Dr. T. Rama Prasad's Scribblings...: FICUS trees and GODS

Trees and Gods are important in human life. A scribble on TREES is at https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/trees-and-plants_29.html , and the one on GODS is at https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/god-religion-universe_29.html .

KRISHNA and FICUS tree

The following is an excerpt from the scribbling titled " RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS" on this blog.

https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/trees-and-plants_29.html

RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS

TREES and PLANTS -- the green gods

Mrs. V. S. Rajyalakshmi, M.Sc. (Botany), Former Asst Professor, Vellalar College for Women, Erode

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, Director, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, Perundurai

Mrs. T. Nirmala Devi, M.Sc. (Botany), Former HOD & Professor, Maris Stella College, Vijayawada

Rama Prasad, Rajyalakshmi & Nirmala

FICUS trees and GODS

In the Hindu mythology, some trees belonging to the Ficus genus (Ficus religiosa - Peepal, Ficus benghalensis -- commonly known as Banyan, Ficus benghalensis var. krishnae -- commonly known as Krishna Fig / Krishna Butter Cup) of Moraceae family are considered sacred and worshipped. Various beliefs exist -- ancestors' souls stay on these trees; Vishnu stayed safe in these trees when demons defeated gods; Vishnu was born under a peepal tree; Peepal tree houses Trimurti, roots-Brahma, trunk-Vishnu, leaves-Shiva; Goddess Saraswathi originated from a peepal tree; Goddess Sita was sheltered by Peepal tree; Goddess Lakshmi stays on Peepal tree on Saturdays; and so on (Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana, Rigveda Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, etc.).

TREES and PLANTS, THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

It may be interesting to note that our ancestors adopted a concept of “vedic vanas” (sacred groves) -- “Nakshatra Vana” with 27 plants representing 27 stars), “Raashi Vana” (12 plants representing 12 zodiac constellations, “Shiva Panchayatanavana (5 plants representing 5 elements), “Navagraha Vana” (9 plants representing 9 planets), “Ashta Dikpala Vana” (8 plants representing 8 directions), etc. Life was an inextricable part of flora in those days.

SPB Vanam of music and gods

On October 15, 2020, an environmental NGO of Coimbatore named SIRUTHULI made a beginning for creation of "SPB Vanam" (SPB Garden) with 74 (his age) saplings of 74 varieties of sacred trees (Sthala Vrikshams) of the Hindu deities. EACH TREE WOULD BE NAMED AFTER A POPULAR SONG SUNG BY SPB. The wood of this kind of trees was traditionally used to make musical instruments. To be in tune with SPB's astrological star 'Ayiliam', the 'Champaka' variety of tree sapling was chosen to be the first one to be planted.

Women performing Vata-puja rituals around a Banyan tree

Half-a-century ago (1967), the vegetation in the 'Sanatorium Campus' of 326 acres enticed me to take up the job of a Medical Officer. And, I lived with those trees and plants for over 35 years.

At that time, I saw a close coexistence of two trees of different species (neem & peepal) at the base of which was there a small idol of Vinayagar. I had seen them growing stonger and bigger over half-a-century. On the Vinayaga Charurthi day this year (2017), I visited them again. The photo below is that of these two 'friend-trees' taken on this festival day (25.08.2017). The 'Sanatorium Staff' members took the initiative and constructed a pucca temple in the adjacent area for the Vinayagar.

Traditionally, these two kinds of trees - neem (Azadirachta indica) and peepal (Ficus religiosa) - are grown in the precincts of temples. There may be some logical purpose in choosing them apart from the mythological considerations.

When we left a residential quarters in ‘Perundurai Sanatorium’, a century-old huge BANYAN tree (Ficus benghalensis) by the side of the house died soon later. Psychological factor ? We couldn’t attribute the death to anything else. GOK. Psyche and superstition play a strong role in humans, even in Reiki (Read about Reiki -- https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/our-handwriting.html ).

'FICUS KRISHNA'

The Ficus religiosa tree (Peepal) is closely linked to Lord Krishna who was believed to have ended his avataar under this tree, after which the present Kaliyuga is said to have begun. It is also believed that he will reside in a Peepal leaf after Pralayam till the next world is created.

