Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Carbone, John Christopher
Author's Email Address	jaichaitanya@hotmail.com
URN	etd-04142008-162310
Title	Vaisnava Goddess as Plant: Tulasi in Text and Context
Degree	Master of Arts
Department	Religion, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Kathleen M. Erndl Committee Chair Adam Gaiser Committee Member Bryan Cuevas Committee Member
Keywords	Hinduism Vaisnavism Tulasi Vrnda Puranas Krishna
Date of Defense	2008-04-07
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The Tulasī plant (Ocimum sanctum) is viewed within the purview of Hinduism as a form of the goddess Lakṣmī, or a consort of the god Viṣṇu. This designation seems to originate within the corpus of Purāṇic texts composed in the Sanskrit language from approximately the 5th to 15th centuries CE. The sanctity of the plant, and other forms of vegetation, resembles even earlier cults of Yakṣa and Yakṣī, or nature spirit, worship. The adoration of the plant continues into modernity in various ways. This paper examines the Tulasī plant through the various myths describing her sanctity, as well as how these myths are interpreted by modern devotees of the plant.
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