Note 110 — CHAPTER 6

Ficus religiosa. It presents a perfect resemblance to the popul (poplar) of Germany and Italy, a species of which is the aspen. [They belong to different orders.] So similar is it, that the specimen of the pipal from Carolina is called, in the Isola Bella of the Lago Maggiore, Populus angulata; and another, in the Jardin des Plantes at Toulon, is termed the Ficus populifolia, ou figuier à feuilles de peuplier. The aspen, or ash, held sacred by the Celtic priests, is said to be the mountain-ash. ‘The calf of Bal’ is generally placed under the pipal; and Hindu tradition sanctifies a never-dying stem, which marks the spot where the Hindu Apollo, Hari (the sun), was slain by the savage Bhil on the shores of Saurashtra. [This is known as the Prāchi Pīpal, and death rites are performed close to it (BG, viii. 271, note 2).]