To my pleasant surprise, on April 19, 2019, I saw one very rarely seen variety of Ficus tree in the campus of 'THE UNIQUE ACADEMY' ICSE & ISC school in Ingur, Perundurai. This variety is called "Ficus benghalensis var. Krishnae." It is also known as 'Krishna Fig' and 'Krishna Butter cup'. The leaves of this variety of Ficus are very peculiarly shaped as though the edges of the leaf are folded back and fused to form cone-shaped or cup-shaped cavities -- see the photos below of the leaf and the tree.

Botanical name: Ficus benghalensis var. krishnae Family: Moraceae (Mulberry family)
Synonyms: Ficus krishnae

Krishna Fig is a very large, fast growing, evergreen tree up to 30 m tall, with spreading branches and many aerial roots. Leaves stalked, ovate heart-shaped, 3 nerved, when young velvety on both sides. The unique feature of the tree is that the leaves have a pocket-like fold at the base. Leaf stalks with a broad smooth greasy gland at the apex, compressed, downy. The plant is also known as Krishna Butter Cup. As with most things in India, there is a mythological story of Krishna related to the leaves of this tree. The story goes that Lord Krishna was very fond of butter and would even steal it. Once when he was caught by his mother, Yashoda, he tried to hide the butter by rolling it up in a leaf of this tree. Since then, the leaves of these trees have retained this shape.

Perhaps, that's why it was named as 'Krishna Butter Cup'.

I plucked this leaf from the tree, in the photo below, at THE UNIQUE ACADEMY School

R. Elango, Chairman, The Unique Academy (where the 'Krishna Butter cup' tree is present)

This school, THE UNIQUE ACADEMY, where the "KRISHNA BUTTER CUP" tree has been present is celebrating its SILVER JUBILEE. The tree also must be of the age of 25 years !!!

With Rajani KRISHNA

About the author :

Dr. T. Rama Prasad is the WORLD RECORD holder of authoring 28 articles related to COVID-19 in 30 months, published in a medical journal (The Antiseptic – www.theantiseptic.in -- Indexed in IndMED), and reporting in the same journal the WORLD’s FIRST CASE of ‘Yellow Nail Syndrome’ associated with COVID-19, PT & DM (https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/yellow-nail syndrome_28.html ). He wrote his first article in the premier journal, The Antiseptic, four decades ago. Many of his articles written over half-a-century may be accessed at https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html & https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-in-newspapers_28.html & https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com .

He is the former MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT (Special) of R.T. Sanatorium & Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre. Presently, he is the Senior Consultant in TB & Lung Diseases, and the Director at ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, He is the recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the ‘Coimbatore Respiratory Society’, and the honorific title “Perundurai Rathinam” from the body of ‘Perundurai Public’.

The following is a list of some of my 'scribblings', including a few from the 28 articles on COVID published in a monthly medical journal in 30 months (a world record). To open them, click on any of the titles. -- T. Rama Prasad

