The brāhmaṇas said:
1. We have heard from you the greatness of the Tulasī blossom, auspicious to Viṣṇu. We (now) desire to hear the auspicious hymn of praise composed in her (i.e.Tulasī’s) honour.
Vyāsa said:
2-4. O brāhmaṇas, I shall tell you that Purāṇa (i.e. old account) which I narrated in the Skanda Purāṇa, for (obtaining) liberation. All the disciples of the sage Śatānanda who had fulfilled their vows, having saluted their preceptor asked him what was helpful to religious merit, O brāhmaṇas. (They said to Śatānanda:) “O lord, O best of brāhmaṇas, we desired to hear from you the glorification of Tulasī, which you had formerly heard from the mouth of Brahmā.”
Śatānanda said:
5-7. He who killed (i.e. destroyed) the pride of the demons is pleased and there is inexhaustible religious merit. How is it that, that Tulasī, by the mere sight of which one gets (the merit of) the gift of a crore of cows, is not worshipped and revered by people? In this world those men, in whose house there exists, in this Kali age, Tulasī for the daily (worship) of the Śālagrāma stone, are lucky.
8. Those tender hands which gather Tulasī leaves and those that plant (the plant of) Tulasī for Viṣṇu, are lucky on the earth in the Kali age.
9. What would even angry Yama, with his servants, do (to him) who has worshipped, with the Tulasī leaf the lord of gods, the destroyer of misery.
10-11. What does a man accomplish by the fruits of undertaking pilgrimages to sacred places etc.? In the Kali age, Tulasī burns (a man’s) sin, when used at the time of bathing, giving gifts, meditation, eating, worshipping Viṣṇu, narrating (the account of) and planting Tulasī.
12-13. “O Tulasī, you are born immortal; O you, who are always dear to Viṣṇu, I am looking out for you for Viṣṇu; O you virtuous one, be a granter of boons. O you of a pure form, do that by which I shall daily worship Viṣṇu with (leaves etc.) produced from your body; O you, who destroy the dirt (i.e. the sin) in the Kali age.”
14. That worship of Viṣṇu, which a man does after collecting Tulasī leaves, with (the recital of) this sacred prayer is a lakh crore times meritorious.
15-33. “O supreme goddess, the best gods sing your glory. Sages, Siddhas, Gandharvas and the lord of serpents1 himself in Pātāla2, except Viṣṇu do not understand your glory and the measure of your qualities even after hundreds of crores of kalpas. You came up from the joy of Viṣṇu at the time of the exertion of the churning of the milky ocean. Since formerly Viṣṇu held Tulasī on his head, you became pure (due to your) having fully reached i.e. touched the limbs of Viṣṇu; I salute you, Tulasī. Since I worship with your off shoots, therefore make me void of difficulties (i.e. remove all my difficulties) (so that) I shall reach the highest position. You were planted on the Gomatī bank and were looked after by Kṛṣṇa himself. Viṣṇu himself moving in Vṛandāvana, served Tulasī for the good of the world and of the Gopīs (i.e. the cowherdesses), for the progress of Gokula (i.e. the village where Kṛṣṇa was brought up) and for Kaṃsa’s death. O you who are dear to the world, formerly, at the behest of Vasiṣṭha, Rāma planted you on the bank of Sarayū for killing the demons. You are planted for the progress in penance; I bow to you, Tulasī: The daughter of Janaka (i.e. Sītā), when she was separated from Vāsudeva (i.e. Rāma), meditated upon you in the Aśoka garden (in Laṅkā), and was united with her dear one (i.e. Rāma). Formerly, Pārvatī planted you on the Himālaya, for increasing (the merit of) her penance, in order to secure Śaṅkara (as her husband). O you, who delight (others), you were waited upon by all the wives of gods and Kinnaras for the destruction of evil dreams. My salutation to you. The manes themselves served the auspicious Tulasī in Dharmāraṇya and Gayā. Rāma, desiring his good, planted Tulasī in the Daṇḍaka forest; Lakṣmaṇa waited upon her; and Sitā devoutly protected her. As Gaṅgā, pervading the three worlds, is glorified in the sacred texts, so also Tulasī is seen (to be glorified) in (the world of) the mobile and immobile. The lord of the monkeys (i.e. Sugrīva), while living on the Ṛṣyamūka (mountain) served Tulasī for destroying Vālin, and for being united with Tārā (i.e. the wife of Vālin). Having saluted goddess Tulasī, Hanūmān acrossed the sea and came back delighted, after having carried out his mission. Putting on (the leaf etc. of) Tulasī, a man being free from his sins goes (to Viṣṇu’s heaven), or else, O best of sages, he removes (i.e. is free from the sin of) the murder of a brāhmaṇa. He who would have on his head the water trickling from a lotus-leaf, has (by that) obtained a bath in Ganges and it gives fruit equal (to the gift of) ten cows. O goddess Tulasī, O best among the deities, O you dear to Viṣṇu, O you who have sprung up from (i.e. due to) the churning of the milky ocean, be pleased; I salute you.”
34. Viṣṇu pardons thirty-two faults of him who, keeping awake on the twelfth day (of the fortnight) would recite the hymn of praise of Tulasī.
35. By the recital of the hymn of praise of Tulasī, all the sin committed during youth, childhood, adolescent stage, (and) old age, perishes.
36. The lord of gods is pleased; and being pleased he gives prosperity; he destroys (the man’s) enemy and grants him happiness and knowledge.
37. Even by merely (uttering) the name of Tulasī, gods give (a person) his desired object. The lord gives salvation even to censurable persons.
38. Tulasī, pleased by (her) praise, gives happiness and prosperity. Know that even a sinner who is on the path of Yama, easily goes up (to salvation).
39-40. He in whose house the hymn of praise of Tulasī is kept in a written form, has nothing inauspicious and certainly gets every auspicious (thing); and he has every propitious object and has nothing that is unpropitious. He always has abundant supply of food, and has ample wealth and corn.
41-43. He has firm devotion for Viṣṇu, and does not get separated from the devotees of Viṣṇu. He lives free from diseases (i.e. lives a healthy life) and has no mind for irreligious conduct. He, who would recite the praise of Tulasī on the twelfth day of a fortnight by keeping awake, gets by reciting the praise of Tulasī, the fruit which (is obtained) by (visiting) thousands of crores of sacred places.