Aranyaakhyaan: The Forest in Myth and Memory

'" OCCASIONAL PUBLICATION 21

Aranyaakhyaan: The Forest in Myth and Memory The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and not of the India International Centre.

The Occasional Publication series is published for the India International Centre by Cmde. (Retd.) R. Datta.

Designed and produced by FACET Design. Tel.: 91-11-24616720, 24624336. Aranyaakhyaan: ·The Forest in Myth and Memory*

Eko vasah pattane va vane va. Sunny spots of (Bhartrihari) greenery where Moha vipin ghan dahan krishanuh Xanadu stood Santsarorukkanan bhanuh amidst fragrant Nishicharkarivarruthmrigrajah trees were a rarity Tratusadanubhavakhagbajah. (Ramcharit Manas /Aranya Kanda) and a testament to man's hubris *** that believed a Woods shall to me answer and my echo ring ... ' primeval forest (Edmund Spenser, 1552-1599) could be tamed or forced to yield The opening lines of Coleridge's celebrated poem Kubla Khan evoke land for urban compelling images of a fabulous city carved out of 'forests as ancient settlement as the hills .. .' where 'AIph, the sacred river, rani Through caverns measureless to man/ Down to a sunless sea... .' This dramatic opening almost effortlessly recaptures the myriad associations of the Forest with hills, sacred life- sustaining streams, mysterious darkness and a vast expanse. Sunny spots of greenery where Xanadu stood amidst fragrant trees were a rarity and a testament to man's

• This paper was specially written for the IIC Experience 2010, a Festival of the Arts celebrating 'The Forest'. hubris that believed a primeval forest could be tamed or forced to yield land for urban settlement. In the end, till now at least, the forest seems to have scoffed at such heroic ambition and has managed to reclaim what our ancestors had snatched away for a while. The remnants of the once mighty Machu Picchu and the majestic ruins of Ankor Vat stand as an abiding testimony of the power of the Forest. One is reminded from Peru to Cambodia, to quote another poet, that 'I have come to the borders of sleep) The unfathomable deep/ Forest where all must lose/ Their way ..... ' (Edward Thomas, 1878-1917)

The moment a thicket of trees is called a wood, the aura of the forest diminishes. Robert Frost is tempted by the woods that are 'lovely' though 'dark and deep'- not at all menacing but inviting a tired traveller to enter their soothing embrace and call it a day. Frost's 'promises to keep' may have prevented him from stopping by the woods but the enduring enchantment of the woods remained eternally distracting. However, George Meredith's cautionary lines about the woods are also well worth remembering: 'Enter these enchanted woods) You who dare.'

In the Western mythological tradition, the forest is often seen as 'Terra Incognita' - impenetrable, full of invisible danger and unknown threats, a realm of magic and mystery and a repository of fabulous riches. The Greeks, who resided in small city- states, were awestruck by the cedar forests in the Mediterranean region. Several epic Greek heroes, such as Hercules, prove their prowess battling beasts and giants in the forest, an essentially hostile, alien territory. The Bible, too, mentions the Cedars The Bible, of Lebanon but such references are few. As in the holy Koran, the too, mentions major Biblical episodes are set in a desert.

the Cedars of By the middle ages, the forests of Europe had all but vanished. If they Lebanon but survived at all, it was mostly in fairytales and fables. And, here too the such references images were recreated from exotic Asia - India to be precise. Aesop's are few. As in the Fables that humanize animals, are clearly inspired by the Panchtantra and the Hitopdesh where many a tale begins with, 'Once upon a time, in holy Koran, the a forest, dark and deep... ' Thesestories were preceded by the lataktales major Biblical - allegorical stories of the Buddha's previous births. Kathasaritsagar, episodes are set based on an even earlier Prakrit work - Brihatkatha - is also replete in a desert with references to the forest. The Shola and Palani forests are frequently

2 mentioned in Tamil poetry of the Sangama period, made accessible Till the beginning to us by A.K. Ramanujan's brilliant translations. Ramanujan uses of the nineteenth the older Tamil names for these: Pa/ai, a wilderness that is a century, the wasteland, and Mul/ai, a thick woodland where trysts are kept or Conquistadores, broken. In contrast to these evocative terms, for a western writer - such as Hans Christian Andersen - the forest was the abode' as well as armed of dangerous creatures: terrifying and treacherous, where wicked traders, remained horrible witches, big bad wolves, hungry lions lurked everywhere confined to the to devour innocent children. coastal belt in Till the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Conquistadores, fortified factories as well as armed traders, remained confined to the coastal belt from where they in fortified factories from where they could quickly escape to could quickly their ships anchored nearby. The European victors vanquished escape to their the (indigenous) enemy more by guile than by superior force and continued to enrich themselves by plundering the stored ships anchored riches but remained unaware of the riches of the forest. Even nearby when aware, these intruders baulked at the thought of venturing into the domain of the anaconda and tarantula after penetrating the dense equatorial rainforests. Even in the North American continent, the temperate rainforest was systematically cut down and destroyed only in the nineteenth century when the 'wild' West was 'won'. The story was no different in Africa and Asia.

