pPant "bore, Isecfe'f^t)/, anicl "bijric/-, 241 



for its vast size and the singularity of its growth : it throws out 

 from its lateral branches shoots which, as soon as they reach the 

 earth, take root, till, in course of time, a single tree extends itself 

 to a considerable grove. Pliny described the Banyan with great 

 ccuracy, and Milton has rendered his description almost literally: 



" Branching so broad along, that in the ground 

 The bending twigs take root, and daughters grow 

 About the mother tree ; a pillared shade, 

 High over arched, with echoing walks between. 

 There oft the Inilian herdsman, shunning heat, 

 Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds 

 At loop-holes cut through thickest shade." 



The Banyan rarely vegetates on the ground, but usually in the 

 crown of Palms, where the seed has been deposited by birds. 

 Roots are sent down to the ground, which embrace, and eventually 

 kill, the Nurse-Palm. Hence, the Hindus have given the Banyan the 

 name of Vaihddha (the breaker), and invoke it in order that it may 



at the same time break the heads of enemies. In the Indian 



mythology, the Banyan is often confounded with the Bo-tree, and 

 hence it is given a place in heaven, where an enormous tree is said 

 to grow on the summit of the mountain Suparsva, to the south of 

 the celestial mountain Meru, where it occupies a vast space. 

 Beneath the pillared shade of the Banyan, the god Vishnu was 

 born. His mother had sought its shelter, but she was sad and 

 fearful lest the terrible Kansa should ptit to death her seventh 

 babe, Vishnu, as he had already done her first six. Yasoda, to 

 console the weeping mother, gave up her own infant daughter, 

 who was at once killed by Kansa's servants ; but Vishnu was saved. 

 It is, says De Gubernatis, at the foot of a gigantic Banyan, a 

 Bhdndira, near Mount Govardhana, that the Buddhist Vishnu plays 

 with his companions, and, by his presence, illuminates everything 

 around him. The Banyan of the Vedas is represented as being 

 peopled with Indian parroquets, who eat its fruit, which, how- 

 ever, does not exceed a Hazel-nut in size. The Chinese Buddhists 

 represent that Buddha sits under a Banyan-tree, turned towards 

 the East, to receive the homage of the god Brahma. Like the 

 sacred Bo-tree, the Banyan is regarded not only as the Tree of 

 Knowledge, but also as the tree of Indian seers and ascetic devotees. 

 Wherever a Bo-tree or a Banyan has stood, the place where it 



formerly flourished is always held sacred. There is in India a 



Banyan-tree that is the object of particular veneration. It grows 

 on the banks of the Nerbudda, not far from Surat, and is the 

 largest and oldest Banyan in the country. According to tra- 

 dition, it was planted by the Seer Kabira, and is supposed to be 

 three thousand years old. It is said to be the identical tree visited 

 by Nearchus, one of the officers of Alexander the Great. The 

 Hindus never cut it or touch it with steel, for fear of offending tl e 

 god concealed in its sacred foliage. De Gubernatis quotes tlie 



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