Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 690

THE TULASI PLANT
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ceremony is being performed his friends cry several limes
aloud, Tulasi! Tulasi! Tulasi! The man can then die in
the happy certainty that he will go straight to Swarga \
To obtain pardon of all one's sins it is sufficient to look at
By touching it a man is purified from all
this sacred plant.
defilement, and if he perform the najnaskara to it, any illness
from which he may be suffering will be cured.
Salvation is assured to any one who waters and attends
If a branch of it is offered to Vishnu in the
to it every day.
month of Kartika (November), it will be more pleasing to
the god than a thousand cows. Whoever offers to Vishnu,
at anytime whatsoever, a spray of tulasi that has been dipped
in saffron, is assured of becoming like Vishnu himself, and
To give a twig
of enjoying a share in Vishnu's happiness.
of tulasi to any one who is in any danger, or who is suffering
from anxieties and cares, is a certain means of securing for
him a satisfactory ending to his difficulties.
These are only a few of the many virtues possessed by the
tulasi.
Most Brahmins cultivate the plant in their houses, and
prayers and sacrifices. They also take care
that it shall grow near the places where they perform their
ablutions, and in their meeting-places, such as the chuttrams.
The tulasi is usually planted on a little mound of sand,
which they call brinda-vanam 2 or on a square pillar, three
or four feet in height, hollow at the top, with its four sides
Brahmins consider
facing the four points of the compass.
it a peculiarly meritorious act to carefully water and culti-
offer it daily
,
vate the plant
:
\
have a sweet aromatic scent and act as a cough
elixir and cordial
indeed Hindus think that they possess
many medicinal properties. Brahmins always swallow one
or two after their meals, as an aid to digestion.
They also
eat some both before and after performing their ablutions in
cold water, in order to keep up the proper temperature in
the stomach and to prevent colds and chills and other
maladies which might attack them without this preventat ve.
Its leaves
;
i
1
This formality is observed only by the Vishnavites.
Ed.
This name is also given to the place inhabited by Krishna.
Dubois.
The plant is grown in the courtyard of almost every Brahmin house,
and the women offer worship to it daily. Ed.
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