The Legend of The Holy Basil or Tulsi
N. Meera Raghavendra Rao
Ocimum
Sanctum or commonly known as Tulsi, considered one of the most sacred plants of
the Hindus, forms part of every Hindu home.
There is Sri Tulsi, the common green type and Krishna Tulsi having
purple leaves. It is planted on a
little pedestal called Brindavanam
which has four sides representing four directions. Tulsi is held in great veneration as it is
believed to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and is worshipped by every
Hindu woman, particularly by the Vaisnavites (devotees of Vishnu). A festival called Tulsi Vivaha (wedding) is
performed annually during Karthik, (between oct-nov.) like any Hindu marriage
by a priest before the sacred fire joining the Tulsi bush with the Salagrama
stone, (an ammonite) representing Lord Vishnu or Krishna. A legend explains the reason behind Tulsi
turning into a bush and Krishna into a Saligrama found in river Gandaki.
Tulsi in her
former birth was Vrinda, the daughter of a giant Kalanemi and is married to a
demon, Jalandhar (jala is water). Jalandhar receives a boon from Brahma
(Creator) that he would not die as long as his wife Vrinda remained virtuous
because Vrinda was renowned for her faithfulness and chastity. Feeling invincible, Jalandhar declared a war
on the Gods who rushed to Vishnu for help.
Vishnu disguises as Jalandhar to entice Vrinda, who is filled with
remorse once she knows of the deception.
Due to her curse Vishnu turns into a Saligrama and she into a Tulsi
shrub because of Vishnu’s curse. Soon
Jalandhar is killed. Vishnu won over by
Vrinda’s unimpeachable chastity vows to marry her every year. Another slight
deviation in Tulsi’s story is that when Vrinda discovered she was deceived, she
built a funeral pyre and immolated herself.
But Vishnu admiring her chastity and feeling sorry for the wrong done to
her, was inconsolable till the Gods planted a Tulsi shrub and summoned her
spirit into it. Since then she is
believed to come into the shrub every evening and leave it in the morning. This is the reason why Tulsi leaves are not
plucked after sunset. Another festival
is Rathasapthami which falls during end January performed to seek the blessings
of the Sun God (rath means chariot and saptami is the seventh day of the month
in the Hindu calender) which signifies the Sun moving from the South to the
North i.e. when Uttarayan commences. A
chariot is drawn on a plank on which all kinds of cereals and pulses are placed
and prayers are offered to Tulsi plant and the Rath.
Tulsi worship
is not limited to one’s spiritual aspirations alone because the plant possesses
many medicinal and curative properties and it is widely used in Ayurveda system
of medicine and in granny’s remedies.