A handful of adventurers and fortune-hunting Europeans encountered the real forest only when the age of great explorations dawned and a period of colonial conquests started in the wake of the 'discovery' of America and the Indies by Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The history of the exploration of the African and Asian rainforest often blurs borders between fact and fantasy. Fading memories mingle with carefully nurtured racial myths and larger-than-life characters, such as Cecil Rhodes, David Livingstone and James Brooke who founded a kingdom in Sarawak (North Borneo) to become the White Rajah, and continue to cast their confusing shadow as national stereotypes. Forthese 'pioneers' Africa remained a continent of darkness where one could spend a lifetime only to realize the 'horror of it all!' (James Conrad, The Heart of Darkness).

3 The Orientalist's construction of the forest as the 'Heart of Darkness', an extremely dangerous place that was unfit for civilized settlement, .crystallized with the publication of the records of journeys of explorations undertaken by Stanley and Livingstone, Hooker and Cecil Rhodes. Fiction reinforced these images and ideas. From colonial classics, such as Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Books (set in the Mahadeo Hills in what is now Madhya Pradesh) and popular thrillers for adolescents - Rider Haggard's Tarzan of the Apes and comic strips such as Lee Falks' Phantom: the Ghost Who Walks - cast a bewitching spell on readers. The denizens of the forests depicted in these 'stories' as pygmies and head-hunting cannibals wielding poison arrows to deter intruders, went on to become stereotypes that continue to dominate popular imagination - not only in the urban West but everywhere. It is also worth remembering that these terrifying creatures are regularly and unfailingly disciplined and dominated by the White Man. The saga of James Brooke, the 'White Rajah' in Sarawak, which spawned the film Sandokan, may be cited as an illustration of this tendency. As an aside, it may be added that the chronicles of the clash between the immigrants and the native Red Indians on the North American continent also reflect this trend.

Burma, Borneo, Indonesia, Indo-China somehow managed to retain their dense forest cover till the mid-twentieth century and the invading Japanese forces had to cope with the dangers lurking in the jungle. The US had to use defoliants, such as Agent Orange, in the mid 1960s to poison the environment in a desperate attempt to devastate the forest and deny the invisible enemy, the Vietcong/ Vietminh, their defensive cover. For th~ White Man carrying a civilizing-democratizing baggage, the \ forest remained a formidable foe.

For the White The Survey of India was established in 1802 when 'The Great Man carrying Triangulation' project, starting from the southern tip of the peninsula moved up to the impregnable Himalayan range in the north. As the a civilizing- intrepid officials-technical staff and Indian assistants-marched democratizing through uncharted terrain and dense forests, they suffered a large baggage, the number of casualties. Wild animals, poisonous snakes and malaria claimed many more lives than unfortunate survey-related accidents. forest remained a Mapping the Indian forests and filling in the gaps continued through formidable foe the next 175 years and more as other institutions, such as the

4 Botanical and Zoological Surveyof India, joined hands with the Survey Colonial policies of India. This prepared the ground for 'scientific' forestry. In India, the and practices, establishment of British domination and expansion of their control it is difficult accelerated the process of deforestation. It also marked the rupture in to overlook, the harmonious relationship between the people of the sub-continen.t and the forest. aggravated the divide between Modern 'scientific' forestry and conservation happily, and perhaps not the forest merely coincidentally, coincided with commercialization of the forest and prepared the way for establishing the government's monopoly dwellers and the over it. Large stretches of forest were cleared to make way for modern State plantations and trees were felled to supply sleepers to the railways. Alienation of people's customary rights and establishment of a government monopoly met with resistance, at times violently (as in the case of the revolt led by Birsa Munda) only to be ruthlessly crushed. Colonial policies and practices, it is difficult to overlook, aggravated the divide between the forest dwellers and the modern State.

11

Aranya and Vana in the Indian Mind

Ironically, in ancient India almost everyone had to live for years in the forest as a vanavasi, and this is probably why for our ancestors, the forest was more a benign than a malevolent presence.The 'Hindu Way of Life' assigns a special significance to the forest. Of the four stages in a man's life, two (brahmacharya and vanaprastha), involved vanavasa - domicile in the forest. The adolescent and the retired were thus no strangers to a life spent in the wild. Introduced to the jungle in their youth, the wild forest held no terrors for adults past their prime. Therefore, it was not seen as an enemy but re-entered in search of tranquillity. Grahasthas, too, in the third stage of life spent in active pursuit of profit and pleasure did not - or could not - stay away from the forest. Several major trade routes passed through jungles, where some major pilgrim sites were also located. It is, however, important to make a distinction between those who voluntarily opted for a life 'far from the madding crowd' and those who were banished to spend a punitive exile literally in the wilderness. Naturally, life in an exile-enforced vanavasa was qualitatively different from a voluntary retreat into a forest. The exile extended for a certain period (usually

5 12 years, as in the case of Prince Rama and the Pandava princes) and was spent itinerantly perhaps to escape continued pursuit and persecution.

