Tulasī Devī

Tulasī Devī is the most beloved consort of Bhagavān Vishṇu and the foremost of all plants. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa calls her a prādhāna-aṃśa (chief part) of Mūla Prakṛti, the root Nature.

In an earlier life she was a gopikā (cowherd girl) in Goloka. Rādhādevī sent her to take human birth. She was born to Dharmadhvaja Mahārāja, performed great tapas (austerity), and married the great dānava Śaṅkhacūḍa. Bhagavān Vishṇu then deceived her, and in righteous anger she made Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa a stone, the sacred Śālagrāma. Her mortal body became the Gaṇḍakī river. Her hair became the Tulasī plant, which now purifies all three worlds.

Her nature and glory

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1, describes Tulasī Devī as a prādhāna-aṃśa of Mūla Prakṛti and as the most beloved (priya) of Vishṇumūrti. She is nirmalā (spotless) and has no ahaṃkāra (ego). She adorns Bhagavān Vishṇu as his garland (hāra) and rests at his feet during arcana (worship with offerings). Her presence is needed in tarpaṇa and in every pūjā. She is the essence (sāra) of all flowers and the most pure (pavitra) of all plants.

Seeing her (darśana) and touching her (sparśana) give moksha (liberation). In Kaliyuga she burns away the pāpa (sin) that people gather, as fire consumes dry wood. The earth is made holy by the touch of her roots. All sacred tīrthas seek her darśana and sparśana so that she may purify them. Without Tulasī, all karmas (actions) bear no fruit. Like the kalpavṛksha (wish-granting tree), she gives moksha to those who seek it and every other wish to those who seek that. In Bhāratavarsha she appears in the form of a plant.

Her ancestry and the śāpa of Sūrya

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 13, traces her line through a branch of the Sūryavaṃśa devotees. Daksha-sāvarṇi Manu had a son, Dharma-sāvarṇi. His son was Vishṇu-sāvarṇi, and his son was Deva-sāvarṇi. All of them were devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Deva-sāvarṇi’s son was Vṛshadhvaja. He was a devoted follower of Bhagavān Śiva and neglected the worship of Nārāyaṇa, Lakshmī and Sarasvatī completely. Bhagavān Śiva himself lived in Vṛshadhvaja’s āśrama (hermitage) for three deva-yugas and loved him like a son.

The other devas feared Bhagavān Śiva and dared not curse Vṛshadhvaja. Bhagavān Sūrya alone did so. He said, “May you lose all your wealth.” This śāpa (a curse) made Bhagavān Śiva come with his śūla (trident) to destroy Sūrya. Sūrya fled to Brahmā and then to Vaikuṇṭha. Bhagavān Śiva followed him. Brahmā, Kaśyapa and Sūrya took refuge in Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.

Nārāyaṇa calmed Bhagavān Śiva and told him that Vṛshadhvaja had already died, and so had his son Haṃsadhvaja. Their sons, Dharmadhvaja and Kuśadhvaja, were alive. They lived as kings who had lost their kingdom because of Sūrya’s śāpa. But Lakshmī would be born as a daughter in their line and restore their wealth.

Birth to Dharmadhvaja

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15, tells what followed. Dharmadhvaja and Kuśadhvaja performed intense tapas for Mahālakshmī and received her vara (a boon). They became kings again. Kuśadhvaja’s wife Mālavatī bore a daughter who was a part (aṃśa) of Lakshmī. This child was Vedavatī.

Dharmadhvaja’s wife was Mādhavī. On Kārtika Pūrṇimā, after a hundred deva-years of happiness together, Mādhavī bore a daughter who was an aṃśa of Mahālakshmī herself. The child had feet as red as padmarāga gems and all the marks of royal fortune (rāja-lakshmī). Her beauty and virtue could not be matched, since no comparison (tulana) could be made. So she was named Tulasī.

Her past life in Goloka

In her earlier birth, Tulasī was a gopikā named Tulasī in Goloka. She was an attendant (sevikā) of Rādhādevī and was born from Rādhā’s own aṃśa. One day Tulasī was found with Śrī Kṛshṇa in an intimate meeting. She was full of kāma (desire) but still unsatisfied, and she fell into a swoon. Rādhādevī could not hold back her anger and cursed her: “Take birth as a human on earth.”

