PARIJATA

[Guest guest]

PARIJATA: This plant is no longer available on earth.

It was a divine plant that grew in the gardens of

Indralok. It became a source of tension between Indra

and Krishna, and Lord Krishna finally brought this

plant to earth on the request of his consort

Satyabhama. This plant is said to have again ascended

to Indralok when Lord Krishna left for his heavenly

abode. The legend is as follows:

 

Indra planted the Parijata tree, one of the products

of the churning of ‘Ocean of Milk’, in his garden.

Narada, who delighted in sowing discord, brought a

flower of this tree to Dwarka and presented it to

Krishna. He waited to seeto which of his wives krishna

would give the flower. Krishna gave it to Rukmani

whereupon Narada went straight to Satyabhama,

Krishna’s other consort wearing a sorrowful look. On

her enquiry why he was sad, the sage replied that he

had presented Krishna with a flower of the Parijata

tree thinking that he would present it to her, his

favorite wife, but was grieved to find that he had

given it to rukmani instead. Satyabhama’s jealousy was

roused, and she asked Narada as to what could be done

to spite Rukmani. The sage advised her to to ask

Krishna to bring the Parijata tree itself to Dwarka,

and plant it near her abode. After gving this advice

he went back to the celestial region, and informed

Indra that thieves were about, and that he should

guard Parijata tree with care. Satyabhama repaired to

the ‘anger chamber’ and when Krishna came to her and

tried to console her, she replied she would not be

satisfied with anything less than the Parijata tree

itself. Krishna proceeded to Amrawati with Satyabhama,

stole into indra’s garden and uprooted the Parijata

tree. Mounted on Garuda, he escaped with the tree but

Indra, warned by Narada, followed him. A battle

followed and Indra was defeated and Krishna brought

the tree to Dwarka

 

Now he had to face the problem of fulfilling his

promise to Satyabhama without offending Rukmani. He

solved the problem by planting the tree in such a

position that while its base and trunk lay within

Satybhama’s garden, its branches extended over the

adjoining palace of Rukmani, scattering flower early

in the morning.

 

N.B. The parijata tree is believed to be ‘Har Singar’

(Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) which shed its flowers at

nighttime when they exhale exquisite fragrance

 

 

 

______________________

Missed your favourite TV serial last night? Try the new, TV.

visit http://in.tv.