Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Vaisnava Goddess as Plant: Tulasi in Text and Context John Carbone Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES VAISNAVA GODDESS AS PLANT: TULASI IN TEXT AND CONTEXT By JOHN CARBONE A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008 The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of John Carbone defended on April 7, 2008. Kathleen M. Erndl Professor Directing Thesis Bryan Cuevas Committee Member Adam Gaiser Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii For Irina and Joseph iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Kathy Neall for her help in editing this manuscript. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .................................................................................... vi Abstract .......................................................................................... vii Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 1 1. Tulasī as the Plant Form of Lakṣmī................................................... 9 Śrī and Lakṣmī in the Vedas .......................................................... 9 Purāṇic Śrī and Lakṣmī.................................................................. Yakṣa, Yakṣī, and Śrī’s Iconography ............................................