Blog Archive
·   ▼  2017 (115)
o  ▼  March (1)
§ COVID MEDICAL LITERATURE
o  ▼  April (112)
§ OREIKLE
§ DEEPAAVALI
§ Science and Nonsense about COVID
§ AMC BATCH 1959 (revised)
§ Nurses Day 2017
§ FOOD, EXERCISE and SLEEP
§ OMICRON -- a paper tiger ?
§ World TB Day: TB and COVID
§ INDIAN ENGLISH
§ MY QUOTES & JOKES
§ COVID, SCHOOLS & CHILDREN
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE
§ Death Penalty
§ COVID CROCODILES
§ Number 13
§ WORLD CANCER DAY ..February 4, 2017
§ CORONA VARIANTS
§ PERUNDURAI is the GEM
§ Covishield or Covaxin ?
§ GRADUATION DAY -- 2018, Perundurai Medical Col...
§ "AHIMSA"
§ STAFF & STUDENTS. -- photos
§ SINGAPORE
§ BRINGING UP CHILDREN
§ HAPPY 2018
§ Dr. T. Rama Prasad
§ OMICRON
§ QUOTES
§ POLLUTION, Disease and Deepaavali
§ CESAREAN DELIVERY
§ DOCTORS' HANDWRITING MATTERS
§ RAJYALAKSHMI and SPB
§ PONGAL FESTIVAL
§ To live in INDIA or ABROAD ?
§ THE HINDU newspaper & ME
§ KMCH
§ FISHES
§ RICHNESS and HAPPINESS
§ YELLOW NAIL SYNDROME
§ BIRDS and DANGEROUS DRUGS
§ ABDUL KALAM
§ SUNDAY LUNCH ... Dec 3, 2017
§ VINAYAKA chathurdhi 2017
§ BAHUBALI
§ COMPLEXION
§ DENGUE, ZIKA and MOSQUITO
§ FOOLED TO BELIEVE
§ DIABETES
§ TUBERCULOSIS in India
§ MY ART
§ CIVIC SENSE & MANNERS
§ SMILE and STRESS
§ CANCER
§ DOGS
§ GOD-MEN
§ CODUP
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE -- too toxic ?
§ GOD, RELIGION & UNIVERSE
§ CORONA and CHARLES DARWIN
§ YOGA
§ HCQ, IVERMECTIN, CORONAVIRUS and FRAUDS
§ INDIAN SUPERBUG
§ SWINE FLU -- A (H1 N1) influenza
§ NIPAH & ZIKA viruses
§ SOPHISTICATED CHEATING
§ PERUNDURAI MEDICAL COLLEGE & SANATORIUM campus
§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS
§ MY REAL AWARDS
§ GIRL CHILD : GOLDEN CHILD ; WOMEN POWER
§ ALLERGY, ASTHMA, COPD and ILD
§ TEST-TUBE PUPPIES
§ CREATE / KILL a baby
§ ONAM 2017
§ OPEN AIR DEFECATION
§ DRESS SENSE
§ SEXUAL HARASSMENT
§ RAPE
§ THE CHANGING WORLD
§ MARRIAGE and MATING
§ TEA, COFFEE and COMMERCE
§ DEVALUED DEGREES
§ SCHOOL EDUCATION and NEET
§ INCREDIBLE INDIA !
§ MARKETING TRICKS & INNOVATIONS
§ INTERNET EFFECT
§ RURAL ARE THE REAL
§ MEDICINE IN RURAL INDIA
§ RUN ON MONEY
§ MEDICAL CONFERENCES
§ Dr. Peon, PhD
§ MODERN MEDICINE -- the Good, the Bad and th...
§ YOU ARE NOT OLD
§ MOTHER-IN-LAW
§ RAJYALAKSHMI & International Women's Day 2024
§ SHIVA, KRISHNA, Ramanuja & Ramanujan
§ BETTER HALF
§ OUR LOVE STORY & good old days
§ 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic
§ ABOUT ME and MY SCRIBBLINGS
o  ▼  May (2)
§ FICUS trees and GODS
§ Post-Omicron Peregrination
·   ▼  2019 (1)
o  ▼  January (1)
§ AMC batch 1959
·   ▼  2020 (3)
o  ▼  February (1)
§ OVER-HEALTHCARE
o  ▼  April (1)
§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and RADIOGRAM
o  ▼  June (1)
§ CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)
·   ▼  2022 (1)
o  ▼  October (1)
§ VCW Rajyalakshmi, BLOG
·   ▼  2023 (17)
o  ▼  January (15)
§ RIGHT or WRONG ???
§ MONKEYPOX (Mpox)
§ TUBERCULOSIS -- drug-resistant
§ LONG and SHORT of COVID
§ MENTAL HEALTH
§ VERSHA, alias Vega
§ FEAR, STRESS and PSYCHOSIS
§ HEART
§ ZERO COVID
§ INDIAN IMMUNITY, BCG and COVID
§ WOW !!!
§ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
§ COVID vaccines -- Safe or Unsafe ?
§ COVID -- ANTISEPTIC JOURNAL
§ MEDICAL SYSTEMS
o  ▼  August (1)
§ RAMAYAAN
o  ▼  October (1)
§ NEET SAGA
·   ▼  2024 (1)
o  ▼  May (1)
§ THE NOBLE PROFESSION

