The Bull and The Bel Tree (Wood-Apple Tree) in Vedic Rituals - Vaak and The Brain.

The bull and the Bel Tree (Wood-Apple Tree) in Vedic rituals—-vaak and the brain.
The words in italics are the Itrans version of the Sanskrit words and can be found in the
Sanskrit English Lexicon of Monier Williams (<https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/
monier/>).
A bull is vRiSha in Sanskrit. vRiSha also means who is causing varShaNa or 'rain'. These

are from the root words 'varSha' meaning 'rain' and also 'year' and also ' division of earth
or physical space'.
From the activities of the Universal Consciousness or from praaNa changes are happening.

Life (soma) from the divinity flows to the earth. Accordingly, physical space is also
identified and named. Like, vaarata varSha is the space that showers radiance, madhu
varSha is the space that showers sweetness or honey, uttara (north or beyond) kuru
(karma or activities) varSha is the space that is characterized by effortless work or
salvation.
India was considered part of vaarata varSha, Switzerland as part of madhu varSha,
and Russia as part of uttara kuru varSha.
The female form of a bull (vRiSha) is a cow (go). We have clarified the various meanings of
the Sanskrit word go and its relationship with the animal cow in the article available at the
link < https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2017/12/sanskrit-word-related-to-go-all-
words.html>
In short go or cow represents the 'sensory organs' or the 'active senses'. The self
manifesting Consciousness or the power of Consciousness behind every manifestation,
behind the formation of senses (or words), or behind the formation of an entity is
called vaak.
Thus go also implies vaak or the power of Consciousness by which Consciousness multiplies
or becomes many. vaak has been addressed as dhenu (holy cow) in Upanishad
and praaNa as the bull and mind as the calf. (Refer to Verse 5.8.2 of Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad.)
The Universal Consciousness or praaNa is raining life, revealing everything along the
course of time, and is called vRisha.
Thus in Upanishad it is said:
yada te avivarshatha athemaa praano te prajaa

aanandarUpam tisthThanti kaamaayaannam bhaviShyati. (Prashnopanishada Verse 2.10)
When you rain, oh praaNa!

Your subjects wait in delight knowing that the desired anna will surely bloom.
anna means 'food'. anna actually means an or praaNa scattering all over to nourish us.

The earth gets fertile by praaNa, by rain, by the streaming Consciousness called soma, who
reveals as the verdant plantation, as lives in the ocean, earth, and air.
One of the most significant aspects of a bull is its virility, its ability to breed prolifically,
like varShaNa or raining from praaNa or the Universal Consciousness. Raining from
Universal consciousness is creating the time and space as the universe and as every
moment.
It may be noted that, in Upanishads, the divine elixir soma has been also mentioned as the
semen virile, that brings in new life, that as the rain makes the earth fertile with life and
fragrant with the smell of life, that keeps us vital and intoxicated with the lust for life.
vRiSha or the bull is also described as the draft animal of the god or deity of the tree called
Bel(Bael) tree or Wood-Apple tree. This is a holy tree in the Hindu religion. This tree in an
individual represents the brain with the spine (trunk) and the nerves streaming down the
spine and spreading all over the body. The tree as a deity represents the 'universal brain
with the trunk or the spine through which the nerves or the streams of Consciousness are
flowing in all directions in the universe. Thus Bel tree or bilva bRikSha represents the
Universal Consciousness spreading everywhere from the core or centre of control. 'Bel
tree' (the individual control and nervous system) in each of us is a branch (shaakhaa) of the
Universal Tree.
Thus the control (kaala / time and its effects) are happening from the universal Bel tree
or bilva bRikSha or from the Universal Consciousness. The control defines the time or the
culture/ religion. This aspect of Consciousness is also called 'dharma' or the 'god of
religions' or 'the ruler'. Thus bull or vRiSha is also known as the draft animal
of 'dharma' or 'the personalized religion' who rules over all the creation.
The word bilva means 'related to bila'. One of the meanings of bila is 'bowl'. In Upanishad,

the 'head' or 'brain' has been described as a 'bowl' positioned 'upside down and where 'the
entire faculties, exhibited as the universe, is located.
(Thus this tells me that the English word 'bull' probably is related to the Sanskrit
words 'bila' or 'bilva'.)
The word bila in Sanskrit means ' a cave, a hollow, bowl of a spoon or ladle'. Upanishad
has described 'brain or head ' as arvaka bila chamasa urdha budhna---a bowl or a ladle
with its bottom up.
Thus the hymn is : arvaka bila chamasa urdha budhna
(inside the cavity of the ladle with its bottom up
yasmin yashoH vishvarupam nihitam
(where the universe as the treasure is contained)

tasmin aasate RiShaya sapta tIre
(there along its bank {rim} reside the seven seers/sages
vaak aShTamI brahmNaa saMvidaanaa
({goddess } vaak is the eighth, she who makes brahma known.)

(Brihadaranyak Upanishad, Verse 2.2.3.)
Then further Upanishad has explained the above hymns as below:
The ladle with bottoms up (inverted ladle) is the 'head'.

