The Tree, Ode to the Banyan

Poetry — By Amalya B

When I first saw the tree, I saw a Mother and her many children. Branches reaching out to all directions. Outward, skyward, earthward. The tree had roots that were branches and branches that were rooted. Her spirit had sprung forth from the barren red earth, spreading her canopy as an offering to the heavenly bodies, outstretched long tortuous arms to the four winds. And from those arms, roots had reached down. Tentacular being, expanding, grounding, and expanding further more.

The tree was not always so majestic. Once upon a time, she had stood alone and exposed on a thirsty plateau.

A divine finger had then pointed at a geographical area on a map. And in an instant, the tree was no longer just a tree.

She had become the center of the new city of dawn.

Instilled with a sacred calling, nursed with the love and care of early Aurovilians, the spirit of the lone tree had unveiled and deployed her grace.

In the backdrop, a golden sun was emerging from the earth, while the tree extended her aerial roots, intricate tapestry of interconnectedness and support. In a caring embrace, she had stretched her shade to shelter the innocent games of the city’s first children and lent her tranquillity to the conversations that would shape the future of this land.

Naturally, steadily, she had conquered the space around her, establishing her noble figure as the perennial witness to the rise of a new consciousness.

Time passed. The tree which had been one, was now many. A forest, a family unit. From her hollow core, echoing with invocations of men and women for a unifying Truth, ripples had formed, one life-supporting ring giving roots to another. She was now a temple, her lush dome resting upon vigorous pillars that had pierced through the ground to establish themselves as solemn guardians of her integrity. To fulfil her full-fleshed legacy, She had given command to her offshoots. Rooted, grounded extensions of herself, infused with her vital force, her sap, her blood, sustaining the vision at the core, carrying her legacy far and wide. The consequence, and condition, of her realisation.

There she stands.

Dignified guardian, at the heart of Humanity’s vow for Truth, Peace and Unity.

A mother, and her many children.

And the Mother lives on,

To see her legacy reach far up,

Out, and down,

Into the Red Earth

Over the Blue Sky,

And they are now many,

Many within the One.