Shloka 39
Matsya Purana — Description of Gomedaka and Puṣkara Dvīpas; the Lokāloka Boundary; Ocean Tide...
न्यग्रोधः पुष्करद्वीपे पद्मवत्तेन स स्मृतः पूज्यते स महादेवैर् ब्रह्मांशो ऽव्यक्तसम्भवः //
nyagrodhaḥ puṣkaradvīpe padmavattena sa smṛtaḥ pūjyate sa mahādevair brahmāṃśo 'vyaktasambhavaḥ //
In Puṣkara-dvīpa, the banyan tree Nyagrodha is remembered as being like a lotus. It is worshipped by the great deities; it is a portion of Brahmā, arising from the Unmanifest (Avyakta).
FAQs
By calling the Nyagrodha “born of the Unmanifest” (avyakta-sambhava), the verse links sacred forms in the world to primordial, unmanifest reality—an idea used in Purāṇic cosmology to explain how manifest sacred symbols arise from subtle origins across cycles (including pralaya and re-creation).
It supports dharma through reverence for sacred sites and symbols: a king protects holy places and public worship, while a householder practices devotion and maintains ritual respect for sanctified natural forms (like revered trees) as part of righteous living.
Ritually, it authorizes tree-veneration (vr̥kṣa-pūjā) at a sacred locale and frames the tree as a divine embodiment; such identification often underlies temple-grove practices and the placement of revered trees near shrines in Puranic sacred-space planning.