Śamī
Śamī, “the śamī tree”
Grammar: feminine noun, the name of a tree.
Meaning: the sacred śamī tree, whose wood is a samidh (fuel stick) of homa and whose leaves are offered in pūjā.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names śamī in its rites of homa, pūjā, the maṇḍala and the snapana.
The samidh of Śani. In the homa for the nine grahas, the samidhs for the grahas are, in order: arka for Sūrya, palāśa for Candra, khadira for Kuja, apāmārga for Budha, pippala for Bṛhaspati, udumbara for Śukra, śamī for Śani, dūrvā for Rāhu and kuśa for Ketu; for each graha 108 of them, or the other number the text gives, are offered with honey, ghee and curd (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 164). The same samidhs are named for Ravi and the other grahas in the homas of ten thousand, a lakh and a crore (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 167). In the materials for a pratishṭhā, the samidhs for the graha-śānti of Sūrya and the other grahas are of arka, palāśa, khadira, apāmārga, aśvattha, udumbara and śamī (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95).
In the pūjā of Śrī Mahāvishṇu. In the chapter on flowers, Agnideva gives the fruit of each offering: bilva and śamī leaves make the highest state easy to reach (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 202). Among the leaves fit for pūjā are bilva, śamī, bhṛṅgarāja, tulasī, kṛshṇa-tulasī and vāsaka leaves (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 248).
In the maṇḍala. For the colours of the maṇḍala, rice flour gives white, kusumbha red, turmeric yellow, burnt rice flour black, and śamī leaves and the like śyāma, the dark colour (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 30).
In the snapana. In the festival of bathing the mūrti, the east group of nine kalaśas holds ghee in the middle, and in the others the juice drawn from the bark of the palāśa, aśvattha, vaṭa, bilva, udumbara, plaksha, jambū, śamī and kapittha trees (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 69).
Related terms: Samidh · Śani · Graha · Homa · Bilva · Pūjā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 30, 69, 95, 164, 167, 202, 248