Rasayana for Childcare

Tulasi is believed to be not just a godsend, like other
medicinal and beneficial herbs, but an incarnation
of the Goddess herself. This plant is so beloved in India
that there are multiple legends and folklore around
her. The myth of Samudra-manthana, “The Churning of
the Cosmic Ocean” describes how Tulasi was created
by Vishnu in the churning to be vitally helpful to the
world.
As the legend goes, the Tulasi plant was a woman
named Vrinda. She was married to the demon-king
Jalandhara. Due to his own boon from Shiva, as well
as due to his wife’s piety and devotion to Vishnu, Jalandhara
became invincible. Even Shiva—the Destroyer
in the Hindu Trinity—could not defeat Jalandhara, so
he requested Vishnu - the Preserver in the Trinity - to
find a solution. Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhara
and tricked Vrinda into losing her chastity. Her chastity
destroyed, Jalandhara lost his power and was killed
by Shiva. Furious at all this, Vrinda cursed Vishnu to
become black in colour and to be separated from his
wife, Lakshmi. (This was fulfilled when he was transformed
into the black Shaligrama stone, and when, in
his Rama avatar he was separated from his wife Sita).
Vrinda then drowned herself in the ocean. Vishnu transferred
her soul to the Tulasi plant that was created in
the mythical churning of the ocean in the tale of Samudra-manthana.
Further in the tale, Vishnu was to marry Vrinda in
her next birth. So Vishnu, who was now in the form
of the Shaligrama stone, married Tulasi on Prabodhini
Ekadashi in the month of Kartika on Kartik Purnima
or full moon day. This is why a ceremony called Tulasi
Vivaha, meant to celebrate the wedding of Vishnu
as Shaligrama and Vrinda as Tulasi, is performed. The
expenses of this actual wedding are usually borne by
daughter-less couples, who act as the parents of Tulasi
in the ritual wedding. The giving away of the daughter
Tulasi (kanyadana) in marriage, is considered very auspicious
and meritorious for the couple, and childless
couples also do so in the belief that they will conceive.
Everything is outfitted just like a regular wedding with
trousseau, gifts and a feast. The bridal gifts to Tulasi
are given to a Brahmin priest or female ascetics after
the ceremony.
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