Tulasī Vivāha

Tulasī Vivāha, simply known as Tulasi Vivaha, Sanskrit: तुलसी विवाह, Telugu: తులసి వివాహం, Hindi: तुलसी विवाह.

The Tulasī Vivāha is the rite of marriage of the Tulasī plant with Bhagavān Vishṇu. It is one of the most important festivals of the month of Kārtika. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa gives it for the ninth day of the bright half of Kārtika, called Kūshmāṇḍa Navamī. The festival runs from Navamī to Ekādaśī, because of its link with Prabodhinī Ekādaśī.

A golden mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu is made. The Tulasī plant is made ready as the bride. The full wedding rite is done with Vedic mantras, homa and wedding festivities. The rite is given in the Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, in the Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 31 and 33.

The day of the rite: Kūshmāṇḍa Navamī

The ninth day of the bright half of Kārtika is the day on which the Dvāpara Yuga began. It is also the day on which Bhagavān Vishṇu killed a daitya named Kūshmāṇḍa. From his body came the creepers of the pumpkin gourd (Benincasa cerifera). On this day both the festival of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and the rite of the marriage of Tulasī are celebrated.

The rite lasts three days, counting Navamī. For dāna, Navamī must be present in the forenoon. For fasting, it must be present in the afternoon. If Navamī overlaps with Ashṭamī, the eighth day, it extends to midday.

In the past, Kiśorikā, the daughter of Kanaka, kept this marriage rite of Tulasī in the evening with great devotion, and was freed from the stigma of widowhood. So the rite should be done in the evening. (Chapter 31.)

The vidhi

Preparing the mūrti

A golden mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu is made with one pala (25 grams) of gold. According to one’s means, the weight may be a half, a quarter, an eighth or a sixteenth of this.

Prāṇapratishṭhā

The rite of prāṇapratishṭhā (giving life to the mūrti) is done for both Tulasī and the mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu is then awakened with prayers. He is worshipped with all sixteen upacāras (services) and the recitation of the Purusha-sūkta.

The worship

After recalling the time and place, Gaṇeśa is worshipped first. Then comes puṇyāhavācana, followed by Nāndī Śrāddha (the śrāddha for the ancestors, done for auspiciousness). The mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu is then brought near Tulasī, with Vedic mantras and instruments playing.

The mantra of invitation

“O Bhagavān Keśava, come; I shall worship you. I shall give Tulasī to you. Be the giver of all desires.”

Arghya, pādya and a seat (vishṭara) are offered three times. Ācamanīya (water for sipping) is offered three times. Madhuparka (a mixture of curds, milk and ghee in a bell-metal pot) is offered with this mantra:

“The madhuparka of curds, milk and ghee is placed in a pot of bell-metal. O Vāsudeva, accept this. Obeisance to you.”

Anointing and placing

At the time of godhūli (about half an hour before sunset), turmeric paste is smeared and oil is applied. Tulasī and Bhagavān Keśava are worshipped once more and placed apart, facing each other. Auspicious mantras are chanted.

The saṅkalpa

While the Sun is still a little visible, the devotee says his gotra and pravara up to three generations. Then he makes the saṅkalpa:

“O Bhagavān Vishṇu, who have no beginning, middle or end, O protector of the three worlds, accept this Tulasī with all the marriage rites. I give to you as wife this Tulasī, born of the seed of Pārvatī and placed in the ashes of Vṛndā. She has no beginning, middle or end, and I have nurtured her like my own daughter. O Bhagavān Vishṇu, accept your own beloved Tulasī.”

The night vigil

At night all the festivities of a marriage are kept up, and all stay awake through the night.

The next morning

Early in the morning, Tulasī and Bhagavān Vishṇu are worshipped, after the sacrificial fire is set up, with the twelve-syllable mantra om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. One hundred and eight homas are offered with milk-pudding, ghee, honey and sesame seeds. The guru is honoured, the homa is completed, and the pūrṇāhuti (final offering) is made.

The closing mantra

“O Bhagavān Janārdana, I have kept this vrata to please you. If it is lacking in any way, let it be perfect and complete by your favour.”

Breaking the vow

After the homa, the foods that were avoided during the four rainy months, or during the month of Kārtika, are given to brāhmaṇas. Husband and wife then eat together with the brāhmaṇas. Tulasī leaves that have fallen are eaten after the meal. At the end of the meal, sugarcane, the dhātrī fruit or jujube is eaten to clean the mouth.

The farewell

In the evening, Tulasī and Bhagavān Vāsudeva are worshipped with sugarcane stumps. Bhagavān Vishṇu is sent off with these words:

“O Bhagavān Vishṇu, go to Vaikuṇṭha along with Tulasī. Accept the worship I have offered, and be always pleased. O Janārdana, go to the place where Brahmā and the other devas are present.”

The mūrti is then given to the guru. (Chapter 31.)

Tulasī, Vṛndā and the Kārtika Vrata

The saṅkalpa names Tulasī as “born of the seed of Pārvatī, placed in the ashes of Vṛndā”. This joins the marriage rite to the narrative of Jalandhara. After Bhagavān Vishṇu’s deception broke Vṛndā’s pātivratya (faithfulness to her husband), she cursed Bhagavān Vishṇu and entered the fire. From seeds given by Gaurī, Lakshmī and Svarā, sown where Bhagavān Vishṇu mourned over Vṛndā’s ashes, the Tulasī plant arose.

The Skanda Purāṇa says that because Tulasī is supremely dear to Bhagavān Vishṇu, he is worshipped at the root of the Tulasī plant at the end of the Kārtika Vrata. (Chapter 23.)

The Skanda Purāṇa, in Chapter 33, links the Tulasī Vivāha with Prabodhinī Ekādaśī. In the morning Bhagavān Vishṇu is awakened with the blowing of conches, music, drums, dances and songs. In the evening the rite of the marriage of Tulasī is done. So the day on which Bhagavān Vishṇu wakes from his four months of yoga-nidrā is also the day of his union with Tulasī in the Vivāha. (Chapter 33.)

The phala

One who does this marriage rite of Tulasī every year with devotion will certainly have wealth and grain, and will gain wide fame in this world and the next. The rite also gives the puṇya of giving a girl in marriage (kanyādāna).

If anyone grows dhātrī and aśvattha trees in one place and then keeps this festival, his puṇya will not perish even in hundreds of crores of kalpas. (Chapter 31.)

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 23
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 31
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 33