Tamala tree

Expressions researched:
"tamala tree" |"tamalas" |"tamala trees"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.9.33, Translation:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamāla tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems (upper, middle and lower). May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.13.33, Translation:

Then the Lord, playing like an elephant, suspended the earth on the edge of His curved white tusks. He assumed a bluish complexion like that of a tamāla tree, and thus the sages, headed by Brahmā, could understand Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.6.14-15, Translation:

The whole of Kailāsa Hill is decorated with various kinds of trees, of which the following names may be mentioned: mandāra, pārijāta, sarala, tamāla, tāla, kovidāra, āsana, arjuna, āmra-jāti (mango), kadamba, dhūli-kadamba, nāga, punnāga, campaka, pāṭala, aśoka, bakula, kunda and kurabaka. The entire hill is decorated with such trees, which produce flowers with fragrant aromas.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.2.9-13, Translation:

In a valley of Trikūṭa Mountain there was a garden called Ṛtumat. This garden belonged to the great devotee Varuṇa and was a sporting place for the damsels of the demigods. Flowers and fruits grew there in all seasons. Among them were mandāras, pārijātas, pāṭalas, aśokas, campakas, cūtas, piyālas, panasas, mangoes, āmrātakas, kramukas, coconut trees, date trees and pomegranates. There were madhukas, palm trees, tamālas, asanas, arjunas, ariṣṭas, uḍumbaras, plakṣas, banyan trees, kiṁśukas and sandalwood trees. There were also picumardas, kovidāras, saralas, sura-dārus, grapes, sugarcane, bananas, jambu, badarīs, akṣas, abhayas and āmalakīs.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.13.49, Purport:

In our Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vṛndāvana, there is a tamāla tree that covers an entire corner of the courtyard. Before there was a temple the tree was lying neglected, but now it has developed very luxuriantly, covering the whole corner of the courtyard. This is a sign of bhūri-puṇya.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.251, Translation:

“The flutelike murmur of the bamboos rubbing against one another steals Rādhārāṇī’s consciousness, for She thinks it to be the sound of My flute. And She embraces a tamāla tree, mistaking it for Me.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 8.194, Translation and Purport:

“"Alas, before We met there was an initial attachment between Us brought about by an exchange of glances. In this way attachment evolved. That attachment has gradually grown, and there is no limit to it. Now that attachment has become a natural sequence between Ourselves. It is not that it is due to Kṛṣṇa, the enjoyer, nor is it due to Me, for I am the enjoyed. It is not like that. This attachment was made possible by mutual meeting. This mutual exchange of attraction is known as manobhava, or Cupid. Kṛṣṇa"s mind and My mind have merged together. Now, during this time of separation, it is very difficult to explain these loving affairs. My dear friend, though Kṛṣṇa might have forgotten all these things, you can understand and bring this message to Him. But during Our first meeting there was no messenger between Us, nor did I request anyone to see Him. Indeed, Cupid's five arrows were Our via media. Now, during this separation, that attraction has increased to another ecstatic state. My dear friend, please act as a messenger on My behalf, because if one is in love with a beautiful person, this is the consequence.’

These verses were originally composed and sung by Rāmānanda Rāya himself. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura suggests that during the time of conjugal enjoyment, the attachment might be compared to Cupid himself. However, during the period of separation, Cupid becomes a messenger of highly elevated love. This is called prema-vilāsa-vivarta. When there is separation, conjugal enjoyment itself acts like a messenger, and that messenger was addressed by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as a friend. The essence of this transaction is that transcendental loving affairs are as relishable during separation as during conjugal enjoyment. When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was fully absorbed in love of Kṛṣṇa, She mistook a black tamāla tree for Kṛṣṇa and embraced it. Such a mistake is called prema-vilāsa-vivarta.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.146, Translation and Purport:

"(Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī said to Her constant companion Viśākhā:) "My dear friend, if Kṛṣṇa is unkind to Me, there will be no need for you to cry, for it will not be due to any fault of yours. I shall then have to die, but afterwards please do one thing for Me: to observe My funeral ceremony, place My body with its arms embracing a tamāla tree like creepers so that I may remain forever in Vṛndāvana undisturbed. That is My last request.""

This verse is Vidagdha-mādhava 2.47.

CC Antya 7.86, Translation and Purport:

“The only purport of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is that He is dark blue like a tamāla tree and is the son of mother Yaśodā. This is the conclusion of all the revealed scriptures.’

