Tulsi - Queen of Herbs
...igniting all the agnis with this specially potentized Tulsi, these same agnis are then nourished by the Shira, and a deep process of life-extending rejuvantion ensues.Dosage
Classically, a typical dose is 10-20 ml of the fresh leaf juice. However, most people in the West do not have the pleasure of having Tulsi plants growing around their homes, so I would recommend the following herb decoction and dose in most cases; an ounce of dried herb in 16 ounces of water and gently simmered for 30 minutes, then taken three times a day in 5 ounce quantities. One of the world's main Tulsi scientist, Dr Narendra Singh of Lucknow, recommends a much lower dose, about 2 grams of the freshly dried herb twice daily for several months. A cup of Tulsi tea simply from an infused tea bag is an excellent prophylactic and a good direct medicine for many mild therapies. As mentioned earlier, Tulsi tea is an excellent supportive herb as an anupana, a vehicle, for many other herbs and therapies.
Summary
Tulsi was recognized thousands of years ago by the ancient rishis to be one of India's greatest healing herbs. They saw that this herb is so good for health and healing that they declared that it was God herself. Where most herbs are used for two or three diseases, Tulsi is recommended for hundreds of serious disorders and is actually highly recommended as a daily prophylactic to prevent disease. They established Tulsi as one of the eight indispensable items an any Vedic worship ritual to ensure that every house and temple had at least one Tulsi bush in its proximity, thus allowing everybody easy access to her outstanding healing power. Still today Tulsi, which can be found planted around most homes in India, is the most respected and honored herb there due to its continuing importance in healing, religion, spirituality, culture, and in decorative aesthetics. It is so readily found, now even in the West, that one of its names is Sulabha, 'the easily obtainable one.'
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Dr Narendra Singh of Lucknow for sharing all his inspiring work on Tulsi. Most of the scientific work quoted in this article comes from his highly recommended book, "Tulsi: The Mother Medicine of Nature." Speaking of scientists, though there are hundreds of excellent papers on Tulsi in the Western scientific literature, one will quickly notice that I chose to focus on the perennial wisdom from the seminal works of Ayurvedic scientists and sages. I would also like to thank Dr David Frawley, Dr Dinesh Sharma, and the staff of "Light on Ayurveda" for reviewing this article for accuracy. Finally, maha kudos go to Bhavani and Bharatmitra Lev for their years of work and generous support in making pure Tulsi more available to the world.
Biography
After studying Vedic Sciences in India for most of the 90's, Prashanti is now on staff at the Rishikesh College of Ayurveda, ayurishi.com, the Ganesha Foundation in Petaluma, ganeshafoundation.org, and has been helping to direct a large ayurvedic organic herb project in India and the U.S. since 1993, omorganics.com.
Read more about Tulsi -
Tulsi Queen of Herbs: Holy Basil (pdf)
Last updated: 21/09/06
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