pfant Tsore, Is&Qer^/, ani. Tsijric/'. 245 



votaries of Vishnu, who carry also a rosary made of the seeds of 

 the Holy Basil or the Sacred Lotus. De Gubernatis has given 

 some interesting details of the Tiilasi cultus: — " Under the mystery 

 of this herb," he says, "created with ambrosia, is shrouded without 

 doubt the god-creator himself. The worship of the herb Tulasi is 

 strongly recommended in the last part of the Padmapurdna, con- 

 secrated to Vishnu ; but it is, perhaps, no less adored by the 

 votaries of Siva ; Krishna, the popular incarnation of the god 

 Vishnu, has also adopted this herb for his worship ; from thence 

 its names of Krishna and Krishnattdasi. Sita, the epic personifica- 

 tion of the goddess Lakshmi, was transformed, according to the 

 Rdmdyana, into the Tulasi, from whence the name of Sitdhvayd 

 given to the herb." Because of the belief that the Tulasi opens 

 the gates of heaven to the pious worshipper. Prof. De Gubernatis 

 tells us that " when an Indian dies, they place on his breast a leaf 

 of Tulasi; when he is dead, they wash the head of the corpse with 

 water, in which have been dropped, during the prayer of the priest, 

 some Flax seeds and Tulasi leaves. According to the Kriydyogasdras 

 (xxiii.),in religiously planting and cultivating the Tulasi, the Hindu 

 obtains the privilege of ascending to the Palace of Vishnu, sur- 

 rounded by ten millions of parents. It is a good omen for a house 

 if it has been built on a spot where the Tulasi grows well. Vishnu 

 renders unhappy for life and for eternity infidels who wilfully, or 

 the imprudent who inadvertently, uproot the herb Tulasi: no 

 happiness, no health, no children for such ! This sacred plant 

 cannot be gathered excepting with a good and pious intention, and 

 above all, for the worship of Vishnu or of Krishna, at the same 

 time offering up this prayer: — 'Mother Tulasi, be thou propitious. 

 If I gather you with care, be merciful unto me, O Tulasi, mother 



of the world, I beseech you.'" Like the Lotus, the Basil is not 



only venerated as a plant sacred to the gods, but it is also wor- 

 shipped as a deity itself. Hence we find the herb specially 

 invoked, as the goddess Tulasi, for the protecftion of every part of 

 the human frame, from the head to the feet. It is also supposed 

 that the heart of Vishnu, the husband of the Tulasi, is profoundly 

 agitated and tormented whenever the least sprig is broken of a 



plant of Tulasi, his wife. In Malabar, sweet Basil is cultivated 



as a sacred plant, under the name of Collo, and kept in a little 



shrine placed before the house. In the Deccan villages, the fair 



Brahminee mother may be seen early every morning, after having 

 first ground the corn for the day's bread and performed her simple 

 toilet, walking with glad steps and waving hands round and round 

 the pot of Holy Basil, planted on the four-horned altar built up 

 before each house, invoking the blessings of heaven on her husband 

 and his children. The herb is planted largely on the river banks, 

 where the natives bathe, as well as at the entrance to their temples. 

 They believe that the deities love this herb, and that the god 

 Ganavedi abides in it continually. When travelling, if they can- 



