Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 692

THE SACRED FIG-TREE
652
By offering the grass as a sacrifice on that day
immortality and blessedness for ten ancestors may be
secured and another result is that one's posterity increases
and multiplies like the darbha grass itself, which is one
of the most prolific members of the vegetable kingdom.
I have no idea why this plant should have been selected as
worthy of special honour. I have never heard of its being
endowed with any peculiar properties, either medicinal,
culinary, or other, which would account for its high position.
ashtami.
;
The Sacred
Fig-tree.
There are seven different species of trees which the
Brahmins consider sacred and accordingly worship
but,
strange to say, they are not those which produce the best
It is true, however, that their thick foliage makes
fruits.
a splendid shade a priceless boon in the hot climate of
The aswatta comes first on the list. It is one of
India.
the most beautiful trees in the country, and grows to a huge
size.
It is to be found everywhere, but especially where
the Brahmins perform their ablutions. Its large leaves,
very soft to the touch, in colour bright green, are so light and
and as
thin that the slightest breeze sets them in motion
they produce an impression of most refreshing coolness, the
;
—
l
;
tree is considered to possess health-giving properties. When
stirred by a breeze the leaves make a pleasant rustle, which
Hindu authors have sometimes likened to the melodious
sounds of the vina. When to all these attractive natural
characteristics is added the tradition that under this tree
Vishnu was born, it is no wonder that the aswatta is regarded
with great respect and veneration. No one is allowed to
cut it down, lop off its branches, or even pull off its leaves
unless they are to be used for acts of worship.
To fell one
of these trees would be an awful sacrilege, and quite unpar-
donable. It is consecrated to Vishnu, or rather it is Vishnu
himself under the form of a tree 2
Sometimes a solemn
.
1
It
mara
is called arasa-maram in Tamil;
ravi-manu in Telugu
aridi*
in Canarese.
It is the pagoda fig-tree {F icus-religiosa), the tree
;
God. Dubois.
3
The aswatta or piped, having roots hanging from above and branches
bent downwards, is allegorical.
Each tree springing from an unperceived
of