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Re: Another question about Thulasi

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Murali Kadambi • May 16, 2000 


Dear venkatanathan swAmin,

you wrote:
> I have noticed that when temple archakar gives
> Thulasi prasadam, some people
> put Her in their mouth [full of saliva] and eat Her
> :-(
> 
> Is that okay since the Thulasi would especially have
> been in *DIRECT CONTACT*
> with Perumal's thirumeni ? 

Just my thoughts.

perumAL theertham itself has touched perumAL's
thirumEni, what about thuLasi.  But don't we drink
perumAL theertham?  Infact if the theertham has not
touched perumAL's thirumEni, it cannot even be
referred such.

As far as bhagawad-aaradhana krama goes, the
parikarangal that we use for aaradhana such as sandal,
thuLasi, incense, saffron, Elakkai, flowers, water,
etc are used only for the Lord's pleasure, and then we
should consume them with the feeling that that is also
for the Lord's pleasure.  Our shareera has given to us
by the Lord because of his compassion for our unnati
(upliftment).  We can cause this upliftment by, among
other things, consuming saattvic food that has been
offered to the Lord.  Thulasi falls in this category. 
So, there is nothing wrong in consuming thulasi that
has been offered to the Lord.

For more details please refer to Swami Desikan's
aahaara niyamam, or for a more condensed version, the
5-page (or so) monograph on aahaara niyamam written by
the Ahobila mutham aasthaana vidvan u. ve. nadadur
krishnamachariar.

|| sarvam sree krishnArpaNamastu ||
adiyen, murali kadambi


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