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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
208
Another
famous
sacred
plant
is
the
soma
or
moon-plant
of
India,
the
Asclepias
acida,
a
climbing
plant
with
milky
juice,
which
Windischmann
has
identified
with
the
"tree
of
life
which
grew
in
paradise."
Its
milk
juice
was
said
to
confer
immortality,
the
plant
itself
never
decaying;
and
in
a
hymn
in
the
Rig
Veda
the
soma
sacrifice
is
thus
described:--
"We've
quaffed
the
soma
bright
And
are
immortal
grown,
We've
entered
into
light
And
all
the
gods
have
known.
What
mortal
can
now
harm,
Or
foeman
vex
us
more?
Through
thee
beyond
alarm,
Immortal
God!
we
soar."
Then
there
is
the
peepul
or
bo-tree
(Ficus
religiosa),
which
is
held
in
high
veneration
by
the
followers
of
Buddha,
in
the
vicinity
of
whose
temples
it
is
generally
planted.
One
of
these
trees
in
Ceylon
is
said
to
be
of
very
great
antiquity,
and
according
to
Sir
J.
E.
Tennant,
"to
it
kings
have
even
dedicated
their
dominions
in
testimony
of
their
belief
that
it
is
a
branch
of
the
identical
fig-tree
under
which
Gotama
Buddha
reclined
when
he
underwent
his
apotheosis."
The
peepul-tree
is
highly
venerated
in
Java,
and
by
the
Buddhists
of
Thibet
is
known
as
the
bridge
of
safety,
over
which
mortals
pass
from
the
shores
of
this
world
to
those
of
the
unseen
one
beyond.
Occasionally
confounded
with
this
peepul
is
the
banyan
(Ficus
indica),
which
is
another
sacred
tree
of
the
Indians.
Under
its
shade
Vishnu
is
said
to
have
been
born;
and
by
the
Chinese,
Buddha
is
represented
as
sitting
beneath
its
leaves
to
receive
the
homage
of
the
god
Brahma.
Another
sacred
tree
is
the
deodar
(Cedrus
deodara),
a
species
of
cedar,
being
the
Devadara,
or
tree-god
of
the
Shastras,
which
in
so
many
of
the
ancient
Hindu
hymns
is
depicted
as
the
symbol
of
power
and
majesty.
[3]
The
aroka,
or
Saraca
indica,
is
said
to
preserve
chastity,
and
is
dedicated
to
Kama,
the
Indian
god
of
love,
while
with
the
negroes
of
Senegambia
the
baobab-tree
is
an
object
of
worship.
In
Borneo
the
nipa-palm
is
held
in
veneration,
and
the
Mexican
Indians
have
their
moriche-palm
(Mauritia
flexuosa).
The
Tamarindus
Indica
is
in
Ceylon
dedicated
to
Siva,
the
god
of
destruction;
and
in
Thibet,
the
jambu
or
rose-apple
is
believed
to
be
the
representative
of
the
divine
amarita-tree
which
bears
ambrosia.
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