Friday 11 October 2013

I too felled the Ashwattha tree.

Because I too felled the Ashwattha tree, not its fountain of sap
Krishna plays, everywhere I see, in but Yashoda's lap
Ashwatthaama, thy jewel, Ahasuerus thy pomp
I'd barter to be a puppy & join in their romp

Note- Aswattha means 'under which horses stand' and hence is a name for the sacred banyan fig tree. In the Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjun to cut down, with the axe of non-attachment, the 'hymn leaved banyan whose roots are in Heaven and branches down below'.
Ashwatthaama means 'endowed with the strength of a horse'.
In the Mahabharata, Ashwatthaama forfeits his crest-jewel because he chopped down the family tree of the Pandavas, However, Lord Krishna revived the son of his nephew, who was also Arjuna's grandson, and thus the Pandavas were able to continue their royal lineage after all.

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