PHRASES IN THE GITA - 120

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 120

अश्वत्थः सर्व वृक्षाणाम्  ...  (अध्याय १० - श्लोक २६)
அஶ்வத்தஹ ஸர்வ வ்ருக்ஷாணாம்  ...  (அத்யாயம் 10 - ஶ்லோகம் 26)
Ashvatthah Sarva Vrukshaanaam  ... (Chapter 10 - Shlokam 26)

Meaning :  Among the Trees , I am the Ashvattha tree or the Pipal

Among the trees , I am the Ashvattha .  Kathopanishad picyurizes the Ashvattha as the World .  The 15th chapter of the Gita portrays the inverted Ashvattha with the roots as the Paramaatman and the tree with its branches as the world .  Here , in the Vibhooti Yog , Shri Krishna says , the Ashvattha tree is Me .

One can see a large number of Ashvattha trees in Bharat .  Usually , a tree which is directly useful to man is planted , grown and taken care of .  Trees which give vegetable , fruit or root to satiate hunger , trees which give flowers , leaves or bark for medicinal use , trees which give taste and flavour enhancer materials , trees which give leaves to be used as food plates or roof material , trees which give flowers for decoration and worship are automatically preserved .  Ashvattha is a tree none of whose products , flowers , fruit . leaf , bark are directly of use to humans .  But , the Ashvattha is immensely useful plant in the Nature .  Its contribution to the Oxygen content of the atmosphere is huge .  Being a large tree , it is home to hundreds of trees and insects .  Its fruits , small and innumerable , with no special taste and hence no competition from humans , is food to fruits and lives like squirrel .  Beng a tall densely grown tree , its contribution in attracting rain clouds is significant .

The Hindu way has always been unique .  Man normally would not strive to help survival of something that is not in any way directly and personally useful to him .  The Pipal tree however is so much useful to Nature and hence needs to be protected .  Ashvattha tree is worshipped as a Godly form .  Its lower trunk part is Brahman swaroopa , the middle is Vishnu swaroopa and the top Rudra swaroopa .  Thus , Ashvattha is also seen as a Form of Dattatrey , the unified Divine form of these three .  The twigs are important Samagree or (offering to the Fire) in any Homa / Havan .  The Ashvattha Pradakshinam or going around the tree rightwards is regarded as very auspecious .

The Ashvattha tree , so essential in nourishing Nature , takes roots and grows naturally , without human efforts .  Its seed fallen in a crevice of a wall , on a rooftop , on a temple tower or on another tree , takes roots and starts growing .  In Tiruchchy Shankara Matt , one can see two majestic trees , a Neem and an Ashvattha grown over one single trunk of Neem tree .

After causing immeasurable damage to the Nature , the western world has started speaking of , "Save the Earth" , "Conserve Nature" , "Save Bio - Diversity" in recent times .  This concern too is more due to immense harm foreseen to human living .  We Hindus have always held Nature as Mother and have never talked of exploitation of Nature but nourishment of Nature .  Whatever damage that has been done in the last century is more due to the westernized attitude and westernized life style built by westernized education .

The Western white community , under the influence of Bible has accepted Women as a Life only a century ago .  According to them woman is an object produced from the rib bones of the man , only to entertain men .  They have been using women in the same direction till date and women have also complied to this view and the usage based on this view .  We Hindus have , from times immemorial , seen women as mother and as an equal partner in Creation .  God in female form , as Supreme mother , is unique to Hindus .  Even the trees ...  Which the Western scientists regard even on date , as inert objects , have been held as manifested forms of Divinity by the Hindus .  We have cherished and nourished Nature and trees .

Ashvatthah Sarva Vrukshaanaam ...  Among the Trees , I am the Ashvattha , the Pipal tree ..