s no-show despite repeated requests, had lifted his bow and arrow. It’s then the ocean god utters the verse.

Yogi reminded the House that the book was written in the Awadhi dialect where the term ‘taadna’ means ‘to watch’, rather than ‘to reprove’ as the term means in Sanskrit. The CM even cited an example in Awadhi: “Bhaiyya etne der se taadat raha (the man was staring at me for so long).” Here ‘taadat’ means to see, Yogi said.

The CM said that Tulsidas was born in Rajapur village of Chitrakoot. And if one looks at the meaning of ‘taadat’ in the Bundelkhand region, the term implies ‘to look after’.

He said dhol is an instrument, while ganwar means illiterate and shudra in the verse means the labour class, and not any caste. Even Dr BR Ambedkar had said that Dalit community should not be called 'shudra', the CM said.

Yogi took a pot shot at the Samajwadi Party regime for changing the name of the institutes named after Dr BR Ambedkar. “It’s ironic that those who announced that they would convert Ambedkar memorials into marriage lawns now talk about social justice,” he said.

The CM said that when a group of ministers were conducting roadshows in various countries as part of UP Global Investors Summit, they (the SP leaders) deliberately tried to divert the agenda and raked up the issue of Ramcharitmanas. Speaking further, the CM said that Tulsidas lived during the era of Akbar, who had even asked him to come to his palace. However, refusing to be Akbar’s courtier, Tulsidas had said that he knows only one king and that is Lord Ram. “Besides him, he (Tulsidas) didn’t treat anyone else as king,” the CM said.

The CM said some people tried to tear the pages of Ramcharitmanas. Had this been the case with the book of some other religion, the situation would have been very different then, the CM said, adding that people find it easier to humiliate Hindus.

The CM hit out at the SP leaders, saying that one should be proud of the fact that UP is the land of Ram and Krishna and the land of the Ganga, Yamuna and Sangam. “UP is the land where holy books like Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki’s Ramayan were written. By burning them, they have insulted the 100 crore Hindus. How can one accept anarchy?” the CM said.

"I am reminded of only one line – ‘Jaako prabhu darun dukh dinhi, taki mati pahle har linhi’ (the person whom the God gives grief, he first takes away his mind first),” Yogi said.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who was recently made the general secretary of the SP, had on January 22 alleged that certain portions of the Ramcharitmanas “insult” a large section of society on the basis of caste and said these should be “banned”, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.

Last month, a group in Vrindavan had also burnt photocopies of pages allegedly carrying “objectionable comments on women and Dalits” in Ramcharitmanas, supporting Maurya.

On January 24, an FIR was registered against Maurya at the Hazratganj police station over his controversial comments on Ramcharitmanas. Another FIR was registered against Maurya and others on January 29 at the PGI police station in Lucknow.

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