Jambū
Jambū, “the rose-apple tree”
Grammar: feminine noun: the jambū tree and its fruit.
Meaning: the rose-apple tree, whose bark, juice and young leaf-shoots serve in the rites and in medicine.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names the jambū in these places.
- In the snapana (bathing festival) of the mūrti: in the east navaka (group of nine kalaśas), a kumbha full of ghee stands in the middle, and the others hold the juice drawn from the bark of the palāśa, aśvattha, vaṭa, bilva, udumbara, plaksha, jambū, śamī and kapittha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 69).
- In the pratishṭhā of a liṅga: among the materials, Parameśvara names five decoctions from the bark of the nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha, cūta (mango) and jambū (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95).
- In perfumery: Pushkara, teaching Paraśurāma the eight processes for giving fragrance to substances, says that śaucana (cleansing) is washing a substance with water purified with the pallavas (young leaf-shoots) of the kapittha, bilva, jambū, āmra and karavīra. If these are not at hand, water mixed with kastūrī (musk) purifies it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 224).
- In planting trees: Dhanvantari, teaching the vṛkshāyurveda (the Āyurveda of trees), names the arishṭa, aśoka, punnāga, śirīsha, priyaṅgu, kadalī, jambū, vakula and dāḍima. They are watered once a day in the hot season, and at night in the rains if the ground has dried (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 282).
- In medicine: the bark of the śallakī, badarī, jambū, priyāla, āmra and arjuna, with honey and taken with milk, destroys raktātisāra (bloody diarrhoea) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 285).
- Where serpents live: among the dwellings of serpents Agnideva names the trees śigru, śleshmātaka, aksha, jambū, udumbara, the bamboo grove and the vaṭa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 294).
Related terms: Pañca-pallava · Udumbara · Aśvattha · Snapana · Vṛkshāyurveda
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 69, 95, 224, 282, 285, 294