In my garden, Lonavala, the Parijaata tree blooms.
The tree with a story. Krishna and Satyabhama are in Indralok, helping the Devas fight Narakasura. When Krishna is injured in battle, Satyabhama picks up arms and slays Narakasura. Indralok is ecstatic. Song, dance, and revelry follow. Satyabhama on her visit to the celestial garden chances on the Parijaat tree – the tree with flowers with heavenly (it would be) fragrance. Krishna, seeing Satyabhama’s interest, decides to get her the tree. However, Indra decides to play spoilsport -that which belongs to heaven cannot be shared, types. Krishna, did not grow up outwitting the gopas and gopis for nothing. He manages to lift a branch – and escape from Devlok with Satyabhama (they fly Garuda). Indra tries to stop them – but fails. Being a sore loser he curses the plant with not being able to bear fruit in its earthly avtaar.
Krishna plants the branch in Satyabhama’s garden. (the flowers fall into Rukmini’s garden, but that is another story)
The Parijaat – botany knows it as the night flowering jasmine or the Nyctanthes arbor-tristis
this is the story i heard: princess falls in love with the sun. the king offers his daughter to the sun. he agrees, but with one condition: she will never avert her face from him. the princess and the sun marry. it is the rainy season, and his powers are mellow. so they live happily through the fall, winter and even spring. come summer, the sun begins to blaze. one day the delicate princess cannot look at him in the eye and turns away for a moment, wincing. the sun is so angry shrivels her. but before she dies, the gods intervene. she is turned into the parijat tree. see its shriveled trunk?
the sun though regrets his anger and visits her every night. when they make love, the whole garden is infused with the sweet smell. and the flowers fall to the ground in the morning. don’t believe me? pick up a parijaat flower. it will be touched by the sun…