Friday, March 20, 2020

Shami tree - The sacred tree - Agni Garbha indeed

शमि शमयते पापं शमी शत्रुविनाशिनि ।
अर्जुनस्य धनुर्धारि रामस्य प्रियवादिनि ।

Shamee Tree destroys our paapaa, it destroys our enemies. It was holding the Dhanas of Arjuna for one full year and it is Sri Ramachandra’s favourite tree.

Banni in kannada, Prosopis Spicigera - taxonomically, Rajasthan - Khejri, Bishnois - Janty
Tamil - Vanni, Gujarati - Sumri

Wondered Why shami tree is
1) अर्जुनस्य धनुर्धारि and
2) रामस्य प्रियदर्शिनि

Of course one arjuna's story we all know.... At school, we read that story and ask about banni mara (shami tree) but Rama's is what triggered my curiosity
There are many fascinating stories behind the auspiciousness of the Shami tree.

Lord Rama prayed for his victory in front of the Shami tree before marching to Lanka. Thereafter, the Shami tree is worshipped during the Aparahna Muhurat on Dussehra.

In Dwaparyug, during the year of disguise in the kingdom of Virata, Pandavas had hidden their celestial weapons on the branches of the Shami tree for a year before going to Virata. After completion of a year, they returned to the Shami tree and found that their weapons were safe in the branches of the tree. They worshipped the tree for keeping their weapons safe and used the same weapons against Kauravas on Dussehra.

Kauts, the disciple of Vartantu, wanted to set up an Ashram and therefore, he asked for 14 crores gold coins from King Raghu. The king had already donated his wealth, but to meet the demand of Kauts, Raghu set out for a war against Kuber (God of Wealth). On this, Kuber showered gold coins from the tree of Shami. Raghu donated gold coins to Kauts and remaining coins were doled out to others. From this day, people started worshipping the tree of Shami.

More interesting part here

So, what makes Shami tree special?

Shami tree is known as ‘Agni Garbha’, one that holds fire in the core. Every tree holds some element of fire, however, only Shami tree named as ‘Agni Garba’. Other trees produce fire upon friction with each other during hot summers in the presence of high winds. Whereas, a Shami tree log when churned with Peepal (ashwatth) tree log produces fire that is rightly apt to be used in all Vedic rituals involving Yajna. Yet, not all Shami trees can be used in this purpose. Only the Shami tree that gives birth to Peepal tree within itself can be used. Both of these trees must both be growing together as one unit. The logs from such two trees become the right inputs to the desired output of the ‘Yajna’.

My ayurveda doc says -
This is ulleka in Ayurveda - How agni should be churned and used



Source: https://chinnajeeyar.org/the-horse-ride-on-dussehra/
http://sacredtress.blogspot.com/2014/01/shami-tree.html

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