They come, pluck and depart disappointed ? They return merrily !
It is spring time in Chandigarh and one could see Semal trees in and around the city beautiful in their fullest bloom with vibrant red flowers. The Semal flowers attract all kinds of birds such as parrots, drangos, barbets , starlings, hornbills to the birders' delight.
However, as mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs, even though the birds visit semal, they depart disappointed for its fruits are tasteless and flowers nauseating, reminding that only humility and sweetness bear virtue and goodness.
ਸਿੰਮਲ ਰੁਖੁ ਸਰਾਇਰਾ ਅਤਿ ਦੀਰਘ ਅਤਿ ਮੁਚੁ ॥
si(n)mal rukh saraaeiraa ath dheeragh ath much ||
The simmal tree is straight as an arrow; it is very tall, and very thick.
si(n)mal rukh saraaeiraa ath dheeragh ath much ||
The simmal tree is straight as an arrow; it is very tall, and very thick.
ਓਇ ਜਿ ਆਵਹਿ ਆਸ ਕਰਿ ਜਾਹਿ ਨਿਰਾਸੇ ਕਿਤੁ ॥
oue j aavehi aas kar jaahi niraasae kith ||
But those birds which visit it hopefully, depart disappointed.
oue j aavehi aas kar jaahi niraasae kith ||
But those birds which visit it hopefully, depart disappointed.
ਫਲ ਫਿਕੇ ਫੁਲ ਬਕਬਕੇ ਕੰਮਿ ਨ ਆਵਹਿ ਪਤ ॥
fal fikae ful bakabakae ka(n)m n aavehi path ||
Its fruits are tasteless, its flowers are nauseating, and its leaves are useless.
fal fikae ful bakabakae ka(n)m n aavehi path ||
Its fruits are tasteless, its flowers are nauseating, and its leaves are useless.
ਮਿਠਤੁ ਨੀਵੀ ਨਾਨਕਾ ਗੁਣ ਚੰਗਿਆਈਆ ਤਤੁ ॥
mit(h)ath neevee naanakaa gun cha(n)giaaeeaa thath ||
Sweetness and humility, O Nanak, are the essence of virtue and goodness.
mit(h)ath neevee naanakaa gun cha(n)giaaeeaa thath ||
Sweetness and humility, O Nanak, are the essence of virtue and goodness.
Semal is the local name for Bombax. It is abundantly found in Southern and Eastern Asia, right from Burma to Afghanistan, besides northern Australia sand western Africa.
The flowering season of Semal is followed by fruition. Its fruit is the size of a golf ball which is filled with cotton-like fibrous stuff that is used for filling pillows and cushion and for that precise reason it is also referred as Cotton Tree or the Red Silk Cotton Tree.
Semal is a fast growing tree that can reach height of 30 to 40 metres and does not require much of watering or fertlizers. It grows straight and tall , branched symmetrically with the trunk up to 3 metres. Its timber is soft and is used for manufacture of plywood, match boxes and sticks.
The bark, roots sand gum extracted from it is used in cosmetics and herbal medicines for curing diarrhea, dysentery, hemoptysis, pulmonary, tuberculosis, , influenza, styptic and wounds.
3 comments:
..very informative article...semal flowers are beauty to behold and cotton produced by its buds is best and softest for pillows..
I had this query from my father regarding the mention of this tree in Gurbani - I had differed from him as I have seen time and again this to be proved false. So much so that the amount of birds we get on a flowering Simbal tree are just too many to be explained by 'that the three does not provide'. Birds like all other animals learn by association and the philosophy of reward and punishment. That they are coming time and over again - means they are getting enough reward to justify it. Not only that, in my own observation I have seen birds surfing up the fruit nectar and enjoying it, chasing the other birds who try and move them away.
Other than this - the best pillow that I have ever taken was not cotton or pollyfill - it has been a pillow of Simbal cotton.
I would request some botanist to givrhis/her view on the subject, particularly the satisfaction/ disappointment the birds get from the semal tree
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