Chapter Two
TULASI PERFORMS AUSTERITIES
As soon as she was born, Tulasi resolved to go to the mountainous region of Badarinatha to practice severe austerities. Though many persons tried to dissuade her, no one
was able to; for she was determined to stay and pray in the forest till Lord
Krsna appeared and agreed to become her husband. During a period of one hundred
thousand celestial years, she endured the following:
In the summer, she exposed herself to four fires
around her and the sun above; in the winter, she submerged herself in the icy
waters; and in the rainy season, she subjected herself to heavy downpours at
the funeral grounds. For 20,000 years, she subsisted on fruits and water; for
30,000 years, she chewed dry leaves; for 40,000 years she lived only on air;
and for 10,000 years she ate nothing and just stood on one leg.
Finally, she saw Lord Brahma in the sky, riding on his swan carrier and
sweeping down towards her. Believing that he had come to grant her a boon, she
bowed down low to him.
Lord Brahma said, "O Tulasi, ask me for a boon. Whether it be devotion to
Lord Hari or servitorship to Him or freedom from old age or freedom from
death--I will grant it."
"Yes, O Lord, I will ask. Please listen. I will not hide my desires out of
fear or shame, since you are all-knowing. My name is Tulasi. Formally I was a
cowherd girl in Goloka, and there I served Radharani, the beloved of Sri Krsna.
I am a partial expansion of Radharani and was her favourite companion. But one
day in the place where the rasa dance had occurred, Krsna became intimate with
me and I fainted from excessive joy. While I was lying there, Radharani
suddenly appeared and saw me in that condition. She was not at all pleased.
Blinded with fury, she first reproached Krsna and then cursed me. She said, `O
vile one! Go! And take birth as a human being!'
"Then Krsna said to me, `When you take birth in mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Indiamso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">, if you practice austerities, Lord Brahma will
grant you a blessing. He will arrange for you to marry the four-armed Narayana,
who is an expansion of Myself.' Then Krsna disappeared. And out of fear of
Radharani, I left Goloka and was born in this world...So please grant me that
boon. I want to have that handsome and peaceful Narayana as my husband."
Lord Brahma replied, "O Tulasi, Sudama was a partial expansion of Krsna
and was one of Krsna's cowherd boyfriends in Goloka. As a result of a curse by
Radharani, he is presently living on earth among the Danavas (demons). His name
is Sankhacuda.
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