Transcript Charu_Pr_Various_-_Glories_of_Tulasi_Devi - Audio

KC 101 Lifestyles Class
The Glories of Tulasi Devi
Kartikeya inquired, "My dear Father, which
tree or plant is capable of giving love of God?"
Lord Siva
replied, "My
dear son, of all
trees and plants,
Tulasi Devi is
the topmost,
She is all
auspicious, the
fulfiller of all
desires,
completely
pure, most dear
to Lord Krsna,
and the topmost
devotee.
Long ago, Lord Krsna, for the welfare of all
conditioned souls, brought Vrindadevi in the
form of a plant (Tulasi) and planted Her in
this material world. Tulasi is the essence of
all devotional activities. Without Tulasi
leaves, Lord Krsna does not like to accept
flowers, food stuffs, sandalwood paste; in
fact, anything without Tulasi leaves is not
looked upon by Lord Krsna.
One who worships Lord Krsna daily with
Tulasi leaves, attains the results of all kinds
of austerities, charities, fire sacrifices. In
fact, he does not have any other duties to
perform and he has realized the essence of
all scriptures.
Just as the Ganges
river is purifying all
who bathe in her, so
Tulasi Devi is
purifying the three
worlds. It is not
possible to describe
the full benefit of
offering Tulasi
Manjaris (flowers)
to Lord Krsna.
Lord Krsna, along with
all the demigods, lives
wherever there is Tulasi
Devi. For this reason,
one should plant Tulasi
Devi at one's home and
offer worship daily.
One who sits near Tulasi Devi and
chants or recites prayers will
attain the results much faster.
All forms of ghosts and demons run away from
that place where Tulasi Devi is planted and all
kinds of sinful reactions are destroyed when
one comes close to Tulasi Devi.
One who makes a garden of Tulasi Devi gets
the results of all charities and of one hundred
fire sacrifices.
One who puts into his mouth or on
his head the Tulasi leaves, after they
have been offered to Lord Krsna,
attains the abode of Lord Krsna.
One who preaches the
glories of Tulasi Devi
and also practices what
he preaches, becomes
very dear to Lord
Krsna.
One who worships
Tulasi Devi has already
satisfied his guru, the
brahmins, demigods,
and all the holy
places. One who offers
a Tulasi leaf to Lord
Krsna becomes a
Vaisnava very
quickly.…”
Lord Shiva
In the morning after mangala-arati, all the
assembled devotees attend to the worship
and circumambulation of Srimati Tulsi
First, the devotees offer
obeisances to Tulasi-devi
with the tulasi-pranamamantra. Then the
tulasi-puja-kirtana song is
sung while Tulasi-devi is
offered incense, ghee lamp
and flowers. When the
song is finished, the
assembled Vaisnavas circumambulate
her four times and offer her water.
During the circumambulation, the mantra yani
kani ca papani brahma-hatyadikani ca / tani tani
pranasyanti pradaksinah pade pade is chanted.
After this, the devotees offer obeisances again with
the tulasi-pranama-mantra.
"Tulasi is auspicious in all respects.
Simply by seeing, simply by touching,
simply by remembering, simply by
praying to, simply by bowing before,
simply by hearing about, or simply by
sowing the tree, there is always
auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in
touch with the Tulasi tree in the above
mentioned ways lives eternally in the
Vaikuntha world.”
Skanda Purana
"Vishnu, the Lord of the
Three Worlds, takes up
abode in the village or
the house where Tulasi
is grown. In such a
house no one suffers
calamities like poverty,
illness or separations
from dear ones."
Padmapurana,
Tulasi leaf is very, very dear to Visnu.
All Visnu-tattva Deities require
profusely Tulasi leaves. Lord Visnu
likes garland of Tulasi leaves.
But we must be very careful that Tulasi
leaves cannot be placed on the feet of
anyone else except Lord Visnu and His
different forms. Tulasi leaves cannot be
placed even on the lotus feet of Radharani
or on the lotus feet of the Spiritual Master.
It is entirely reserved for being placed on
the lotus feet of Krsna. We can place,
however, Tulasi leaves in the hands of
Radharani for being placed on the lotus
feet of Krsna. April 7, 1970
Once Tulasi devi descended
as the daughter of King
Kushadvaja. She was married
to Jalandara. Jalandara drew
strength from her purity and
chastity. So firm was her chastity that even
Lord Shiva could not defeat Jalandara in
battle and all the demigods went to Lord
Vishnu for help.
At this time, Lord Vishnu
went to Tulasi devi in the
form of her husband,
Jalandara. When Tulasi
devi greeted Him, thinking
Him to be her husband,
her chastity was momentarily
broken. Taking advantage
of this the demigods killed Jalandara.
When Tulasi devi understood what
happened, Lord Vishnu revealed His
original form. He gave Tulasi devi
the benediction that she will eternally
reside with Him as His consort in
Vaikuntha. He said that for the
benefit of every one she will assume
the form of a plant which will be most
auspicious for anyone performing
devotional service.
Vrnda Devi
As the embodiment of the lila-sakti (pastime
potency), Vrinda devi is the organizer of all
the transcendental pastimes between Sri
Krishna and Srimati Radharani. In Goloka
every thing is animate (cit) and only for the
pleasure of Sri Krishna. Vrinda devi makes
this happen. She is assisted by many
confidential associates and with their help
she makes sure that every thing is pleasing to
Sri Krishna. She controls how the wind blows,
when and where it rains, how the trees bend,
and so many other things for the pleasure of
the Divine Couple.
Vrndavana
Vrindavana is completely
under the control of Vrinda
devi. Without her mercy it
is not possible to even
approach the confidential
pastimes of Radha-Krishna,
even as an audience. Even
being allowed into Vrindavana dhama
indicates that one has received some mercy
from Vrinda devi.
Bhaktivinode, Saranagati
“I will put on the garb
that is dear to the
devotees of Lord
Gaura-sundara,
including the twelve
Vaishnava tilaka
markings on my body
and beautiful beads of
tulasi wood around my
neck.” 1897
“Swamiji gave me my name, Acarya
Prabhakar. My original name was
Prabhakar Misra, so he said, "You
don't write the Misra. You are Äcarya
Prabhakar." He gave me the name and
offered me a tulasi-mala and put tilaka
on my forehead and tied a kunthii-mala
around my neck.
The First Initiation 1952
“Even a leaf, a flower, a
bit of fruit, or a little
water, can be offered by
any person, and will be
accepted if offered with
love. There are many
instances in history.
Simply by tasting the
tulasi leaves offered to
the lotus feet of the
Lord,sages like Sanatkumara became great
devotees.”
Four
Kumaras
Yamadhuttas
“Some devotees also wear other kinds of
auspicious malas-either made of tulasé
beads, lotus seeds, rope from Jagannätha's
ratha, or silk pavitras-while performing püjä,
japa, or other sacred functions; these should
be removed when bathing or leaving the
temple or house. The kunthi-mala is worn
permanently, for the beads protect one from
bad dreams, accidents, attack by weapons,
and the servants of Yamaraja. Upon seeing
tulasi mala, the Yamadutas flee like leaves
scattered by the wind.”
Greatness of Tulasi
“The most important thing
about the spiritual world is
that there is no envy among
the devotees there. This is
true even among the flowers,
which are all conscious of the
greatness of tulasi. In the
Vaikuntha world entered by the four Kumaras,
even the birds and flowers are conscious of
service to the Lord.”
The End
Srimate Tulasi Devi Ki Jai