Punnāga
Punnāga
Grammar: masculine noun.
Meaning: a tree.
In the scriptures: In the account of a vaṇik told with the Śravaṇa Dvādaśī vrata, a preta said to him: “Wait a moment here by this punnāga tree. You will get what you need, and after that go where you will.” The vaṇik stayed. At noon a person appeared from the punnāga tree with water in one clay cup and curd and rice in another, and gave them to him, and he was satisfied (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 75).
In the Brahma Purāṇa: the punnāga is named among the great trees of the holy forest of Naimishāraṇya, where the munis had begun their twelve-year satra-yāga when Lomaharshaṇa Sūta came to them: sarala, panasa (jackfruit), mango, jambū, the banyan, devadāru, aśvattha, pārijāta, candana (sandal), agaru, pāṭala, vakula, saptaparṇa, punnāga, nāgakesara, śāla, tāla, tamāla, nārikela (coconut), arjuna and others (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 1).
When Brahmā tells the munis of the wedding of Umā and Maheśvara, he says that Vasanta (spring) came to the wedding of the mountain’s daughter, and every tree was in flower and fruit: kadamba, nīpa, tāla, tamāla, sarala, kapittha, aśoka, sarja, arjuna, kovidāra, punnāga, nāgeśvara, karṇikāra, lavaṅga, kālāguru, saptaparṇa, nyagrodha, śobhāñjana, nārikela and every other kind of tree (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 36).
Related terms: Śravaṇa Dvādaśī · Preta
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 75
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 1, 36