Prayer to the King of Trees
Vṛksharāja Prārthanā · vṛksha-rāja prārthanā, “the prayer to the king of trees”
The prayer to the king of trees is the set of words with which the yajamāna addresses the tree chosen for a pratimā before it is cut. Nārada Maharshi teaches it to Sāmba in the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, in the testing of wood for the pratimā of Bhagavān Sūrya.
The setting
On an auspicious day in the eight months from Kārtika the yajamāna keeps upavāsa, does adhivāsana of the chosen tree with flowers, dhūpa and fragrance, clears the ground around it and sprinkles it with water consecrated by the Gāyatrī. Wearing clean white, he worships the tree with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa and naivedya, makes homa with devadāru samidhs, and worships it with “oṃ bhūr bhuvas suvaḥ”, praying: “O Prajāpati, whose nature is satya, whose form is the tree, O king of trees, namaskāra to you. O noblest antarātmā, ātmā of all that moves and stands, O deva, take your presence in this tree.”
The words to the tree
Speaking gently to the tree, he says: “O king of trees, for the welfare of the world, go away to the auspicious devālaya. O deva, there you will dwell in ease, free of cutting, heat and the like. At their times the worlds will worship you with gandha, flowers, dhūpa and naivedya. So you will be in joy.”
Then he worships the axe at the tree’s root and sets it down facing east, and offers the bali to the tree, the devatās, the pitṛs and the beings that dwell in it.
At night, after the bali
At night he touches the tree and says: “O king of trees, you have been fixed by the devatās for pratimās. Namaskāra to you. Accept the pūjā we offer according to the vidhi. Accepting this bali offered by rule, may all the beings living here move their dwelling to another place. May they forgive us. Namaskāra to them.”
As day breaks he worships the tree once more, gives dakshiṇā to brāhmaṇas and Bhojakas, has svastivācana pronounced, and then cuts the tree so that it falls to the east, north-east or north.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 131
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 131