Indian spiritual literature repeatedly returns to one enduring question: why does the world feel real, binding, and painful even when we intellectually know it is impermanent?
A luminous response to this question comes from Goswami Tulsidas, whose poetry unites the depth of Vedanta with the tenderness of Bhakti.
है हरि! कस न हरहु भ्रम भारी।
जद्यपि मृषा सत्य भासे जबलगि नहिं कृपा तुम्हारी॥ १॥
Hai Hari! kasa na harahu bhrama bhārī.
Jadyapi mṛṣā satya bhāse jabalagi nahiṁ kṛpā tumhārī. (1)
O Lord Hari! Why do You not remove this great illusion of mine? Although this world is false and unreal, until Your grace descends, it appears completely real and true.
अर्थ अबिद्यमान जानिय संसृति नहिं जाइ गोसाई।
बिन बॉथे निज हठ सठ परबस पसरथो कौरकी नाईं॥ २॥
Artha abidyamān jāniya saṁsṛti nahiṁ jāi Gosāī.
Bina bāṁthe nija haṭha saṭha parabasa pasaratho kaurakī nāīṁ. (2)
O Master! I know that worldly objects, body, wealth, relations, do not truly exist in essence, yet I cannot escape this cycle of existence. No one has bound me; I am helplessly trapped by my own obstinacy and delusion, like a parrot bound without ropes.
सपने ब्याधि बिबिध बाधा जनु मृत्यु उपस्थित आई।
बैंद अनेक उपाय करें जागे बिनु पीर न जाईं॥ ३॥
Sapane byādhi bibidha bādhā janu mṛtyu upasthita āī.
Bainda aneka upāya kareṁ jāge binu pīra na jāī. (3)
Just as in a dream one may suffer many illnesses and obstacles, feeling as though death itself has arrived, while physicians within the dream attempt various cures, yet the pain does not cease until one awakens; likewise, worldly suffering cannot end without true awakening.
श्रुति-गुरु-साधु-समृति-संमत यह दृश्य असत दुखकारी।
तेहि बिनु तजे, भजे बिनु रघुपति, बिपति सके को टारी॥ ४॥
Śruti-guru-sādhu-smṛti-sammata yaha dṛśya asata dukhakārī.
Tehi binu taje, bhaje binu Raghupati, bipati sake ko ṭārī. (4)
The Vedas (Śruti), the Guru, saints, and sacred traditions all unanimously declare that this visible world is unreal and the cause of sorrow. Without renouncing attachment to it and without devotion to Lord Raghupati (Rama), who has the power to avert this calamity?
बहु उपाय संसार-तरन कहेँ, बिमल गिरा श्रुति गावे।
तुलसिदास मैं-मोर गये बिनु जिउ सुख कबहूँ न पावै॥ ५॥
Bahu upāya saṁsāra-tarana kaheṁ, bimala girā śruti gāve.
Tulasīdāsa maiṁ-mora gaye binu jiu sukha kabahūṁ na pāve. (5)
Many methods for crossing the ocean of worldly existence are spoken of, and the scriptures sing them in pure voices. Tulsidas declares: as long as the sense of “I” and “mine” remains, the soul can never attain true peace or happiness.
Grace Beyond Illusion
Tulsidas ji presents a profound spiritual psychology. Mere intellectual understanding of impermanence is insufficient. The illusion of the world persists until it is dissolved by grace (kṛpā).
Bondage is shown not as external oppression but as self-created attachment. The dream metaphor reveals that suffering is not resolved by adjusting the dream, but by waking up from it. Awakening, however, is inseparable from devotion.
The poem culminates in the dissolution of the ego, “I” and “mine”. When these fall away, devotion arises naturally, and with it, freedom. In this way, Tulsidas ji harmonizes Vedantic insight with Bhakti, offering a path that is both deeply philosophical and profoundly compassionate.
The world does not bind us because it is strong, but because grace is forgotten. When surrender dawns, the dream loosens, and peace appears.
