That which the various Purāṇas, the Vedas and the āgamas agree upon, that which the Rāmāyaṇa has said, and here and there a little from elsewhere too — for the joy of his own inner self, Tulasī now sets out the story of Raghunātha, as a most graceful composition in the vernacular.

जो नाना पुराणों, वेदों तथा आगमों को मान्य है, जो रामायण में कहा गया है, और कहीं-कहीं से थोड़ा और भी — अपने अन्तर के सुख के लिए तुलसी रघुनाथ की कथा को अत्यन्त मनोहर भाषा-रचना में विस्तार से कहते हैं।

Tulsīdās’s own statement of what this poem is. Three details to notice: he anchors it in the received tradition (Purāṇas, Vedas, āgamas, Rāmāyaṇa); he admits some material comes from elsewhere; and he says the whole thing is written for his own inner joy, not for anyone else. The Manas is offered as a private book that a public was later allowed to read.