Aśvattha
Aśvattha, “the sacred fig”
Grammar: masculine noun: the sacred fig tree; also called pippala (in Telugu, rāvi).
Meaning: the sacred fig, the holiest of trees, whose wood, leaves, bark and samidhs (sticks for the sacred fire) serve the rites; in the teaching of the Gītā, the imperishable tree whose leaves are the Vedas.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa speaks of the aśvattha as the tree of the Veda, as a great tree on the mountains of Meru, and in many rites.
The imperishable aśvattha. In the essence of the Gītā which Agnideva tells, which Śrī Kṛshṇa taught long ago: this aśvattha has its roots above and its branches below, and is imperishable; the chandas (the Vedic metres) are its leaves. One who knows this is a knower of the Veda (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 381).
On the mountains of Meru. Round Sumeru stand four mountains, as if pillars set by Īśvara to hold it up: Mandarācala on the east, Gandhamādana on the south, Vipula on the west and Supārśva on the north. On these mountains the kadamba, the jambū, the aśvattha and the vaṭa, each eleven yojanas in extent, shine like banners (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 108).
In the rites. In the evening rite of the pavitrāropaṇa, the trees aśvattha, udumbara, vaṭa and plaksha are worshipped in the directions beginning with the east (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 34). The toraṇas (arched gateways) of the directions are made of aśvattha, udumbara, vaṭa and plaksha wood (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 56); in the consecration maṇḍapa the toraṇas from the east are of plaksha, udumbara, aśvattha and vaṭa, named Śānti, Bhūti, Bala and Ārogya (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95). The eastern kalaśa holds the shoots of twelve trees, among them the aśvattha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 57). In the bathing of the mūrti, kalaśas hold the juice drawn from the bark of palāśa, aśvattha, vaṭa, bilva, udumbara, plaksha, jambū, śamī and kapittha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 69); and five decoctions are made from the bark of the nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha, mango and jambū (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95). On the mekhalās of the kuṇḍa (fire-pit) is a yoni shaped like an aśvattha leaf, one aṅgula high and eight aṅgulas wide, as long as half the kuṇḍa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95).
In the general pratishṭhā, twelve oblations of aśvattha samidhs dipped in ghee are offered to the lords of the months with mantras such as “oṃ śrī vishṇave svāhā”, and the caru is served on a plate of aśvattha leaves and eaten (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 66). For the graha-śānti, the samidhs are of arka, palāśa, khadira, apāmārga, aśvattha, udumbara and śamī, a hundred and eight of each (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95); the pippala is the samidh of Bṛhaspati (Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 164, 167). In the dīkshā, the caru is given to the mukti-seeker in a cup of palāśa leaves and to the bhukti-seeker in a cup of aśvattha leaves (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 83). The brahmacārīs’ daṇḍas (staffs) are, in order of the varṇas, of palāśa, pippala and bilva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 153). One must not eat on leaves of the aśvattha, the arka, the sarja or the bhallātaka (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 77).
In the ordeal by fire, the accused rubs grain in his hands, his hands are marked with dye, and seven aśvattha leaves are tied to them with thread; he says, “O Agnideva, you move within all beings as the witness; tell truly of my puṇya and pāpa”, and the red-hot iron ball is placed in his hands (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 255). In the marks of a woman, which Samudra tells Gargācārya, the auspicious yoni is shaped like an aśvattha leaf (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 244).
Where it is planted. To the north of the house an aśvattha, to the south an udumbara and to the west a vaṭa are good (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 247). In the Āyurveda of trees which Dhanvantari teaches, a plaksha to the north of the house, a vaṭa to the east, a mango to the south and an aśvattha to the west are auspicious (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 282).
In remedies. A warm decoction of aśvattha, udumbara, plaksha, madhūka and vaṭa cleanses a wound; in eye disease, after a leech is applied, the eye is cleansed with decoctions of udumbara and aśvattha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 289). When the grahī Cañcalā seizes a child in its fifth year, the child is bathed with water mixed with the leaves of palāśa, udumbara, aśvattha, vaṭa and bilva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 299). Among the yogas for a son, the roots of aśvattha and other plants are drunk with milk (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 302).
Related terms: Pippala · Vaṭa · Udumbara · Plaksha · Samidh · Vṛksha
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 34, 56–57, 66, 69, 77, 83, 95, 108, 153, 164, 167, 244, 247, 255, 282, 289, 299, 302, 381