Stories of Parijata:Tree of Heaven

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http://members.aol.com/parijata/parijata.htmlPart 2:

Stories of Parijata

by Christopher McMahon. somanath

 

With regards to the parijata tree this story is often

narrated in certain communities.

 

Once a royal princess fell in love with the sun

god-Surya Dev. She was enamored of his brilliance and

beauty as he daily passed through the sky from east to

west in his fiery chariot. Her devotion attracted his

attention and for a while he favored her with his

attention but after awhile he was distracted with

other interests and she was deserted. In despair she

killed herself and from her cremated ashes the

parijatak tree arose. Since she was rejected by Surya

Dev, the flowers of the tree only bloom at night. Then

before the sun rises the flowers fall so its rays will

not strike her. Based on this story the tree was given

the species name ëarbortristisí which means ëtree of

sorrowí.

 

Another story surrounding the treesí origin is found

in several ancient Indian scriptures called the

Puranas. It is said that when the celestial beings, at

the behest of Hari-the Preserver of the Universe,

churned the cosmic ocean to obtain certain boons that

would help alleviate suffering and protect the powers

of good from the powers of evil one of the parijatak

tree appeared as one of the divine treasures. Its

perfume was said to permeate the entire universe.

Because the tree holds such a elevated place in

Indiaís sacred lore, the tree is revered by devote

Hindus. The story, on one level, clearly illustrates

that trees, flowers and fragrance represent some of

the finest boons for humankind.

 

After the parijatak tree emerged from the ocean of

existence it taken to the heaven worlds and planted in

the pleasure garden of Indra- the lord of the gods.

One day a great sage of ancient times named Narad Muni

visited this garden in his meditations visited this

garden and saw this lovely tree emitting its divine

perfume. Using his yogic powers he gathered up some of

these ethereal blossoms and brought them back to the

physical plane and gave them to Rukmini, the favorite

wife of the renowned avatar of Vishnu, Lord Krishna,

who was at that time dwelling in Dwaraka in north

India. The flowers were so lovely and the fragrance so

delicate that Satyabhama another wife of Lord Krishna

became desirous of possessing that celestial tree and

having it planted in her own garden. She was jealous

of the attention Krishna was showing to Rukmini and

wanted him to give more time to her. She implored him

to obtain the tree for her. To satisfy her desire he

entered into a state of deep meditation and in that

state plucked up the tree from the garden. Before

leaving that place he was accosted by the keepers of

the garden and was told he would incur the wrath of

Indra as the tree belonged to his wife Sachi. But

Satyabhama would not be put off by any obstacle and

said that the tree was the common property of all and

had as much place on earth as it had in the heavens.

As a result Krishna waged a great war with Indra and

his celestial army. In the end Krishnaís strength

prevailed and Indra was forced to retreat. At that

time Satyabhama taunted him as being a coward but

decided to give back his celestial tree. Krishna also

consented to return the tree to its celestial abode.

But Indra said that there was no shame in being

defeated by the avatar of Vishnu and that the tree

should be taken to earth and planted in Dwarka where

its fragrance could be enjoined by all the people of

the earth. Thus the first parijatak tree was planted

and its divine fragrance was said to spread for three

furlongs. Its aroma was charged with so much power

that it would help people enhaling it to remember

events of their past lives. In this instance also we

can see that the sages were explaining to the people

that fragrance was a valuable means of accessing

stored memories. In the East memory has a much more

comprehensive meaning than in the West as it can

include past lives as it is believed that the soul

takes countless births on its journey to perfection

but the same basic principal is explained in this

story as is encountered in western literature

regarding how fragrance stimulates memories of past

events in ones life.

 

The above mentioned stories come down to us out of

Indiaís rich cultural and spiritual heritage and are

charged with tremendous meaning. The key to

understanding can only be obtained by deep thought and

contemplation and even this process may not totally

unlock their secret is much is lost in translation or

in change in the story over a period of time. Still,

on a very basic level we can say that sages were

trying to create in the mindís of the people a

powerful remembrance of the plants that surrounded

them so that they would learn to observe them minutely

and learn to love and appreciate them. If a person

could be encouraged to do this then they would

definitely learn that every created object had

numerous qualities that could prove beneficial in the

form of foods, medicines, condiments, construction

materials, cosmetics, and the like. Knowing this a

simple hearted person would want to nourish, protect

and propogate such plants so that their would be a

constant supply of its beneficial products for one and

all to use. It is in this way that a refined social

consciousness was developed that did not depend on any

external agencies but rather on the individuals

efforts to keep the environment healthy and intact.

 

To return to the main page type in this URL:

http://members.aol.com/somanath/fragrant.html

 

Copyright © 1998 by Christopher McMahon. All rights

reserved.

 

somanath

 

 

 

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