Follow the example of a tree, Krishna tells

According to Srimad Bhagavatam, Krishna implored His fellow cowherds to follow the example of the tree in life. The tree has a special significance in the life and teachings of Krishna. During His early days he virtually lived in the forest surrounded by trees. Poet Jayadeva described Him as one living in the forest full of trees swayed by the gentle fragrant breeze cooled by the Yamuna waters. Krishna looked bewitching with a colourful garland of fragrant flowers.

Krishna compares human life with a tree. In the Bhagavad Gita, echoing the concept of Katho-panishads, he says human life is like the eternal Ashvattha tree having roots growing above and branches beneath. Puranas say that during the great deluge, pralaya, when everything drowned in turbulent waters, Krishna, assuming the form of a divine child, sleeps on the leaf of the Ashvattha tree, the tree of life.

 

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