A brief introduction

In the words of Prof C H Sivaraman, FRCP (London):

“ ... Dr. T. Rama Prasad belongs to a distinctly different and unconventional species of doctors. He speaks sparingly and does not even display his qualifications or merits, but his innumerable published writings (he calls them ‘scribblings’ though they are ‘pearls of wisdom and knowledge’, sprinkled with a bit of humour and sarcasm) which received wide acclaim talk eloquently for him. The ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic where services are available for which one may pay whatever one can is a facility run by Dr. Prasad for a very long time which could be a world record. Dr. Prasad is called a “god” by his patients, and many of them named their children after his name “Prasad” -- that is the height of recognition of goodness of a human being... ”

Service to humanity is service to God; Kindness costs nothing

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An anecdote about “GORU”

During my childhood, one of my schoolmates had huge nails. Her name was Gowri. We nicknamed her as ‘Goru’ (‘goru’ in Telugu means nail of a finger or toe ). They used to say that her huge nails caused a problem in her heart. It might be a case of ‘Digital Clubbing’ (abnormal nails present in some ‘Congenital Heart Diseases’). After one summer vacation, ‘Goru’ didn’t come back to the school. It was learnt that she died due to the nail / heart problem, and that treatment could not be availed as they didn’t have money to pay for it.

Perhaps, this incident prompted me to look at everyone’s nails from that time which might have led me to report the first case from India of ‘Yellow Nail Syndrome (YNS)’ from India in 1980 and the first case in the world of ‘Yellow nails & Covid’ in 2023 (https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/yellow-nail syndrome_28.html ).

And perhaps, the preventable death of ‘Goru’ due to the inability to pay for the treatment motivated me to start my ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic (PWYCC) half-a-century ago where patients may pay whatever they can. No fixed fee ( http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html ).

The credit for these case reports on YNS and the starting of my PWYCC should go to ‘Goru’. Thanks to “Goru”.

-- T. Rama Prasad

More at : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html

This is not an ad, it’s about an odd service.

GREETINGS from

‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic

“Thena thyakthena bhoojithaha”– Ishopanishad

( Translated by Prof. B.M. Hegde as: “Rejoice in giving.”)

True to this quote, I have been rejoicing at what little I could give. Defying stereotypes, this clinic has been in existence for a very long time, sans glitz, blitz, ads, microphones, speeches and noise. As a matter of my policy, publicity is shunned. The reason is simple. Good work needs no noise and nonsense. My ‘SCRIBBLINGS’ on related topics may be accessed at: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com

My consultation fee is not decided by me. It is the patient’s pleasure. The patient may pay (donate) whatever he can and what he wishes. If one is short of money, he or she need not pay anything. The money may just be put into the ‘hundi’ box kept outside the consultation room. And the money thus received is used for charity to help the needy, the poor and the less fortunate. If interested to know more about this facility, go to: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html . And, if you wish, you may also 'contribute what you can' through bank (Dr. RAMA PRASAD T, A/C No. 451075868, INDIAN BANK, IFS CODE IDIB000P155, PERUNDURAI, Erode District, Tamil Nadu - 638052 ).

"We need not run after money. If we are meritorious and compassionate, money would run after us, and it eludes us if we run after it.”

-- T. Rama Prasad

“Richness is not having lots of money. It is the feeling that one has enough of it. Contentment sans comparison is what makes one really rich.”

-- T. Rama Prasad.

Facebook: T Rama Prasad Twitter: @DrRamaprasadt Telegram : Dr T Rama Prasad

Consult your local doctor before rushing to me

Most ailments can be cured at local level

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Dr. T. Rama Prasad's Scribblings...

Thursday, May 18, 2017

FICUS trees and GODS

RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS

TREES and PLANTS -- the green gods

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