FLORAL ANTIQUITIES OF THE EAST. 201 
Another grass, called Durva, - ^ is also held as sacred, 
and, in the mysteries of the temple, regarded as the 
symbol of fecundity. Its flowers, when in their perfect 
state, are amongst the most lovely objects in the vege¬ 
table world. Viewed through a microscope, they appear 
like clusters of minute rubies and emeralds in constant 
motion, and with innumerable changes of light and 
colour. It is the sweetest and most nutritious pasture 
for cattle, and so readily propagated by its creeping 
roots, that lands sown with pieces of them become com¬ 
pletely swarded in a single season. Its extraordinary 
powers of increase render it an emblem of the reproduc¬ 
tive powers of nature. In the worship of the divine 
Chrishna, or Heri, as he is termed by the poet Jayadeva,t 
the plant represents—in connexion with forms which to 
Europeans appear grossly licentious, but which, to the 
devout Hindoo, are holy allegories—the producing 
powers of the universe, the endless source of Nature and 
of Being. 
Another plant, which the idolatrous worshippers of 
Brahma venerate, is the vata, or sacred fig, of which 
there are several varieties.! These are all holy plants, 
the pippala, or ficus religiosa, being the most sacred of 
them all.§ This species has perhaps a higher claim 
than any other to be regarded as sacred, on account of 
its curious growth, and the manner in which it extends 
* Agrostis linearis of Linnaeus. 
+ “ Gitagovinda.” 
J Ficus religiosa, Ficus Bengalensis, and Ficus Indica, are the 
principal. 
§ “ As. Res.,” iv. 27. 
