The wisdom the cosmos expresses itself through many portals and plants are the most chosen ones. India being a very ancient civilization has always had the unique advantage of possessing a wide range of climatic, geographical and geological conditions wherein an infinite variety of these trees could flourish.
I am very much fascinated by trees and their metaphysical connection and feel it is a very interesting venue to explore. So the first tree I am talking about is Indian Gooseberry.
The Amla or Neelikkai (Phyllanthus Embilca) is also called Amalka in Hindi. In Sanskrit its name is Amalaki, which translates as ‘the sustainer’ or ‘the fruit where the goddess of prosperity presides’. Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity), who is especially associated with this tree, is worshipped with its leaves, especially in the month of November and December.
It is a small tree with leathery leaves and a fleshy fruit. This fruit is very cheap and common. Growing in all Indian forests it is very much prized by all Indians. Its size is that of a small lemon, and it is round and pale green in colour. It is sour, astringent and also sweet, and is obtainable in unlimited quantities from January to April.
The Amla fruit is considered to be so nourishing that the tree has been worshipped in India from ancient times as the ‘Earth Mother’, and is said to be nursing humankind.
The great sage Adi Guru Shankaracharya went seeking alms he came to the house of a very poor woman. She had nothing in the house with which to feed him, but as it is most inauspicious to turn a sannyasin away from the door without offering anything to eat so she searched until she found the only edible thing she had in the house – a single Amla fruit. When she offered it to Shankaracharya, his gentle young heart was so moved by her poverty and her action that he invoked Goddess Lakshmi in the form of the Kanakadhara On completion of this stotram, Lakshmi was so pleased that she blessed and enriched the house by sending down a shower of golden Amlas.
It is said that the Amla fruit should not be taken on Thursdays.
During the month of Kartik (November/December) it is most auspicious, and beneficial for the health to take one’s food under the Amla tree. This is the tradition in many parts of India, especially the south, and people picnic under the Amla for the whole month.
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