20 Jul 2021
[Smt. Sudharani asked: Jai Guru Datta Swāmi. My salutations to Your Lotus feet. By giving human birth You have shown Your grace. My gratitude for Your kindness. Please let me know the reason for the sacred place given to Tulasī plant. Tulasī did not support God always supporting her husband only. Neither she supported justice in Pravṛtti nor supported God in Nivṛtti. Then, how she got such a unique place in the devotees by the grace of God? Please give me knowledge on this point. At Your feet – Sudha Rani.]
Swāmi Replied:- If you see the previous birth of Tulasī, she was one among several Gopikas while God was in the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. She was a married lady, yet, she loved God Kṛṣṇa to very high extent. But, she was always standing at the junction between Pravṛtti and Nivṛtti only. She never expressed her love to Kṛṣṇa, but, Kṛṣṇa knows her heart because Kṛṣṇa was the omniscient God. She was always like Sītā and Rukmiṇī not prepared to fight against justice for the sake of God and was ready only to fight against injustice only. Tulasī never entered Nivṛtti and was always confined to the boundaries of Pravṛtti only like Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Sītā, Hanuman etc. But, her heart was totally surrendered to God Kṛṣṇa. This case is a very complicated case of a patient suffering from BP, Heart attack, Diabetes, Kidney-problem etc. simultaneously. God also did not interfere with this case because the patient is responsible for his/her health only and not the doctor. Kṛṣṇa also kept silent towards Tulasī and acted like the reflection as said in the Gītā (Ye yathā mām…- Gītā). The whole problem arose when a danger resulted due to her foolish climax-devotion to husband. Her husband was attracted by the beauty of Goddess Pārvatī giving notice to God Śiva that He should handover His wife to the demon (husband of Tulasī). Tulasī was still supporting her husband through her power of devotion towards her husband. This clearly proves that she was blind by the justice of chastity of a wife towards her husband (Pātivratyadharma). God Viṣṇu (Kṛṣṇa) wanted to spoil her chastity so that her husband can be killed by God Śiva in the war. God Viṣṇu cheated her and had a sexual contact with her because already she loved Him to the climax in her heart, which was the theoretical devotion. For the sake of protection of justice and because she loved Him very much in the mind, God Viṣṇu did this sin, which was not at all a sin even as per the view of justice. Then, why God gave His chest to her keeping her as Tulasī garland? The straight answer for this is that she loved God in her heart and this is the only merit in her case and all the rest is defect only. The intensity of her theoretical love to God was in climax as the practical love of Rādhā.
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