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Tree worship was once common in Greece, France, Poland, Assyria and many other countries. It has continually

691 prevailed among uncultivated tribes in Africa, America and Polynesia. In Persia travellers occasionally come across trees hung with offerings of rags and garmets and throughout the greater part of Asia a belief in a kind of divinity inherent in certain trees has always been a recognized element of the popular creed. 44 The Indians believe in the law of continuity and in their creed the life of gods is connected with that of demons, the life of demons with that of men, that of men with that of animals, that of animals with that of plants that of plants with a supposed life in rocks and stones, and the divine soul is thought to permeate all. Thus plantworship follows as a necessary consequence of animal worship 45 According to the Hindu theory of metempsychosis all trees and plants are conscious beings, having as distinct personalities and souls of their own as gods, demons, men and animals. 46 For the divine Parijata tree, a great war was waged between Indra and krsna (As.202-204). Hindus worship Tulsi, Pippala, Bilva, Vata and Asoka tree. The Brahma- 44 Monier Williams, Religious thought and life in India, PP.330-331. 45 Ibid. 46 Manu 1.49.

692 purana considers the trees Vata (A.57) and Asoka (A.35) to be sacred. The Vata tree, identified with lord krsna, is a famous place of pilgrimage in the Purusottamaksetra. The Brahma-purana states that after a bath in the Markandeya's pool and a visit to the temple of lord Siva, one should repair to the sacred vata, circumambulate it thrice and worship it with the mantra noted below.47 The Vata tree is identified with the Kalpavrksa and it is said that one who circumambulates it gets freedom from sins and one who resorts to its shade becomes free from such grave sins as brahminmurder. The Vata tree is lord Visnu himself and it consists of the brilliance of the highest Brahman. By worshipping it, one gets the rewards of performing the Rajasuya and the Asvamedha and getting freedom from sins goes to the world of Visnu (57.12-18). There are different names of the Vata tree in different Yugas, viz. Vata, Vatesvara, krsna and Puranapurusa. In the Satyayuga, the area of the tree is one yojana, in Treta it is 3/4th yojana, in Dvapara, it is half a yojana and in Kaliyuga it is 1/4th yojana (60.14-18). 47 Om namo vyaktarupaya Mahapralayakarine | Mahadrasopavistaya nyagrodhaya namo'stu te Amaratvam sada kalpe harescayatanam vata i nyagrodha hara me papam kalpavrksa namo'stu te " Brahma 57.13-14,Naradiya (uttara) 55.24-25.