Aarti Shri Ramayan Ji Ki

Verse 1 — the address

आरती श्री रामायण जी की। कीरति कलित ललित सिय पी की॥ āratī śrī rāmāyaṇa jī kī, kīrati kalita lalita siya pī kī The aarti of the blessed Ramayana — the beautiful, graceful glory of Sita's beloved. (Siya pī: Sita's husband, Rama. The text is addressed directly, as a person would be.)

Verse 2 — who sings it

गावत ब्रह्मादिक मुनि नारद। बालमीकि बिग्यान बिसारद॥ gāvata brahmādika muni nārada, bālamīki bigyāna bisārada Brahma and the rest sing it, and the sage Narada; and Valmiki, expert in true knowledge.

Verse 3 — and who else

सुक सनकादि सेष अरु सारद। बरनि पवनसुत कीरति नीकी॥ suka sanakādi seṣa aru sārada, barani pavanasuta kīrati nīkī Shuka, the Sanaka brothers, Shesha and Sharada; and the son of the wind describing that fine glory. (Hanuman is himself a reciter of the Ramayana in the tradition, not only a character in it.)

Verse 4 — the whole canon

गावत बेद पुरान अष्टदस। छओ सास्त्र सब ग्रंथन को रस॥ gāvata beda purāna aṣṭadasa, chao sāstra saba granthana ko rasa The Vedas sing it, and the eighteen Puranas; the six shastras — it is the essence of all books.

Verse 5 — the essence all agree on

मुनि जन धन संतन को सरबस। सार अंस सम्मत सबही की॥ muni jana dhana santana ko sarabasa, sāra aṁsa sammata sabahī kī The wealth of sages, the entire possession of the holy; the essential portion, consented to by all.

Verse 6 — Shiva and Bhavani

गावत संतत संभु भवानी। अरु घटसंभव मुनि बिग्यानी॥ gāvata santata sambhu bhavānī, aru ghaṭasambhava muni bigyānī Shambhu and Bhavani sing it continually; and the pot-born sage, the knower. (Ghaṭasambhava — born of a pot — is Agastya. Shiva narrating the Ramayana to Parvati is one of the Ramcharitmanas's own frames.)

Verse 7 — the crow and the eagle

ब्यास आदि कबिबर्ज बखानी। कागभसुंडि गरुड़ के ही की॥ byāsa ādi kabibarja bakhānī, kāgabhasuṇḍi garuṛa ke hī kī Vyasa and the foremost poets have expounded it; and Kagabhushundi told it to Garuda himself. (A crow narrating to the eagle who carries Vishnu — one of the Ramcharitmanas's own framing devices.)

Verse 8 — what it does

कलिमल हरनि बिषय रस फीकी। सुभग सिंगार मुक्ति जुबती की॥ kalimala harani biṣaya rasa phīkī, subhaga siṅgāra mukti jubatī kī It removes the impurity of this age and makes the taste of sense-objects insipid. It is the fair adornment of the maiden Liberation. (Mukti — release — personified as a young woman, and the Ramayana as what she wears.)

Verse 9 — and the signature

दलन रोग कलि कलेस कली की। तुलसी सरबस सिय पी की॥ dalana roga kali kalesa kalī kī, tulasī sarabasa siya pī kī Crusher of the sickness and the afflictions of this dark age; Tulsi's whole wealth belongs to Sita's beloved. (The bhaṇitā — the poet naming himself in the closing phrase, as at chaupai forty of the Hanuman Chalisa.)

What is Aarti Shri Ramayan Ji Ki?

The aarti sung at the close of a recitation of the Ramcharitmanas, and it is addressed to the text itself rather than to a deity. Lamps are circled before a physical copy of the book, wrapped and placed on a stand, exactly as they would be before an image.

Why is an aarti performed to a book?

Because in this tradition the Ramcharitmanas is treated as a presence rather than only as a record of one. The volume is wrapped, garlanded, kept raised off the floor and handled with washed hands, and at the close of a recitation it is honoured with a circled lamp. For the duration of the ceremony the book is what is being attended on.

What does the aarti actually say?

Almost entirely, who has recited the Ramayana: Brahma, Narada, Valmiki, Shuka, the Sanaka brothers, Shesha, Sharada, Hanuman, the Vedas and Puranas, Shiva and Bhavani, Agastya, Vyasa, and the crow Kagabhushundi telling it to Garuda. It establishes the text's standing by transmission rather than by describing its content.

Who is Kagabhushundi?

A crow who narrates the Ramayana to Garuda, the eagle who carries Vishnu. It is one of the Ramcharitmanas's own nested framing devices, alongside Shiva narrating to Parvati. The aarti names it as a link in the chain of transmission — a compact way of saying the text arrives through tellings.

What does 'subhag singar mukti jubati ki' mean?

The fair adornment of the maiden Liberation. Mukti — release — is personified as a young woman, and the Ramayana is what she wears. It is the most striking image in the aarti and one of the more remarkable metaphors in Hindi devotional verse.

What does 'bishay ras phiki' mean?

It makes the taste of sense-objects insipid. The claim is not that the text forbids sense-pleasure but that it makes other things uninteresting by comparison — a more precise and more interesting account of how a devotional text is meant to work on a reader than prohibition would be.

Did Tulsidas write this aarti?

The closing phrase names him — tulasi sarabasa siya-pi hi ki, Tulsi's whole wealth belongs to Sita's beloved — using the same bhanita convention that closes the Hanuman Chalisa at chaupai forty. As with most such signatures it establishes the aarti's place in the Tulsidas tradition; it is not by itself proof of composition.

When is this aarti sung?

At the close of a Ramcharitmanas recitation: an akhand paath run continuously through a night and day, a navahnaparayan read across nine days, a single sitting, or a public manas katha. It is a closing item for a completed reading rather than a song sung on its own.

What is an akhand paath?

A continuous recitation of the entire Ramcharitmanas, run without a break through a night and day by relays of readers, and closed with this aarti. It is undertaken at thresholds — housewarmings, anniversaries, the completion of vows — and requires a substantial number of participants.

Is Hanuman named in this aarti?

Yes, but among those who sing the Ramayana rather than among those it is about. Barani pavanasuta — the son of the wind describing that fine glory. In the tradition Hanuman is the Ramayana's foremost devotee-reciter, which is why recitations of the Manas so often invoke him.

What does the aarti claim the Ramayana does?

That it removes the impurity of this age, makes the taste of sense-objects insipid, and crushes the sickness and afflictions of the dark age. These are the aarti's own statements about the text, in the standard idiom of the genre, and we report them as such rather than restating them as outcomes.

Is this the same as the Ramayana of Valmiki?

No. This aarti belongs with Tulsidas's Awadhi Ramcharitmanas, the text recited across North India. Valmiki's Sanskrit epic is named inside the aarti as one of the reciters. There is no single Ramayana, and the two are distinct works separated by roughly two thousand years.