Tulsi (Basil)

Tulsi (Holy Basil) – By Dr.FATEMA MANDVIWALA

Is a medicinal plant that confers longevity. Its therapeutic use proves miraculously successful. Each part of the Tulsi plant possesses medicinal properties. If eleven Tulsi leaves are taken with four black pepper seeds, malaria, periodic fever and all other ailments will be cured.Gradhrasivata, or sharp pain in nerves of the body. If steam from boiling water containing Tulsi leaves is used for fomentation of the affected part, much relief` is obtained. Elderly people who take Tulsi do not experience weakness of old age.Giving up tea and tobacco change over to Tulsi decoction as a substitute. Tulsi becomes more efficacious when used with Yogic asanas and breath-control exercises. To lose weight or to gain weight. Tulsi has proved to be an infallible remedy for poor digestion, lack of appetite,constipation , flatulence, acidity and other disorders of the digestive tract.

~:Benefits for Women :~ 1.Excessive bleeding can be gradually reduced with two gms of each dry ginger, gum of a neem tree, ajwan seeds, tamal patra, and equal amount of five parts of the Tulsi plant ground into powder. The powder is boiled in 100 gms of water till one-fourth of the water remains. The extract is cooled and strained. 2. If half a glass of water boiled with Tulsi leaves is taken for each of the three days starting from the day of menstruation, the probability of conception is greatly reduced. 3. Itching of the skin over the abdomen and the breasts of a pregnant woman is relieved by the application paste of Van Tulsi. 4.Application of medicated oil prepared with 125 gms of Van Tulsi leaves in 500 gms of sesame oil previously subjected to the process of `moorchana`, relieves the pains associated with confinement. 5. Tulsi seeds soaked overnight for twelve hours in water, crushed well in the morning and administered with sugar relieve the pains consequent upon delivery. 6. Breast milk will improve in quality if the woman is given a mixture of 20 gms of Tulsi juice, 20 gms of the juice of maize leaves, 10 gms of the juice-or extract-`Of ashwagandha, and 10 grams of honey, for seven days following delivery. 7. Leucorrhoea can be completely cured by treatment with 20 gms of Tulsi juice with rice water, meanwhile restricting the diet to rice and milk, or rice and ghee for the duration of the treatment. 8. Regular use of powdered roots of Tulsi enfolded in betel leaves stops the bleeding of the internal lining of the stomach. 9. Tulsi will make the uterus healthy and strong. 10. To ensure conception take five parts of the Tulsi plant, saffron, gangeran, the lighter coloured variety of grass known as `dhro` (gnodon), putrakanda and shatavari ground together. Mixed with milk collected directly from a cow and sugar. Take this every day for ten days from the day of menstruation. 11. Regular periods can be restored by 125 gms of Tulsi seeds, black seasame seeds, tender shoots of the cotton plant, tender shoots of bamboo plants and 220 gms of aged jaggery mixed with the powder. This is effective even in cases of women with amenorrhoea. 12. Drinking Tulsi juice will lessen the severity of labour pains.

