Tulasi, Dhoop, Mantra

The Plant, The Smoke, and The Sound That Close the Hindu Day

After the bath, after the lamp, after the threshold has been drawn, the Hindu morning closes with three quiet acts: a circle around the tulasi plant, a stick of dhoop lit before the deity, and a single line of scripture read aloud. The world is now selling all three of these as Holy Basil supplements, premium incense, and audio meditation apps. The lesson restores the original.

The Tulasi at the Threshold

A small courtyard in Triplicane, Madras, on a Saturday morning in 1991. A woman of sixty has finished her bath. Her hair is still wet. She is wearing a fresh nine-yard saree the colour of old gold. In front of her, in a square brick pedestal painted white and red, a single tulasi plant grows. The plant is taller than she is. Its lower stem is woody. Its upper leaves are small, deep green, and faintly violet at the edge.

She walks around the pedestal three times. She does not count under her breath. The body knows three. On each circle she folds her palms and bends her head. After the third circle she pours a small lota of water at the base of the plant. She picks two leaves, places them in a small steel plate, and carries them inside. The plate goes on the puja shelf. The two leaves go on the brass image of Vishnu.

In the kitchen, she picks up a stick of dhoop. She lights one end at the kitchen flame. The end glows orange, then dies down to a smouldering grey. A line of pale smoke rises in a slow column. She walks the column through every room of the house, from the puja room to the children's room to the front door. Last, she stands in front of the puja shelf and reads one verse from a worn red Gita. She reads it aloud. Her voice is not theatrical. The verse takes about twenty seconds.

Her grandson watches from the doorway. He will, twenty years later, write a thesis on plant secondary metabolites at a Bengaluru lab. The lab will study a leaf called Ocimum sanctum. He will recognise it.

Three Closings of the Morning

The Hindu morning, by the end of Chapter Two of this course, has done a great deal already. It has woken before the world (Brahma Muhurta). It has cleaned the mouth (jihva nirlekhana, gandusha). It has greeted the sun twice (sandhya, surya namaskar). It has oiled the body and bathed it (abhyangam). It has cleaned the threshold and lit the morning lamp (kolam, deepa).