Kṛshṇa softened the blow. He told Tulasī, “Even in your human birth you will perform tapas and win Nārāyaṇa, my four-armed (catur-bhujaḥ) form, as your husband. Then you will return.” Out of fear of Rādhā, Tulasī left her divine body and went down to Bhūloka.

Her tapas and Brahmā’s vara

In her human birth Tulasī grew up. Against the wishes of all her relatives, she set out to perform tapas for Nārāyaṇa. Her tapas at Badarī lasted one lakh (hundred thousand) deva-years. For the first twenty thousand years she ate only fruit and water. For thirty thousand years she ate only leaves. For ten thousand years she lived on air. At last she stood on one foot without moving.

Brahmā appeared to give her a vara. Tulasī said she wished to have the handsome and peaceful (śānta) Nārāyaṇa as her husband. Brahmā told her the story of her past. The gopa Sudāma of Goloka, a companion of Kṛshṇa, had been cursed by Rādhādevī to be born as a dānava named Śaṅkhacūḍa. He too remembered his past life and had been waiting to marry Tulasī.

Brahmā said, “In this birth you will first be married to Śaṅkhacūḍa. After that you will win Nārāyaṇa as your husband. You will unfortunately receive a śāpa and become a vṛksha (tree or plant). But you will be the most sacred of all plants, the essence of all flowers, and the most beloved of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In Bṛndāvana you will be called Bṛndāvanī.”

Tulasī still longed for Kṛshṇa in his two-armed (dvibhujaḥ) form rather than for Nārāyaṇa, and she said so openly. Brahmā gave her the sixteen-syllable (shoḍaśākshara) Rādhā-mantra. He told her, “Through this mantra Rādhādevī herself will become your closest friend (prāṇa-sakhī) and will arrange your union with Śrī Kṛshṇa.” Tulasī accepted the mantra and practised it for twelve divine years until she reached full siddhi (success).

Marriage to Śaṅkhacūḍa

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 16, tells of her marriage. Manmatha, the deva of desire, struck Tulasī with his five arrows (pañca-bāṇa), and she was overcome with longing. At that moment the great mahā-yogī Śaṅkhacūḍa came to her āśrama at Badarī. He had received the Kṛshṇa-mantra and gained mantra-siddhi at Pushkara. He wore the all-protecting Kṛshṇa-kavaca (armour) at his throat. He had come by Brahmā’s direction to find Tulasī.

Śaṅkhacūḍa was in the fullness of fresh youth (navayauvana). He was as beautiful as Manmatha, with a body bright as a white campaka flower, a face like the autumn moon and eyes like autumn lotuses. He came to Tulasī’s āśrama wearing pārijāta garlands, with kastūrī (musk) and kuṅkuma on his brow.

The two met and were drawn to each other. They had a long talk on deep matters, in which Tulasī tested his qualities and wisdom. Then Brahmā himself arrived, blessed them and declared their union auspicious. Śaṅkhacūḍa married Tulasī by the gāndharva rite. In celebration the devas played dundubhi drums and showered flowers.

Their love was complete. Śaṅkhacūḍa gave Tulasī garments won from Varuṇa, ear-rings from Rohiṇī (won from Candra), and many gifts made by Viśvakarmā. They lived in joy. Śaṅkhacūḍa ruled the three worlds for one manvantara, with devas, dānavas, gandharvas and kinnaras all under his command.

The war with the devas

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 17 to 19, describe the war. The devas lost their kingdoms and their pūjā and homa, and wandered like beggars. They went to Brahmā, and then with Bhagavān Śiva to Vaikuṇṭha.

Nārāyaṇa told them his plan. Śaṅkhacūḍa could not be defeated as long as he wore the Kṛshṇa-kavaca at his neck and as long as Tulasī’s pātivratya (faithfulness to her husband) stayed whole. Nārāyaṇa would take the kavaca by appearing as an old brāhmaṇa. Then he would take Śaṅkhacūḍa’s form and approach Tulasī, breaking her satītva (chastity). Only then could Bhagavān Śiva kill Śaṅkhacūḍa with his śūla.

