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The Warding Tree

Перевод: Бхиккху Суджато

kn / ja

Stories of Past Lives 71 · The Book of the Ones

Whoever wishes to do afterwards ^[1]

tasks they should have done before,

like the one who broke a branch off the Warding Tree, ^[2]

afterwards is tormented by regrets.

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[1] A lazy pupil takes a nap while others are gathering firewood. At the last moment, he carelessly snaps a green branch off the Warding Tree, hurting his eye in the process; and when it came time for breakfast, the fire would not light.

[2] Varaṇa (or varuṇa, Crateva religiosa) is from the root var “to ward”. It is associated with Vedic rites of the dead and with “warding off” demons, foes, and all manner of ills (Atharva Veda 10.3). Vedic ritualists were very particular about what wood was to be used for what purpose (eg. Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 13.8.4.1), and varaṇa wood, due to its association with the rites of death, was not to be used to make offerings in the life-giving Homa fire ritual (Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā 1.6.7). The association of the varaṇa with death is maintained in the commentarial story behind Ja 38, where the crane kills fish on a branch of this tree. This verse, I suggest, was originally a warning against using the wrong wood for the ritual.