This is a verse from the Nāma-kaumudī

CC Antya 19.41, Translation:

“Kṛṣṇa's bodily luster shines like the indranīla gem and surpasses the luster of the tamāla tree. The luster of His body drives the entire world mad because Providence has made it transparent by refining the essence of the mellow of conjugal love and mixing it with moonshine.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 21:

One devotee praised the bodily features of Kṛṣṇa when he saw the Lord in His manifested personal feature. He exclaimed, "How wonderful is the personal feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa! How His neck is just like a conchshell! His eyes are so beautiful, as though they themselves were encountering the beauty of a lotus flower. His body is just like the tamāla tree, very blackish. His head is protected with a canopy of hair. There are the marks of Śrīvatsa on His chest, and He is holding His conchshell. By such beautiful bodily features, the enemy of the demon Madhu has appeared so pleasing that He can bestow upon me transcendental bliss simply by my seeing His transcendental qualities."

Nectar of Devotion 29:

When Vṛṣāsura appeared in Vṛndāvana as a bull, all of the gopīs became greatly affected with fear. Being perturbed in that way, they began to embrace the tamāla trees. This is an instance of fear caused by a ferocious animal and of the search for shelter while remembering Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love.

Nectar of Devotion 30:

Once while Kṛṣṇa was out walking, one of the associates of Rādhārāṇī told Her, "My dear friend, do You think that this walking personality is a tamāla tree? If He is a tamāla tree, then how is it possible for Him to walk and be so beautiful? Then, this personality might be a cloud. But if He's a cloud, then where is the beautiful moon within? Under the circumstances, I think it may be granted that this person is the same enchanting Personality of Godhead by whose flute vibration the three worlds are captivated. He must be the same Mukunda who is standing before Govardhana Hill." This is another instance of an argumentative presentation of ecstatic love.

Nectar of Devotion 35:

In one of the prayers of the Kumāra brothers, this declaration is made: "O Lord Mukunda (Kṛṣṇa, the giver of liberation), only so long as one does not happen to see Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge, appearing just like a newly-grown tamāla tree, with a bluish hue—only for so long can the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, known as Brahman, be very pleasing to a saintly person."

Nectar of Devotion 43:

When Nanda Mahārāja saw the beauty of child Kṛṣṇa, with tiger nails on His chest, a complexion like the new-grown tamāla tree, beautifully decorated tilaka made with cow's urine, arm decorations of nice silk thread, and silk clothes tied around His waist—when Nanda Mahārāja saw his child like this, he never became satiated by the child's beauty.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with George Harrison -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: You have not seen our temple since it is inaugurated? No.

George Harrison: No.

Prabhupāda: This time you come. Many thousands people come to see daily.

George Harrison: I saw the photograph, looks really nice. It's big.

Gurudāsa: Now they say it's the most beautiful modern temple in Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: You have seen our.... There is any film of the temple?

Gurudāsa: No, but there's photographs.

Jayatīrtha: We have a nice photograph at the reception room downstairs.

George Harrison: Actually it was half built.

Gurudāsa: Yes. Even the building you went into, there's more, the roof.

Prabhupāda: That courtyard is very beautiful. There is a tāmala tree. That is a very valuable tree. The Bisanchand Seth asked me to cut.

Gurudāsa: Yes, I remember.

Prabhupāda: What a nonsense, such a.... He has no idea. Now, on account of that tree, it looks so beautiful.

Hari-śauri: It is, it's very wonderful. The whole tree has flourished since the temple began.

Gurudāsa: We planned the whole temple around that tree. The whole plans.

George Harrison: It's a big old tree?

Pradyumna: Tree's just in the courtyard of the temple, so we left it there.

Gurudāsa: Same color as Kṛṣṇa, śyāma. Like a fresh rain cloud color. So when Rādhārāṇī sees the tree, She thinks of Kṛṣṇa. So when we see the tree we think of Kṛṣṇa. And Śrīla Prabhupāda sits underneath the tree and watches.

Prabhupāda: Rādhārāṇī in separation was embracing that tree, tāmala tree. And they say that in Vṛndāvana, only there are four tāmala trees left.

Gurudāsa: Yes, they've said four or six. Very few.

George Harrison: Is this tree still living?

Devotees: Yes, it's alive.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Tamala Krsna -- Los Angeles 1 May, 1970:

My Dear Tamala,

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 26 April, 1970, and I am so pleased to note the contents which are exactly befitting your name Tamala. Perhaps you know Tamala is a nice tree in Vrndavana, and because the color of the tree exactly resembles that of Krsna, therefore Srimati Radharani always used to take rest underneath the Tamala tree when she was feeling separation from Krsna.