History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c44.25
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c44.25
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Trees have been highly prized in India at all times. They were useful in sacrifices for making the yūpa (the post to which the sacrificial animal was tied), for idhma (samidhs which were thrown into fire), for the several ladles like sruva, juhū etc. The Tai. Br. I. 1. 3 speaks of seven holy trees. The Tai. S. III. 4. 8. 4 states that idhma (samidhs) should be of the nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha and plakṣa trees, as they are the abodes of Gandharvas and Apsarases.²⁰⁸⁰ Besides trees with their verdant foliage looked beautiful and the leaves of some of them (such as the mango tree) are hung up even now in pandals and at entrances of houses as auspicious in marriage and other ceremonies. Hemādri cites a passage from the Brahmapurāṇa that the twigs and leaves of the Aśvattha (the pipal tree), udumbara, plakṣa, cūta (mango) and nyagrodha are styled pañcabhaṅga²⁰⁸¹ and are auspicious in all rites. The palāśa tree was held to be so sacred that one was not to make seats, sandals or tooth brush from it or its branches and twigs (Baud. Dh. S. II. 3. 25). Trees gave shelter against heat and also yielded flowers and fruits (for worship of gods and pitṛs). When felled their wood was useful in building houses, for making implements of husbandry and for producing heat and warmth. In his 7th Pillar Edict (of Delhi-Topra) Aśoka mentions the construction of wells at a distance of 8 krośas and the planting of banyan trees and mango groves (C. I. I. vol. I pp. 134-135). The Mahābhāṣya (vol. I.
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p. 14) quotes a portion of an ancient verse which conveys that if a person waters and tends mango trees, his pitṛs feel extremely pleased.²⁰⁸² Manu IV. 39 and Yāj. I. 133 require the snātaka to circumambulate well-known trees (like aśvattha) if he meets them on the way. The Kādambarī also refers to this practice of worshipping trees, particularly by women desiring to have a son.²⁰⁸³ The Mahābhārata (Anuśāsanaparva 58. 23-32) highly eulogizes plant life and divides plants into six kinds viz. vṛkṣa (tree), latā (creepers that cling to trees), vallī (creepers that spread on the ground), gulma (bushes), tvaksāra (trees whose bark is strong, while the inside is hollow, like bamboos) and grass and adds that he who plants trees is saved (in a future existence) by them just as sons do and that they should be tended like sons.²⁰⁸⁴ The Viṣṇu Dh.S.91.4 says the same thing. Hemādri (Dāna pp. 1030-31) cites a long passage from the Padmapurāṇa how by planting different trees and plants like aśvattha, aśoka, tamarind, pomegranate and others a man secures such rewards (respectively) as wealth, removal of sorrow, long life, a wife, &c. Vṛddha-Gautama (Jiv., part 2. p. 625) identifies the Aśvattha tree with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Mahābhārata (Śānti 69. 42) forbids even the felling of the leaves of trees like the aśvattha that have a platform²⁰⁸⁵ built for them (caitya). Śāntiparva 184. 1-17 graphically describes how trees have life since they feel pain and pleasure and grow though cut.
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The Bhaviṣyapurāṇa quoted in the Utsarga-mayūkha (p. 16) states 'he who plants either one aśvattha or one picumarda or one nyagrodha or ten tamarind trees, or the three trees i. e. kapittha, bilva and āmalaka or plants five mango trees would not see hell (i. e. would not be condemned to hell for his sins).²⁰⁸⁶ The Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 270. 28-29) requires that to the east of the *maṇḍapa* of a temple fruit-bearing trees should be planted, to the south trees that contain milky sap, to the west a reservoir of water with lotuses therein should be constructed and to the north a flower garden and *sarala* and *tāla* trees. Vas. Dh. S. 19.11-12 prescribes that no one should injure (i. e. cut) trees that yield fruits and flowers except only for purposes of cultivating the land²⁰⁸⁷ (and for sacrificial purposes, as laid down in Viṣṇu Dh. S. 51. 63). The Viṣṇu Dh. S. V. 55. 59 prescribes that the king should award the highest fine, the middling fine, or a fine of 100 kārṣāpaṇas or of one kārṣāpaṇa respectively against those who wrongfully cut a tree bearing fruit or a tree that bears flowers, or who cut creepers and shrubs or grass.