It pains me to see the newspaper full of stories
about rationalists a.k.a atheists, their deaths, the Sanatans, the RSS and to
top it all Hinduism or Hindutva trivialised by the self-appointed
watchdogs of Hinduism. Hinduism being such a free religion, it has become very
easy to have thousands of sects, guides, and leaders (read God men) and,
equally easy it is to curse and swear upon your own religion. It is very
fashionable and trendy to condemn your own religion if you are a Hindu. Also,
nowadays I find people feeling embarrassed to even claim to be a Hindu.
Hinduism has been very cleverly equated to saffronisation and that in turn is
spoken about in whispers as if it were the disease about which no one talks
openly.
Anyways, I am just attempting to write about very
small traditions or you can call them rituals, which have lost their
significance today and are ready to be buried as superstition. These are things
which I feel uncomfortable discarding just because they are not trendy any
more. I refuse to believe that my ancestors, thousands of years ago were fools
who, without any thought made up some rituals at random, and then passed it on
to us to be only rejected and thrown away. So, I am just making an effort to
think what could be the scientific basis for these rituals. Some I have learned
from people, books, internet and some I make up as I go, of course with a
scientific or an over-imaginative mind. You are welcome to add, comment, suggest and criticise. I would encourage you to make me wiser.
1.
I cannot establish its authenticity, but many
people claim that it has been scientifically proven that Peepal tree can make
oxygen even during the night. Even at night, it takes in carbon-dioxide and
expels oxygen.
2.
If you look at the Peepal tree, it is a huge canopy
like leafy tree with a long thick trunk and all the leaves just branching out. It
looks like a huge umbrella, making it ideal for a large number of people to sit
under it. Also the leaves, if you notice, have a hand-fan like structure,
which, when the wind blows, make it a little stronger. So you will feel less
hot under the tree than under any other tree. For that reason even Mangoes and
Banyan are such trees and these trees also find an important place in Hindu
culture.
3.
As per Wikipedia, due to the structure of the
leaves, the leaves of this tree move continuously, even when the air around is
still and no wind is blowing. Just imagine the blessing it is, in hot summers.
That is why I love Hinduism; we attributed this movement of leaves to Gods
residing in the leaves and turned it into something pious and worth preserving.
4.
The ritual of watering it daily and tying a thread
around it could have been to promote many such trees in an era devoid of
electric fans and air-conditioners. Make it into a religious ritual and it
becomes easy to take care of community resources. It was that simple.
5.
I think tying the thread could have been to support
the weak trunk of the baby tree. Like we too have to do with the young plants
which have not yet grown into a full thick-trunked tree, we need to tie its
small weak shoots to give it support. And in an era devoid of nylon ropes, the
organic 'soot' or cotton thread would break at times. So the ladies turned it
into a religious ritual and that aspect of caring for the young Peepal was
taken care of.
6.
Also, the Peepal leaves and bark have numerous
medicinal uses in the Ayurveda....an ancient Indian way of treatment.
7.
In ancient times people would construct a small
seat like concrete structure around the tree called ‘chabutra’ for men and
women, old and young to sit while the children played in the shade of the tree.
This brought about a social connect among residents, which the air-conditioners
of today cannot.
So weren't our ancestors wise enough to make it
easy to promote such a useful tree by attaching some simple rituals with it?
And with so many benefits attached to the tree why not promote it.
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