by Manjit Handa
Called Ashvattha in Sanskrit, the Peepal is a very large tree. Its bark is light grey, smooth and peels in patches. Its heart-shaped leaves have long, tapering tips and a slight breeze makes them rustle. Its fruit is purple when ripe.
The Peepal is the first depicted tree in India which was on a seal discovered at Mohenjodaro, one of the cities of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3000 BC - 1700 BC), showing the peepal being worshipped. During the Vedic period, its wood was used to make fire by friction. In the Vedic times, boats were also made of peepal wood.
Used extensively in Ayurveda, this tree has both sweet and bitter taste and has a cooling property. Licking honey placed on peepal leaves is believed to cure speech irregularities. Its bark yields the tannin used in treating leather. Its leaves, when heated in ghee, are applied to cure wounds. Ingesting the bark, fruit and buds with different combination of things cures diseases related with phlegm, bile, inflammation swelling and indisposition etc. The soft bark and the bud of this tree cure 'Prameha' (a disease in which sperms emanate through urine). The powdered form of the fruit of this tree increases appetite and cures numerous diseases.
A peepal tree is generally planted to the east of the house or even in a temple. Eight, eleven or twelve years after the tree has been planted, the upanayan ceremony is performed for the tree in which a round platform is constructed around the tree. Different Hindu gods and goddesses like Ashwattha, Narayan, Vasudev, Rukmini, Satyabhama are invoked and worshipped and then the tree is married to the basil plant.
In Tamil Nadu, peepal and neem trees are planted close to each so that they mix up as they grow and a naga (serpent) idol is placed under them and worshipped. On Amavasya, villagers perform a symbolic marriage between the neem and the peepal. Although this practice is not prescribed by any religious text, there are various beliefs on the significance of 'marrying' these trees. In one such belief, the fruit of the neem represents the Shivalinga (a phallic symbol) and so, the male. The leaf of the peepal represents the yoni (symbolic of the vagina), the power of the female. The fruit of the neem is placed on a peepal leaf to depict the Shivalinga which symbolizes creation through sexual union, and so the two trees are 'married'. After the ceremony, villagers circle the trees to rid themselves of their sins. Women of the house generally take an early morning bath and circumambulate these trees. They do this to be blessed with children or to gain a desired thing or person. According to the Skanda Purana, if one does not have a son, the peepal should be regarded as one. As long as the tree lives, the family name will continue. Any person who waters the tree is believed to earn merit for his progeny, his sorrows are redeemed and diseases cured. The peepal tree is also worshipped to escape from contagious diseases and enemies.
If a girl's horoscope predicts widowhood, she is first married to a peepal tree because in the olden days, when remarriage was forbidden for girls in India, young widows were married to the peepal tree and then allowed to remarry. Hindu girls perform many fasts connected with this tree right from their childhood. A girl who has a probability of becoming a widow must worship the holy fig tree. After taking bath she should purify the soil around the holy fig tree by cow dung, decorate the tree with threads and Ochre and worship it with the help of a Brahmin.
In the Upanishads, the fruit of the peepal is used as an example to explain the difference between the body and the soul: the body is like the fruit which, being outside, feels and enjoys things, while the soul is like the seed, which is inside and therefore witnesses things.
To cut down a peepal is considered a sin equivalent to killing a Brahmin, one of the five deadly sins and according to the Skanda Purana, a person goes to hell for doing so. The cutting of the tree without a proper reason is also considered similar to cutting one's own ancestors. By doing this, one destroys his descent. But cutting of this tree for sacred activities like Yagya (sacrificial fire) is not sinful; on the contrary it helps the attainment of Heaven.
Lord Sri Krishna has said in the Bhagawad Gita that the holy fig tree personifies his own glory. Five-trees (Pancha-vat) are considered sacred in India. They are:
1. Fig tree,
2. A wild fig (Sycamore) tree (Gular),
3. Banyan tree,
4. Pakar (citron-leaved), Indian fig tree,
5. Mango tree.
Among these the holy fig tree is considered the most sacred. A man who plants this tree goes to the abode of almighty God after his death. He can never be tormented by the miseries of Yama-loka or Hell.
Some believe that the tree houses the Trimurti (The Trinity), the roots being Brahma, the trunk Vishnu and the leaves Shiva. The gods are said to hold their councils under this tree and so it is associated with spiritual understanding.
The Brahma Purana and the Padma Purana relate how once, when the demons defeated the Gods, Vishnu hid in the peepal. Therefore spontaneous worship to Vishnu can be offered to a peepal without needing his image or temple. The peepal is also closely linked to Krishna. In the Bhagavad Gita, he says: "Among trees, I am the ashvattha." Krishna is believed to have died under this tree, after which the present Kali Yuga is said to have begun.
The peepal is also sacred to Buddhists, because the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment under it. Hence it is also called the Bodhi tree or 'tree of enlightenment'.
Needless to say, the holy fig tree holds a very important place in the Indian civilization—from religious, medicinal and social point of view— invariably holding an anthropologist’s interest.
References:
http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/peepal_tree.htm
http://www.urday.com/peepal.htm
http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/-1799077021.cms
