Saraca here! You used to find my beautiful, delicately perfumed flowers everywhere you ventured. Unfortunately, today you'd be hard pressed to find an authentic me. I am an Ashoka tree, one of the most legendary and sacred trees in all of India. Many would describe me as a small but charming, deep green evergreen tree with fragrant flowers so vivid yellow-orange, staying on your mind long after you leave.
In Sanskrit, Ashoka means without grief or that which gives no grief. If you are feeling depressed, try to remember my name and you'll be back in good spirits in no time. For those of you looking for some romantic inspiration, I am sometimes referred to as the tree of love blossoms. As a symbol of love, I am often dedicated to Kamadeva, the God of Love. He's your go-to for all sorts of love advice.
Hold on a second, I just had a thought! If I am getting harder to find, does that mean Kamadeva's abilities are weakened? The God of Love has five different flowers on his arrows and one of those comes from me. I’m not sure if his arrows would be as effective if the flower representing seductive hypnosis was missing. You know Ognam the Mango tree? His flowers are also used on Kamadeva’s arrows. Just as an aside, I know some people believe Hanuman and Sita met under the Mango trees, but I could’ve sworn Sita spend most of her imprisonment in my grove, the Ashoka Vatika. That's beside the point. Kamadeva not having all his supplies could mean you guys may have a difficult time finding love. Maybe use that as motivation to stop environmental destruction and keep trees alive.
Let's talk more about Kamadeva. This troublemaker (his name can mean one who agitates so take that as you will) lives for a meet-cute. You know those adorable, almost unbelievable moments when people meet for the first time. I guess as the God of Love you kind of have to be into that stuff. Kamadeva’s bow is made of sugarcane and, as I mentioned earlier, flowers make up his arrows. He rides a parrot and is often accompanied by the God of Spring, hummingbirds, his consort Rati, and really anyone else who feels like coming along.
Rati, his wife and assistant, personifies sexual delight with a type of beauty that can distract even the wise sages. She carries a lotus flower and discus and enthralls others with desire, while also satisfying Kamadeva’s own sexual needs. She doesn’t take on other 'wifely duties,' but I think that's perfectly valid given all the other tasks she takes on.
One of the craziest things I have ever seen came at Kamadeva's expense. During every retelling of the story, I have the hardest time not laughing in the middle. So, the Gods were having no luck in defeating the demon Taraka. It was eventually discovered that only the offspring of Shiva could end Taraka's terror. The problem with that was Shiva abstains from pleasure and at the time he was in deep meditation. Brahma and Indra brought in Kamadeva, hoping he could successfully fill Shiva with enough desire to create an offspring with Parvati, Shiva's wife.
Kamadeva accepts the challenge. He cleverly transforms himself into a sweet-scented breeze to sneak past the guard. It’s disputed on who Shiva sees first, Kamadeva or Parvati, but either way Shiva blames Kamadeva for breaking his meditation. In retaliation, Shiva immediately incinerates Kamadeva using his third eye. Poof! Kamadeva and love are removed from the world, only ashes left behind. Parvati was so upset with Shiva, she didn’t even want to make a child with him. Parvati argued that happiness was impossible without Kamadeva around.
We all barely had time to mourn the loss of Kamadeva before Shiva relents and brings him back. The first story I heard was that Kamadeva had returned, but in a body-less form. The version I believe, along with many others, claims Kamadeva was reincarnated as Krishna’s son Pradyumna. Fun fact: Rati was reborn as Mayavati, Pradyumna's eventual wife. Is it not the sweetest thing when lovers find each other after reincarnation? Following all these shenanigans, Kamadeva reunites with his entourage and continues his mission to help solve people's love problems.
A really cool power I have is the connection shared with my flowers. I generally stay in one spot but my flowers can easily travel the world. Through them I am able to witness the blossoming of new relationships Kamadeva helps create. My heart swells with pride at each and every sweet moment. I guess that means I'm a sucker for a good meet-cute too.
Author's Note:
I had a lot of fun on this story. I think my Ashoka is a cute, carefree tree so I tried to keep the tone lighthearted. (I did have to throw in a little comment on climate change; it's automatic these days.) In my Ashoka research I came across a lot of stories about Kamadeva, the God of Love. Kamadeva is such an amusing character. I could really see him and my tree Saraca being friends. If you have some time I recommend reading Kamadeva's Wikipedia page. It's a decent overview of what Kamadeva gets up to. I read somewhere he has three daughters known as quite the temptresses. I started to picture his wife and daughters flying along with him on the parrot, just looking for trouble to get into. I tried to put that in my story but I just couldn't find a good place to make it work.
I started this storybook wanting to focus solely on the trees. When reading through the initial feedback it seemed many people wanted to know more about the characters than about the actual trees. I understand that though. It's difficult to really care about the biological makeup and history of a plant that you may never see in person. I think it has worked out well but I sometimes feel bad for not spending as much time on the trees as I do on the other characters. Really as long as my stories get the reader thinking about nature and how important it is to various traditions, I believe this storybook has been successful.