1. The Glories of Tulasi Devi
KC 101 Lifestyles Class
The Glories of Tulasi Devi

3. Lord Shiva
Kartikeya inquired, "My dear Father, which tree or plant is capable of giving love of God?" 

4. 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. 

5. 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. 
   

6. 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.

7. 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.   

8. 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.   

9. 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.

10. 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

11. In the morning after mangala-arati, all the assembled devotees attend to the worship and circumambulation of Srimati Tulsi

12. First, the devotees offer. obeisances to Tulasi-devi
First, the devotees offer obeisances to Tulasi-devi with the tulasi-pranama- mantra. 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.

13. 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.

14. "Tulasi is auspicious in all respects
"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

15. "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,

16. Tulasi leaf is very, very dear to Visnu
Tulasi leaf is very, very dear to Visnu. All Visnu-tattva Deities require profusely Tulasi leaves. Lord Visnu likes garland of Tulasi leaves.

17. 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

18. Stories of Tulasi 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.

19. went to Tulasi devi in the form of her husband, Jalandara. When Tulasi
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.

20. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. Haridas Thakur

27. Japa Mala

28. 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

29. “Swamiji gave me my name, Acarya Prabhakar
“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

30. Four Kumaras
“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 Sanat-kumara became great devotees.”

31. 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.”

32. 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.”

33. Srimate Tulasi Devi Ki Jai
The End
Srimate Tulasi Devi Ki Jai