Shiva, Vishnu, Devi
Bilwa, Holy Basil, Ixora (ईश्वरि) coccinea
त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरिः
© DKM Kartha
Here is a Sanskrit stanza that connects two events in my life -- one that happened 67 years ago and the other just 20 years ago:
यं शैवाः समुपासते शिव इति ब्रह्मेति वेदान्तिनो,
बौद्धा: बुद्ध इति प्रमाणपटवः कर्तेति नैयायिकाः।
अर्हन्नित्यथ जैनशासनरताः कर्मेति मीमांसकाः
सोऽयं नो विदधातु वाञ्छितफलं त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरिः॥
yaṁ śaivāḥ samupāsatē śiva iti brahmēti vēdāntinō,
bauddhā: buddha iti pramāṇapaṭavaḥ kartēti naiyāyikāḥ |
arhannityatha jainaśāsanaratāḥ karmēti mīmāṁsakāḥ
sō’yaṁ nō vidadhātu vāñchitaphalaṁ trailōkyanāthō hariḥ ||
May the Cosmic Ruler Hari give us all the wishes that we yearn for -- that Hari who is worshipped as Shiva by the Shaiva faithful, as Brahman by the Vedanti-s, as the Buddha by the Buddhists, as Kartaa (Purusha) by the Naiyaayika-s, as the Arhanta by the Jains, and as Karman by the Meemaamsaka-s.
In 1956, our family was getting ready to cut down a huge mango tree in the backyard of our two-acre homestead in rural Kerala and sell it to Boatmakers because the tree was producing only very few fruit and we were planning to plant coconut trees in its stead as we were all caught up in the contemporary wave of cash crops.
My mother's mother did not like this choice and she argued that although the number had gone down, the mangos were exceedingly sweet and flavorful. Being in her seventies, she perhaps also saw herself in the tree, I can only guess. Elimination of the quantitatively useless must have hurt her in unspoken ways.
Our arguments won out and, needless to say, my grandmother was very sad about it all. Later, 20 years ago, I wrote a poem in my mother tongue about it, stressing the loss of food crops and the destruction of nature and all that, and, in passing, mentioned my circumambulation, holding the hand of my grandmother, around the Bilwa tree in our front yard under which Holy Basil plants as well as Ixora coccinea (Paaranti in Sanskrit, Rugmini in Hindi) grew, while we chanted various divine names and sang songs of praise.
A learned person who read my poem was puzzled by the proximate presence of Shakteya, Shaiva, and Vaishnava holy plants in the small Chaityam (raised platform inside which holy plants are grown) in our yard. Perhaps in my reader’s region, the sectarian schisms had not been fully settled by Adi Shankaraachaarya's establishment of the Shaṇmataṁ (egalitarian worship of Lord Soorya, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Lord Subrahmanya, Lord Vishnu, and the Mother Goddess).
So, instead of explaining anything, I sent to my suspecting reader the stanza found in Hanoomannatakam (written by Shri Damodara Mishra in the 11th century, reference below).
यं शैवाः समुपासते शिव इति ब्रह्मेति वेदान्तिनो,
बौद्धा: बुद्ध इति प्रमाणपटवः कर्तेति नैयायिकाः।
अर्हन्नित्यथ जैनशासनरताः कर्मेति मीमांसकाः
सोऽयं नो विदधातु वाञ्छितफलं त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरिः॥
May the Cosmic Ruler Hari give us all results that we wish for -- that Hari who is worshipped as Shiva by the Shaiva faithful, as Brahman by the Vedanti-s, as the Buddha by the Buddhists, as KartA by the NaiyAyika-s, as the Arhanta by the Jains, and as Karman by the Meemaamsaka-s.
I hope the 11th century Vaishnava's wonderful Unitarianism satisfied my respected reader of the humble, nostalgic poem about my grandmother who had the wisdom to defend nature and not be befuddled by the "quantity-is-everything" delusion.
Note: By the way, the scientific name Ixora coccinea is derived from ईश्वरि, indicating that the red flowers of the plant are holy for the Mother Goddess, especially Parvati | Durga.
The funny thing is: the man who raised the question about planting bilva and basil together was from the caste of flower garland makers working inside temples with strict regulation for certain flowers for certain deities etc.
References:
Hanumannataka prathamo.anka shloka #3
© DKM Kartha
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