Bhagavān Śiva sent the gandharva Pushpadanta to Śaṅkhacūḍa as a messenger. His message was that Śaṅkhacūḍa must return the devas’ kingdoms or face war. Śaṅkhacūḍa knew his own end was near and spoke as a great jñānī (knower). He told Tulasī calmly, “Kāla (time) governs all. It brought us together, and it will bring separation too. In the next life you will win Govinda as your husband, and I will return to Goloka.” Then he went to war.

The battle between Bhagavān Śiva’s forces and Śaṅkhacūḍa’s dānava army raged. Kālikā Devī fought fiercely but could not kill Śaṅkhacūḍa. She used every astra (weapon), including the nārāyaṇāstra, and Śaṅkhacūḍa answered each one. An ākāśavāṇī (voice from the sky) declared that he was protected by the Kṛshṇa-kavaca and by Tulasī’s satītva. Kālikā Devī could not use the pāśupatāstra against him. The war lasted a full year, and neither side won.

The deception and the death of Śaṅkhacūḍa

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20, tells how it ended. Bhagavān Vishṇu came to the battlefield as an old brāhmaṇa and begged Śaṅkhacūḍa for the kavaca as a gift (dāna). Śaṅkhacūḍa was a king of the dānavas and generous in dharma. He took off the Kṛshṇa-kavaca and gave it to the brāhmaṇa without a pause. At once Śrī Hari took Śaṅkhacūḍa’s form and went to Tulasī’s home. He announced that he had returned from battle as the winner.

Tulasī was joyful. She welcomed “her husband”, washed his feet, did pūjā to him and offered him tāmbūla (betel). Only in their intimate union did Tulasī sense a small difference, in touch and in manner. She asked, “Who are you, really?” Śrī Hari showed his true divine form. It was dark as a rain cloud (nīla-megha-śyāma), as beautiful as a crore of Manmathas, and adorned with jewels and yellow silk. Tulasī fell into a swoon at the sight (darśana), and then came to herself.

Meanwhile, as soon as Tulasī’s satītva was broken, Bhagavān Śiva hurled the śūla that Śrī Hari had given him. It was a weapon of supreme power. Vishṇu, Brahmā, Śiva and Kāla lived in its tip, middle, root and grip. It struck Śaṅkhacūḍa’s body and turned it to ash at once. Śaṅkhacūḍa was restored to his divine cowherd form, adorned with jewels, flute (murali) in hand, and surrounded by young cowherds. He went to Goloka and returned to Śrī Kṛshṇa and Rādhādevī as Sudāma.

Tulasī’s śāpa on Nārāyaṇa and the Śālagrāma

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21, tells what Tulasī did. When she understood what had happened, she was filled with grief and righteous anger. She said to Nārāyaṇa, “You killed my husband by deception, by adharma. You have no compassion (dayā). You are hard as stone. Therefore become a stone (pāshāṇa) in Bhūloka.” She gave this śāpa that Nārāyaṇa would appear as the sacred stone (śilā) called Śālagrāma on the banks of the Gaṇḍakī river.

Nārāyaṇa accepted the śāpa with compassion and comforted her. He said, “Your tapas has borne fruit. Leave this mortal body, take a divine form, and you will play in the rāsa with Lakshmī. Your present body will become the Gaṇḍakī river and will purify Bhārata. Your hair will become the sacred Tulasī plant. This plant will be the foremost of all plants and flowers, loved by me above all.”

He also said, “As your śāpa says, I will live on the banks of the Gaṇḍakī as stone. Diamond-hard insects (vajra-kīṭaka) will bore marks like cakras into those stones. Wherever I live in stone with those cakras, that is the Śālagrāma, my own true form (sākshāt svarūpa).”

The forms of Śālagrāma

In the same chapter, Nārāyaṇa described the forms of Śālagrāma and their qualities.

• Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa: one opening, four cakras, a vanamālā (garland mark), black. It brings all that is auspicious.
• Lakshmī-Janārdana: one opening, four cakras, no vanamālā, black.
• Raghunātha Śālagrāma: two openings, four cakras, a cow-hoof (goshpāda) mark, no vanamālā.
• Dadhivāmana: two cakras, very small, black. It is auspicious for householders (gṛhastha).
• Śrīdhara: two cakras, a vanamālā, small. It is auspicious for householders.
• Dāmodara: round, two cakras, no vanamālā.
• Narasiṃha: a very large opening, two cakras, no vanamālā. It brings vairāgya (detachment) at once.
• Ananta: fourteen cakras, large, black. It gives all four purushārthas (aims of life).
• Vanadeva: seven cakras, a chattra (umbrella) mark and a bāṇa (arrow) mark. It gives royal prosperity.
• Hayagrīva: two cakras, the colour of clear crystal (śuddha-sphaṭika).

The water in which the Śālagrāma is bathed (Śālagrāma-abhisheka-tīrtha) gives the fruit of bathing (snāna) in all tīrthas, all yajñas, all gifts, going round the earth (bhū-pradakshiṇā) and all vows (vratas) together. One who drinks Śālagrāma-tīrtha regularly is freed from birth and death (janma-mṛtyu), old age (jarā) and disease (vyādhi).

Her ascent and the māhātmya

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 22, tells of her rise. After her mortal body became the Gaṇḍakī, Tulasī took her divine form and joined Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha. She lived on his chest beside Lakshmī as a beloved co-consort. Nārāyaṇa now had four wives: Lakshmī, Sarasvatī, Gaṅgā and Tulasī.

Sarasvatī could not accept the newcomer and struck Tulasī in Śrī Hari’s presence. Tulasī was hurt and ashamed, and she vanished (antardhāna). Śrī Hari went to the Tulasī forest, bathed, meditated on her and sang her stotra (hymn of praise). He did pūjā to her with the five offerings (pañca-upacāra).

The stotra he sang is the Ashṭanāma-stotra of Tulasī, the hymn of eight names.

1. Bṛndā: she who pervades Bṛndāvana.
2. Bṛndāvanī: she whose home is Bṛndāvana.
3. Viśvapāvanī: she who purifies all the worlds.
4. Viśvapūjitā: she who is worshipped by all the worlds.
5. Pushpasāra: she who is the essence of all flowers.
6. Nandinī: she whose darśana gives bliss. Even Bhagavān Vishṇu is delighted to see her.
7. Tulasī: she who cannot be matched (tulana-rahitā).
8. Kṛshṇa-jīvanī: she who is the life-breath (prāṇa) of Kṛshṇa.

Tulasī heard the stotra, came out from among the plants and fell at Śrī Hari’s feet. Nārāyaṇa embraced her and gave her a vara: “You will be worshipped in all three worlds. I will wear you on my head. All devas will wear you on their heads.” He returned with Tulasī to Vaikuṇṭha and made peace between Sarasvatī and Tulasī, and the household rejoiced.

Pūjā and its fruits

The same chapter gives Tulasī’s root mantra (mūla-mantra): Śrīṃ Hrīṃ Klīṃ Aiṃ Bṛndāvanyai Svāhā. It is a ten-syllable (daśākshara) mantra that holds the seed sounds (bījas) of Lakshmī, Māyā, Kāma and Sarasvatī.

The pūjā uses ghee lamps (nīti-dīpa), incense (dhūpa), sindūra, sandal paste (candana), food offering (naivedya) and flower offering (pushpa-arcana). She is to be honoured without āvāhana (calling her down), because she is always present.

The fruits of Tulasī pūjā include the following.

• One Tulasī leaf (patra) offered to Śrī Hari is greater than the offering of a thousand pots of amṛta.
• Reciting the Ashṭanāma-stotra gives children to the childless and a spouse to the unmarried, and cures disease.
• Wearing the Tulasī-mālā (garland of beads) gives the puṇya (merit) of countless aśvamedha-yāgas.
• Death in a Tulasī forest gives Vaikuṇṭha.
• Drinking Tulasī-tīrtha every day makes one a jīvanmukta (one liberated while living).

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1, 6, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 17–19 (the war with the devas)