Kavitavali

(“series of poems”) The final poetic
work of the poet-saint Tulsidas
(1532–1623?). In the Kavitavali,
Tulsidas gives a condensed version of
the epic Ramayana as well as poems
in which he clearly speaks in his own
voice. Evidence in the text indicates
that it was completed after 1615. The
poems are written in the savaiya and
kavitt meters, which are longer, more
complex, and less accessible than the
meters used in most of Tulsidas’s earlier works. The Kavitavali is divided
into seven sections, paralleling the
internal structure of the Ramayana,
but the bulk of the Kavitavali’s poems
are in the last two sections. One of
these is the “Lankakhand,” which
describes the climactic battle symbolizing the struggle between good and
evil; in this section the kavitt meter is
used to render vivid battle scenes. The
final book is the “Uttarakhand,” comprising more than half of the entire
work. In this last section, Tulsidas has
written some autobiographical verses
and reiterates themes found throughout much of his work: the degeneracy
of the present age (Kali Yuga), a stress
on devotion as the only means of salvation, and the power inherent in
God’s name, through which any
obstacles can be overcome. Parts
of this latter section sound pessimistic, perhaps reflecting the trials
of advancing age, but through it all
comes a note of hope that the author’s
trust in God’s saving power will not
ultimately be in vain.