Palāśa
Palāśa, “the palāśa tree; a leaf”
Arka has other meanings too: see all meanings of Arka.
Grammar: masculine noun for the tree (also called kiṃśuka); neuter noun palāśam for a leaf.
Meaning: (1) the palāśa tree, sacred to the yajña, whose wood gives samidhs (fuel sticks for the fire) and paridhis (enclosing sticks), whose leaves make the cups of the rite, and whose staff the brahmacārī carries; (2) a leaf. In the kośa (lexicon) of the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva gives palāśa, chadana and parṇa as words for “leaf”, and palāśin among the words for “tree” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 363).
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names the palāśa in more than twenty chapters: in homa, in the kalaśas and baths of pratishṭhā (consecration), in dīkshā, in the dharma of the brahmacārī, in pūjā, and in medicine.
Samidhs of palāśa in homa. At the adhivāsa of the mūrti, which Hayagrīva teaches Brahmā, the fire is carried to the kuṇḍas, and in each kuṇḍa a thousand and eight palāśa samidhs, with yava and the rest, are offered with Oṃkāra (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 59). In the general rite of pratishṭhā, after the caru and the dig-bali, a hundred and eight palāśa samidhs are offered, and ghee with the Purusha-sūkta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 66). At the pratishṭhā of trees and gardens, homa is done with tila, ghee and palāśa samidhs, and the ācārya is given double dakshiṇā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 70). Among the materials for installing the liṅga, which Parameśvara lists, are four paridhis of palāśa; and for the graha-śānti of Sūrya and the other grahas, samidhs of arka, palāśa, khadira, apāmārga, aśvattha, udumbara and śamī, a hundred and eight of each (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95). In the graha-yajña the samidh for each graha is fixed: 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 (Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 164, 167). In the Yajur-vidhāna which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, homa of palāśa samidhs with “rudra yat te” gains what the text calls “suvarga”, and one who offers palāśa fruits with “śaṃ no devī” gains health, Lakshmī and long life (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 260). With the mantra of Durgā Devī, homa of palāśa samidhs gives pushṭi (nourishment) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 308).
Leaves, shoots and bark. For the abhisheka of the mūrti, the east kalaśa holds the shoots of twelve trees: vaṭa, udumbara, aśvattha, campaka, aśoka, bilva, palāśa, arjuna, plaksha, kadamba, vakula and cūta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 57). In the bathing festival (snāna-utsava), the eight kalaśas around the ghee-filled kumbha of the east navaka hold the juice of the bark of palāśa, aśvattha, vaṭa, bilva, udumbara, plaksha, jambū, śamī and kapittha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 69). In the pavitrāropaṇa, leaf-cups of pañcagavya, palāśa and the like are placed in all the directions (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 78). In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā, after the disciples drink pañcagavya, each is given three or eight mouthfuls of caru: to the one who seeks mukti in a cup of palāśa leaves, to the one who seeks bhukti in a cup of aśvattha leaves; he eats it without letting his teeth touch it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 83). When the bāla-graha Cañcalā seizes a child in its fifth year, the child is bathed with water holding the leaves of palāśa, udumbara, aśvattha, vaṭa and bilva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 299). Among the snānas that give victory, which Śukrācārya once taught Bali, the snāna of palāśa, bilva, lotus and kuśa gives all desires (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 267).
The staff and the seat. In the dharma of the brahmacārī which Pushkara teaches, the daṇḍa (staff) is of palāśa, pippala or bilva, in the order of the varṇas; the brāhmaṇa’s reaches up to his hair (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 153). Among the rules of conduct, Pushkara says: do not use a seat of palāśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 155).
Kiṃśuka in pūjā. In the samaya-dīkshā which Bhagavān Śiva teaches, flowers of bandhūka, kiṃśuka and the like are offered in homa for vaśīkaraṇa (bringing under control) and ākarshaṇa (attracting) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 81). Agni Deva names the kiṃśuka among the leaves that please Śrī Mahāvishṇu, with nīpa, arjuna, kadamba, agastya and others; one who worships him with these is freed of pāpa and gains bhukti and mukti (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 202). In the sandhyā rite, the last of the twenty-four syllables of the Gāyatrī has the colour of palāśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 215).
In medicine. Dhanvantari, teaching Suśruta, names palāśa seeds among the foods wholesome in kushṭha, and a paste of palāśa seeds ground in arka milk removes the poison of a scorpion (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 279). Ghee with vyosha, prepared with three times as much water of palāśa ash, destroys arśas (piles) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 285). One who takes one tola of palāśa oil with honey every day for six months and drinks milk lives five hundred years (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 286). Ground palāśa seeds, or nāgakesara powder with ghee, make one a begetter of sons (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 323).
Related terms: Samidh · Paridhi · Daṇḍa · Homa · Aśvattha · Udumbara · Parṇa
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 57, 59, 66, 69–70, 78, 81, 83, 95, 153, 155, 164, 167, 202, 215, 260, 267, 279, 285–286, 299, 308, 323, 363