~: Benefits for Mens Health :~ 1. Leaves of Tulsi, hadiakarshan, amarvel, and droppings of camels crushed and boiled in cow`s urine to a thick paste applied on the scrotum is beneficial in hydrocele. 2. In case of difficulty in stopping urination, drink Tulsi juice added to double quantity of grape juice, sugarcane juice or coconut milk. 3. For nocturnal emissions soak 10 gms of Tulsi seeds overnight in water in an earthen pot. Grind them well in the morning with 15 almond kernels and 16 small cardamoms. Add sugar as required and drink the mixture. This will prevent nocturnal emissions. 4.Small pieces of Tulsi roots chewed with betel leaves also prevent nocturnal emissions. 5. For thinness of seminal fluid take 50 gms of Tulsi leaves, 40 gms of musli, 40 gms of the pods of poshi, 30 gms of kavach seeds, 50 gms of gokhru (small caltrops) and 60 gms of sugar. Grind to a fine powder. Take 10 gms of this powder with cow`s milk every day. 6. Mix five gms each of Tulsi seeds, sudha moola, small cardamom seeds, musli and white gokhru, and powder them. Take five gms with sugar with milk every morning and evening. 7. Cut Tulsi roots into thin slices and take with betel leaves to stop premature ejaculation. 8. Treat sujak, a urinary disease with five gms each of Tulsi seeds, seeds of small cardamoms and nitre powdered together. Five gms swallowed with milk diluted with double quantity of water. 9. Prepare a smooth paste by grinding Tulsi seeds with a little water. Boil the paste with twice the amount of neem oil till it turns black. Apply the oil on the sores caused by syphilis and other sores and wounds too. 10. Tulsi seeds yield a very sticky paste, which is useful in disorders of the urinary tract. 11. In case of thinness of the seminal fluid, take 15 gms of Tulsi seeds with 30 gms of aged sugar syrup every morning and evening. 12. Soak five grams of Tulsi seeds overnight in 125 gms of water. Mash them in the morning and drink it. Regular use proves beneficial in gonorrhoea, thinness of seminal fluid, dysuria and allied diseases. 13. Mix Tulsi seeds and jaggery. Roll into pea-sized pills. one every morning and evening with cow`s milk for four months, there will be an increase in the rate of formation of semen, the blood vessels will be strengthened, digestion will improve and impotence will be cured. 14. Tulsi seeds ground with cumin seeds and sugar, taken with milk, are efficacious in the treatment of pains caused by stones in the bladder, burning sensation while passing urine and inflammation in the perineal region. 15. Crushed Tulsi seeds taken with honey will cure all abnormalities of the genital system. 16. Regular use of Tulsi seeds eliminates pain accompanying urination. 17. Powdered Shyam Tulsi mixed with lemon juice, if taken regularly, cures all abnormalities of the urinary system. 18. A mixture of equal parts of the powder of Tulsi leaves dried, powdered methi seeds and powdered ashwagandha, taken with cow`s milk is also an effective remedy for gonorrhoea. It also improves the quality of the seminal fluid. 19.Take 100 gms of Tulsi leaves, 20 gms each of chopchini, taseemkhana, peeparimool, nagkesar and akkalgaro (pellitory root). Grind each of these separately to a fine powder, and soak each one in aged honey, using in all 200 gms of honey. Keep aside for 24 hours. Prepare a thick syrup of 500 gms of white (refined) sugar. Let it cool. Then stir the soaked ingredients along with the honey into the syrup. Now grind 100 gms each of saffron, seeds of small cardamoms and javantri (mace) to a fine powder, add these powders also to the syrup, stir well and store in a glass jar. 10 to 20 gms of this preparation are to be taken regularly with cow`s milk sweetened with sugar, the amount being adjusted according to the state of your health. This proves efficacious in curing deterioration in the quality of the seminal fluid, loss of it through urine, and other allied disorders. Celibacy should be observed and diet should be restricted.

 

~: Benefits for Children’s Health :~ 1. To maintain children`s health two gms of Tulsi juice three to four times a day will prevent all types of sickness. 2. In case of fever caused by a cold, Tulsi juice should be smeared on the chest and forehead. The child should be made to inhale the vapours emanating from the juice, and should also be given a teaspoonful of the juice with half a teaspoonful of honey. 3. If the child brings up worms with its vomit, or excretes worms with faeces, give it a little powdered vavding, kaksha or himej with ten gms of Tulsi juice two or three times a day. 4. If an infant develops a cough, administer five gms of Tulsi leaves, five gms of kakdashingi and five gms of ativish buds crushed together, made into a paste with honey and the mother`s milk. 5. Cough can also be cured by letting the child lick Tulsi juice mixed with jethimadh (yashti madhu) juice. 6. A mixture of Tulsi leaf juice and kasondra leaf juice is also a good remedy for coughs. 7. Boil ten gms of Tulsi leaves, ten gms of methi seeds and five gms of kadu twigs in 50 gms of water till only one-fourth of the water remains. Cool and strain. Administration of this extract is beneficial in fevers preceded by cold rigours, such as malaria. 8. If the abdomen of a baby is distended due to the accumulation of gas, the condition can be relieved by giving it five to ten gms of Tulsi juice, the exact amount given depending on the age of the baby. 9. In case of diarrhoea accompanying teething, powdered Tulsi leaves should be given to the child with pomegranate syrup. 10. Letting the baby lick a mixture of Tulsi juice and honey will bring quick relief in cough and sore throat. 11. If a cough is due to excessive phlegm, the juice of Shyama Tulsi mixed with honey will help. This mixture is of great value in the treatment of a child with a tendency to vomit frequently. 12. In case a baby is suffering from colic, giving it a little powdered stone (dry) ginger with Tulsi leaf juice will afford relief. 13. Massaging the gums with Tulsi leaf juice mixed with honey will help the baby cut its teeth easily, without the usual troubles associated with teething. 14. Five to ten drops of Tulsi leaf juice given with water every day will strengthen the muscles and bones of the infant. 15. Influenza can be cured by regular administration of 30 to 60 drops of a mixture of 15 gms of Tulsi leaf juice, 15 gms of honey, five gms of ginger juice and five gms of powdered ajwan seeds. 16. Heat 200 gms of Tulsi leaf juice with 125 gms of water. Let the liquid simmer for one hour on a low flame. Prepare a thick syrup of 500 gms of sugar, and stir the mixture into the syrup. Administration of three to five gms of this preparation to a child cures fever, cough and shortness of breath. 17. If there is a whistling sound heard from the lungs because of the accumulation of phlegm give milk in which Tulsi leaves have been boiled. 18. The extract of Tulsi leaves cures a child of `vistambh`, or thrombosis. 19. The extract of Tulsi roots sweetened with sugar will relieve constipation and distension of the stomach, ensuring a satisfactory bowel movement. 20. Ten gms of Tulsi leaves and ten gms of peepar ground together and rolled into small pills. Three or four of these pills given to a child every day will cure coughs, including whooping cough. 21. Take five gms of each of these ingredients: Tulsi inflorescences, vachh, small peepar, and mulethi. Add 25 gms of sugar. Add 250 gms of water and boil till only 100 gms of water are left. Cool and strain. Administration of five gms of this extract five to six times during the day and also during the night will cure the child of dry hollow cough. 22. An extract of Tulsi leaves and inflorescences given with jaggery to a child will afford relief in difficulty in breathing. 23. Powdered bark of Tulsi roots given with honey helps an obese child to shed some of the fat. 24. Extract of Tulsi is an effective remedy for liver disorders of children.

