Spirituality

Why Do We Marry a Stone and a Plant? Tulsi Vivah 2021

Tulsi Vivah, also known as Devuthani or Devotthan Ekadashi, is celebrated as Lord Vishnu’s awakening from his four month Yoga Nidra (Yoga Sleep). You’d observe a lot of weddings happen in India between the months of November and June and then no weddings from July to October. This is because it is considered that Lord Vishnu sleeps during these months and won’t be available to bless the newly married couple. On the day of Tulsi Vivah, Shaligram (the stone form of Lord Vishnu) and Tulsi (Holy Basil) are married and thus the wedding season begins. It is believed that whoever prays to Lord Vishnu’s Shaligram form and Maa Tulsi on this day, gets all their desires fulfilled and enjoys a blissful life. In this blog, we learn the interesting story behind Tulsi Vivah. 

How it all Began  

Daityaraj Kalnemi, the king of Mathura, was born with a baby girl who was named Vrinda. She grew up as an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and was later named to a demon named Jalandhar. 

A little backstory about Jalandhar – Lord Shiva was once annoyed with Lord Indra and opened His third eye to burn Lord Indra in fire. Guru Brahaspati then apologised to Lord Shiva and convinced Him to forgive Lord Indra. However, now the fire had to be sent somewhere and Lord Shiva sent it into the ocean. A baby boy was born from this fire who later became the mighty Demon King Jalandhar. The city Jalandhar, in Punjab India is named after him. 

The War

Having emerged from the ocean, Jalandhar staked his claim on the treasures churned out of the ocean. The Gods didn’t accept this claim and a war was launched between Gods and Demons. Nobody could kill Jalandhanr because he had a boon that till his wife Vrinda was chaste, no one could even touch him. The battle went on and even Lord Vishnu couldn’t kill Jalandhar because Maa Laxmi (Lord Vishnu’s wife) considered Jalandhar Her brother since they both came out of the ocean. As a result, the Devas (Gods) lost the battle and Jalandhar became the king of heaven, earth and netherworlds. 

Plan B

This is when the Devas (Gods) consultred Narad Muni and a plan B was hatched. So Narad Muni went to Jalandhar and described how beautiful of a home and wife Lord Shiva has. Jalandhar, propelled by his ego, wanted to acquire Lord Shiva’s home and His wife. He went to Kailash taking the form of Lord Shiva, but Maa Parvati saw through him and recognized him. She attacked him but he escaped. This was when Maa Parvati complained to Lord Vishnu and asked Him to do the same with Jalandhar’s wife Vrinda. 

The Trick 

Now, Vrinda was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and was determined to save her husband. So she used to sit down to pray whenever her husband went for battle and wouldn’t get up till he came back home. Vrinda was praying when Lord Vishnu took Jalandhar’s form and went to meet Vrinda. She saw Lord Vishnu as her husband and got up to touch his feet, at this same moment, her chastity got broken and Lord Shiva killed Jalandhar in the battle. Jalandhar’s head was thrown in Vrinda’s porch and upon seeing it, she asked Lord Vishnu who he was. Lord Vishnu came out sheepishly and was feeling very guilty as He wasn’t onboard with this plan from the start, Vrinda being His ardent devotee. 

The Curse 

Upon learning this, Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu to turn into a stone, as this deed was stony and heartless. Lord Vishnu turned into a stone – Shaligram. Upon seeing this, Maa Laxmi requested Vrinda to please uplift the curse for the welfare of all creation. Vrinda took it back but to His credit, Lord Vishnu accepted the punishment and hence one of His forms is Shaligram. 

The Immolation and Boon

Vrinda took her husband’s head in her lap and immolated herself in fire on the very porch and from her ashes, a plant was born which was named Tulsi. Lord Vishnu then declared that His form Shaligram will always be worshipped with Tulsi and Tulsi leaves will be the first to be offered whenever Lord Vishnu is worshipped. 

From then on, Tulsi plant is grown in everybody’s lawns and porches and She is worshipped as a goddess. 

The Tulsi Vivah 

As Lord Vishnu gets up from His four month slumber, the wedding of His stone form and Maa Tulsi takes place on this day, marking the beginning of wedding season. 

What we Learn 

Keeping the patriarchy and the chastity angle aside, what we see is that in order to destroy evil, sometimes even Gods need to use trickery. Lord Krishna was famous for the tricks He played and all of this teaches us that at the end of it all, it is the intention behind the action that matters. However, to reach the level where one can use tricks without guilt in order to bring about greater good, we need to spiritually strengthen ourselves enough so we can know for sure the difference between evil and good. 
We hope this blog helped you understand the story behind Tulsi Vivah better. Feel free to write to us at info@chamundaswamiji.com  in case of any queries.