I am posting my understanding of Tulsidas's sloka
Dhol—Drum- The both sides are closed with lather and there is only space inside like outside. If it is beaten sound is produced which perhaps comes due to presence of space/emptiness inside the drum. Is it not a mystery in itself that sound is being produced because of presence of space and perhaps coming from space/emptiness only? To listen this sound you have to do something but you will never know from why it is coming. This is a pointer towards the mystical sound AUM. This happens with the dawning of understanding i.e. enlightenment.
Gawar-Idiot/ignorant who does not know what he/she is doing i.e. who has no idea of who he is, why he is, where he is, from where he has come and where he will go, etc. like all existential questions.—In this sense most of us are idiot. But to understand this fact of being idiot requires a high level of intelligence i.e. least level of resistance to the flow of life i.e. keeping awareness/attention very near to the body. Whether one is idiot or not can be understood only by an enlightened/awakened one .
Shudra- (Sevak/Servant)-When the child comes from the womb he has no awareness about anything whatsoever including God, Spirituality etc. as the child has no inbuilt software (like which is developed with the help of society) to decide to take or not to take the data which are being fed to him. Naturally his prime interest as a body is to survive and for that sense organs are of immense benefit to him. The sense organs help him in making him aware about the world outside and also getting the softwares developed for his utilisation so that his life go on running smoothly. A child becomes a person at the age of about 21 (+ or - 2-3 years). As nobody tell/makes him understand up to this age that these sense organs are meant for his use or he should not be used by sense organs. That in other words sense organs are his servants and he is the master. As he is not aware of this he goes on being used by his sense organs i.e. he goes on serving them till his last breath. The persons who are engaged in the service of their sense organs have been labeled as Sudra(sevak).
Pashu- ( animals including our bodies are totally under control of nature and just require fulfillment of basic needs for living)- They live moment to moment while we(mind) are always out of moment i.e. either past or future. Hence we are unable to understand them(pashu). Only that one among us who lives moment to moment can understand them.
Nari-( women—basically indicating towards the feminine characteristic of nature i.e. nature itself. This has nothing to do with woman and man as body. The question is of characteristic. A man as a body can have feminine character of nature (all Masters, Sages, Saints are examples) and a woman as a body can have the masculine character of Purush. Prakriti(nature)—Its characteristic is all accepting i.e. never changing. They can be labeled as consciousness at rest. While the purush represents ever changing or the coming out of nature ( hence a part of nature) when manifested in various forms. They can be labeled as consciousness in action. For the forms (consciousness in action) it is impossible to understand the Prakriti (nari--consciousness at rest) unless and until it merges with nature i.e. during enlightenment.
Tadan-literal Hindi meaning is beating, but this word is synonyms of the verb “understand” also as I heard many time from my uncle when he used this word. This word is still in use in place of “to understand” at some places in Hindi belt in India. My uncle used to say in “Kya tune tad liya ?”—means “Have you understood?” Hence Tadan means “supposed to be understood”.
This sloka has been said from the point of view of Tulsidas, a saint, hence he must not have meant anything wrong or tried to find fault with the nature as for the saints all are one. There is no question of discrimination. Hence this sloka can be taken as a message from an enlightened one as a code of conduct also as everybody cannot comprehend enlightener’s way of saying. His simple message is that for “understanding the things as it is”.
Dhol—Drum- The both sides are closed with lather and there is only space inside like outside. If it is beaten sound is produced which perhaps comes due to presence of space/emptiness inside the drum. Is it not a mystery in itself that sound is being produced because of presence of space and perhaps coming from space/emptiness only? To listen this sound you have to do something but you will never know from why it is coming. This is a pointer towards the mystical sound AUM. This happens with the dawning of understanding i.e. enlightenment.
Gawar-Idiot/ignorant who does not know what he/she is doing i.e. who has no idea of who he is, why he is, where he is, from where he has come and where he will go, etc. like all existential questions.—In this sense most of us are idiot. But to understand this fact of being idiot requires a high level of intelligence i.e. least level of resistance to the flow of life i.e. keeping awareness/attention very near to the body. Whether one is idiot or not can be understood only by an enlightened/awakened one .
Shudra- (Sevak/Servant)-When the child comes from the womb he has no awareness about anything whatsoever including God, Spirituality etc. as the child has no inbuilt software (like which is developed with the help of society) to decide to take or not to take the data which are being fed to him. Naturally his prime interest as a body is to survive and for that sense organs are of immense benefit to him. The sense organs help him in making him aware about the world outside and also getting the softwares developed for his utilisation so that his life go on running smoothly. A child becomes a person at the age of about 21 (+ or - 2-3 years). As nobody tell/makes him understand up to this age that these sense organs are meant for his use or he should not be used by sense organs. That in other words sense organs are his servants and he is the master. As he is not aware of this he goes on being used by his sense organs i.e. he goes on serving them till his last breath. The persons who are engaged in the service of their sense organs have been labeled as Sudra(sevak).
Pashu- ( animals including our bodies are totally under control of nature and just require fulfillment of basic needs for living)- They live moment to moment while we(mind) are always out of moment i.e. either past or future. Hence we are unable to understand them(pashu). Only that one among us who lives moment to moment can understand them.
Nari-( women—basically indicating towards the feminine characteristic of nature i.e. nature itself. This has nothing to do with woman and man as body. The question is of characteristic. A man as a body can have feminine character of nature (all Masters, Sages, Saints are examples) and a woman as a body can have the masculine character of Purush. Prakriti(nature)—Its characteristic is all accepting i.e. never changing. They can be labeled as consciousness at rest. While the purush represents ever changing or the coming out of nature ( hence a part of nature) when manifested in various forms. They can be labeled as consciousness in action. For the forms (consciousness in action) it is impossible to understand the Prakriti (nari--consciousness at rest) unless and until it merges with nature i.e. during enlightenment.
Tadan-literal Hindi meaning is beating, but this word is synonyms of the verb “understand” also as I heard many time from my uncle when he used this word. This word is still in use in place of “to understand” at some places in Hindi belt in India. My uncle used to say in “Kya tune tad liya ?”—means “Have you understood?” Hence Tadan means “supposed to be understood”.
This sloka has been said from the point of view of Tulsidas, a saint, hence he must not have meant anything wrong or tried to find fault with the nature as for the saints all are one. There is no question of discrimination. Hence this sloka can be taken as a message from an enlightened one as a code of conduct also as everybody cannot comprehend enlightener’s way of saying. His simple message is that for “understanding the things as it is”.
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