 

~: Other Benefits :~ 1. In case of poisoning of the system through any agency, the maximum possible amount of Tulsi juice must be taken. 2. If opium or any other poisonous material like datura or aconite has been inadvertently imbibed, give the patient a paste of Tulsi leaves mixed with ghee obtained from cow`s milk. 100:500 gms of ghee should be given in this manner. If no improvement is noticed even after this treatment, a similar quantity of the mixture should be administered at intervals, till the effects of the poison disappear. 3. Administering 50 gms of Tulsi juice every day will eliminate the effects of calomel (hartal) poisoning in a week. 4. The poison spreading from the bite of a snake can be rendered inactive by administering Tulsi leaf juice to the victim, dropping a little juice into the eyes and ears, and applying a paste obtained by crushing and grinding the roots of the plant at the location of the bite. 5. Snake poison can be deactivated by administering every two hours a mixture obtained by crushing together 20 leaves of a Tulsi plant with ten black pepper seeds. 6. If bitten by a snake, one should drink the juice obtained by crushing and grinding Tulsi, jatamansi, saffron, turmeric, red sandalwood, pure manashil, nakhi, tarnal patra, cinnamon and tagar with sufficient water. The juice should also be dropped into the nose and the eyes. This will destroy the poison, and the swelling caused by the poison will subside. 7. Applying the paste obtained by grinding roots of a Tulsi plant with a woman`s breast milk to the eyes, and drops into the nostrils, will bring immediate relief to a person who has lost consciousness due to the bite of a snake. 8. If the victim of snakebite is sinking, he should be given pills rolled from Tulsi, mulethi, powdered wood turmeric, kooth, turmeric and gopitta. 8.If stung by a scorpion, rub the paste of Tulsi leaves and inflorescences over the sting. Crush a few leaves of Tulsi with cow`s urine and lemon juice, and apply the paste over the region of the sting like an embrocating. Apply Tulsi juice to which a little rock salt has been added. Chew some Tulsi leaves. Grind together 20 gms of Tulsi leaves and 15 black pepper seeds with water, and apply the paste on the sting. 9. The pain caused by the sting of a wasp can be relieved by drinking Tulsi juice and applying it.The poison of a rat can also be destroyed by applying a paste rubbing a cow`s tooth with Tulsi juice, mixing manashil. 10. The bite of a centipede should be treated by the application and internal administration of wine to which Tulsi, shankhini, mineral soda bicarb (saaji khar) and ashes obtained by burning the droppings of goats have been added. 11. If your cot is infested with bed bugs, place a few twigs of the wild variety of Tulsi on the cot. The bugs will quickly run away. Mosquitoes, too, will not approach the cot. 12. The poison in a mosquito sting is destroyed by the application of Tulsi juice. 13. To counter the effects of the poison of a maniari a very poisonous reptile, drink ten gms of Tulsi juice or chew some Tulsi leaves. If the jaw is locked drop the juice into the nostrils and rubbed on the crown of the head, the palms and the soles of the feet.