Tulsi Chalisa

Blessed, ever blessed is Mother Tulsi, whose greatness is beyond reach and is forever sung in the sacred scriptures.

You are dearer to Hari than his own life; to win him you performed long and severe penance.

When the Lord, pleased by that penance, gave you his vision, you folded your hands and made a humble plea to him.

O Lord, become my husband; seeing me lowly and helpless, do not abandon your affection for me.

Hearing Tulsi's words, Lakshmi grew angry and brought a curse down upon her.

For asking the Lord for so unfit a boon as her husband, Lakshmi cursed her to take the unmoving body of a plant.

Hearing this, Tulsi cursed Lakshmi in return at that very spot, saying that she too would have to dwell in a lowly place.

Then the Lord at once gave his promise: "Listen, fair one, do not be distressed."

"In due time I will surely become your husband; this word of mine will be fulfilled and proven true."

Then in Gokul there was a cowherd named Sudama, and Tulsi was born as his wife.

During Krishna's rasa-lila, Radha could not bear to see the love between them.

At once Radha cursed Tulsi, saying she would be born again as a girl in the world of mortals.

That cowherd was reborn as a demon king named Shankhachuda, bearing his fame at the cost of his life.

Tulsi became his wife, a supremely chaste woman, foremost in virtue and in beauty.

When two such ages had passed in this way, her third birth then took place.

In that birth Tulsi was named Vrinda, and her husband was the demon named Jalandhara.

Possessing immense, matchless strength, Jalandhara waged a fierce battle against Lord Shankara.

When Shiva and his whole army were being defeated, and Jalandhara could not be slain, Shiva called out to Hari for help.

Vrinda was a wife utterly devoted to her husband, and because of the power of her chastity no one could destroy him.

Then Hari took on the very form of Jalandhara and went and approached Vrinda in disguise.

For Shiva's sake he carried out this deception and so broke the vow of Vrinda's chastity.

With her chastity broken, Jalandhara was slain, and on hearing this grief rose up in Vrinda's heart.

At that moment Hari set aside his disguise, and seeing him, the sorrowing Vrinda spoke out.

"Just as you killed Jalandhara without fear by deceit, so will a Ravana one day carry off your own Sita."

"Your heart is as hard as stone, for you shattered my honor and destroyed my husband."

"For this reason receive my curse: that your body too shall turn to stone."

Hearing this, Hari at once spoke in reply, telling how she had pronounced the curse without proper thought.

"You did not consider your own husband's deeds, how he had sought to deceive even Parvati."

"Dull of mind, so be it that you take an unmoving form; in this world you shall be the matchless tulsi plant."

"And I myself shall take the form of the Shaligram stone, a jewel found in the bed of the Gandaki river."

"Whoever offers a tulsi leaf to me shall enjoy every happiness and attain the highest state."

Without tulsi, Hari's body feels as if it burns, and a great ache rises in his head and chest.

Whoever places a tulsi leaf upon Hari's head pours upon him, as it were, a thousand pots of nectar.

Tulsi delights the heart of Hari, and she breaks apart disease, fault and sorrow.

For one who worships Hari ceaselessly with love, there is no difference at all between Tulsi and Radha.

Though there be the fifty-six varieties of food laid before him, without a tulsi leaf none of it is dear to Hari.

All holy places dwell in the shade of the tulsi tree, and the devotee attains liberation there without any doubt.

When a poet sings even a single virtue of Hari near the tulsi, he gains a thousandfold the fruit of his praise.

Near her abides the home of the sage Durvasa; her grace comes through devoted effort to the worthy one.

Whatever man or woman recites this daily shall find happiness, so declares Lord Shiva, the conqueror of the three cities.