The treasure (yasha) is praaNa (the active Universal Consciousness who is everyone's
senses).
praaNa is 'vishvarupam' or the manifested universe in the external and felt internally.
Along the rim of the 'ladle' resides the 'seven seers'. The seers are the personalities of the
Consciousness who are
'Right and left eyes'---2 Seers
'Right and left ears'---2 Seers
'Right and left noses'--2 Seers
'Tongue & lips together i.e. speech, taste and touch'--1 seer
vaak, the consort of praaNa, who provides all definitions to praaNa to shape the universe is
termed as the 'eighth’. vaak is heralding that Consciousness is bramha or surpassing
everyone. Eight is aShTa, and is from the root verb ash meaning 'to pervade, to reach '.
vaak or Consciousness as vaak is there everywhere, reaching everywhere, surpassing,
exceeding everything. Thus, vaak is heralding bramha, who is Consciousness as ever-
growing. It is for this reason, everything that the mind perceives is associated with a ‘ word’
or a vaakya; vaakya means a form of vaak.

A pair of Bel (Wood-Apple) fruits in two branches and splitting from a single stem is used
in bodhana or awakening (invoking) of goddess durgaa (also known as mukhya praaNa or
eternal active Consciousness) in the idol or in the physicality or in the self.
The two fruits are called shrIfala and shrIniketana. shrIfala is the cerebrum and other
associated parts (front and midbrain); shrIniketana is the cerebellum (the hindbrain); the
stem is the brain-stem and the spine.
The senses, word processing, interpretations, the control of motors, or all the controls
happen in the domain of the Cerebrum and Cerebellum.
It may be noted that in the above-quoted hymn, vaak the goddess of words or expressions

is the central theme.
The branch of the Tree which is thornless, which is impeccable, which is leading, is used in
invoking the goddess. This is the branch, which is the 'assertion-less self in us, which
supports the sense of 'aham or I am ' in each of us. It is the Universal soul as micro-soul in
us. In text, it is called, aatman, aatma-bodha, nija-bodha'. The senses, i. e., the other
branches of the tree are created with aatma-bodha in the background or as the foundation.
We all have this principal branch aatma-bodha in us who is the same 'One' in everyone.
Here is the first line of the hymn to ' bilva vRikSha':
bilva vRikSham mahaavaagam rajatavaM vRiShasThitam
(The Bel tree is great and shining silver; he is seated on a bull)
naanaa alankara vhuShitam jaTaa maNdala dharinam
(He is adorned with various ornaments and is having locked orb of hair!).
(‘ Locked orb of hair ’ means our entangled, intricate instincts. ’ )
From the ‘head' is raining (varShaNa> vRisha>bull) the senses ceaselessly. This is why the
head is also called 'sahasraara' which means from where sahasra (thousand) ara (spokes)
are originating. It also means 'aatmanaa saha sravati', flowing along with the soul
or aatman.
Both the Cerebrum and Cerebellum have two halves or two hemispheres (represented by
two Bel fruits connected to a single stem). The interpretations of words, senses, happen in
Cerebrum which is called shrIfala. Here all 'effects' or 'fala' are associated with 'shrI'.
shrI is the elegance that manifests when it is known or experienced that the eternal
Consciousness is the foundation or shelter (shrad) of everything. The word shrI is from the
root word shrad meaning 'shelter'. shrI is the elegance that one perceives when the things
are seen founded in the Universal consciousness.
The cerebellum is shrIniketana. shrIniketana means the abode or niketana that is adorned

with shrI. All our movements and associated coordination, including the motion of the
eyeballs, are controlled from this centre. It has been cited in the hymns, that in the snow-
capped peaks of the two mountains named meru-mandara and kailaasha, shrIfala tree
grows and also exists shrInieketana. It is notable that the brain is like a mountain terrain. I
am quoting a line from the Internet——" The surface of the cerebrum is called the cortex.
It has a folded appearance with hills and valleys." (https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-
anatbrain.htm).
Written following the teachings of the great sage Shri.BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya

(1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri.Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya (1923-1994).
(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)

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The bull and the Bel Tree (Wood-Apple Tree) in Vedic rituals—-vaak and the brain.

A bull is vRiSha in Sanskrit. vRiSha also means who is causing varShaNa or 'rain'. These

From the activities of the Universal Consciousness or from praaNa changes are happening.

yada te avivarshatha athemaa praano te prajaa

When you rain, oh praaNa!

anna means 'food'. anna actually means an or praaNa scattering all over to nourish us.

The word bilva means 'related to bila'. One of the meanings of bila is 'bowl'. In Upanishad,

Thus the hymn is : arvaka bila chamasa urdha budhna

(inside the cavity of the ladle with its bottom up

yasmin yashoH vishvarupam nihitam

(where the universe as the treasure is contained)

(there along its bank {rim} reside the seven seers/sages

vaak aShTamI brahmNaa saMvidaanaa

({goddess } vaak is the eighth, she who makes brahma known.)

Then further Upanishad has explained the above hymns as below:

The ladle with bottoms up (inverted ladle) is the 'head'.

It may be noted that in the above-quoted hymn, vaak the goddess of words or expressions

bilva vRikSham mahaavaagam rajatavaM vRiShasThitam

(The Bel tree is great and shining silver; he is seated on a bull)

naanaa alankara vhuShitam jaTaa maNdala dharinam

(‘ Locked orb of hair ’ means our entangled, intricate instincts. ’ )

The cerebellum is shrIniketana. shrIniketana means the abode or niketana that is adorned

Written following the teachings of the great sage Shri.BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya

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