The seers and sages, ascetics - rishi, muni and tapsvi - dwelt in an ashram (a hermitage) where fugitives from law also found temporary shelter or refuge. Ashrams in the popular mind were synonymous with sharanya (shelter), and abhyaranya (sanctuary). In fact, for millennia forests have offered shelter to fugitives and outlaws. Brigands and bandits from Angulimala to Veerappan have habitually made the forest their home.

Almost all the rishis famous in legend and lore presided over an ashram - Agastya, Gautama, Kanva, Kapila, Vashishth, Valmiki, Vishwamitra and Yagnavalkya are just a few illustrative names. The forest was where 'seers' contemplated the nature of reality and indulged in metaphysical speculations regarding the mysteries of the cosmos. The intimate dialogues with hand-picked disciples here form the text of our Upanishads. One of the major Upanishads is in fact named Brihadaranyak, literally the 'Vast Forest Upanishad'. Another set of 'books'< oral texts in fact - that seek to bridge the gap between cryptic Vedic mantras (chants) and the Upanishad are called aranyaka - 'of the forest.'

Even the sovereign ruler considered these ashram-gurukuls (hermitages-cum- residential schools and research centres of excellence) almost inviolable spaces, making them immune to interference by state authorities. Breaching The forest was their peace brought swift retribution in the form of dreadful curses. where 'seers' However, the hermits and the brahmcharin placed in their charge were contemplated the vulnerable to attacks by mischievous and malevolent creatures of the forest, such as rakshas (demons), and were often constrained to seek nature of reality armed protection. The Ramayana and Mahabharata are replete with and indulged in instances when brave Kshatriya princes came to the rescue of hermits. metaphysical The Brahmin ideologues - priests who legitimized the ruler's authority - had substantial claim on the instruments of its coercive power. speculations There were others who retreated to the forest to re-gather lost regarding the strength, regroup and mount a counter-attack on the enemy or mysteries of the practised austerities to please a deity to receive a boon - an invincible cosmos weapon; a defensive armour that could not be pierced; or even in

6 search of immunity from disease and death. Ravan is the classic case The solitude of a learned Brahmin king of respectable lineage who thus pleased of the forest Siva and was gifted with boundless powers. Arjun's penance and his was considered encounter with Siva in the form of Kirat also ended similarly. conducive for Another category of the vanavasi represented men and women in meditation and search of liberation from human bondage, or those seeking spiritual a deliberate salvation. Siddharth, who after his enlightenment became famous separation from as the Buddha, and Mahavir, the founder of the Jain sect, are historical personages who illustrate this trend. The solitude of the dear ones forest was considered conducive for meditation and a deliberate separation from dear ones was believed to facilitate loosening the bonds that tied one down to material matters. As one sat alone in a Tapovana - a forest where there was no escape from hostile forces or predators - one had no choice but to wrestle with demons that lurked within: lust and envy, greed, anger and pride. The 'Fire in the Forest' sermon preached by the Buddha at Rajgir is a brilliant metaphorical exposition of this.

Incidentally, tapasya has the same root as taap - heat. Once again, we are reminded of the complex relationship between fire and th rorest. Fire - accidental or man- made - destroyed or 'cleared' the forest, making land available for agriculture and human settlement, and provided protection against dangerous animals. Fire lit up the surroundings, banished darkness and purified by transforming whatever it touched. It was considered sacred 'and kept burning at the altar. Taming the fire (igniting it at will, keeping the flames under control and extinguishing the fire, if required) was one of the greatest breakthroughs in human history, It stands to reason that the original inhabitants of the forest, the indigenous people, were distressed by such encroachments and intrusions and resisted fire. Innumerable interruptions by rakshas in yagnas (sacred rites) were most probably the last stand of the 'noble savages' - the original children of the forest - against the 'advance of civilization'.

Forest produce, both major and minor, are referred to in Kautilya's celebrated ancient Indian treatise on statecraft: the Arthasastra, and security concerns regarding the bellicosity of unruly tribes inhabiting the empire's borderlands are expressed in Ashoka's inscriptions dating back to the fourth century before the birth of Christ.

7 Ashoka the Great, who had renounced war after the carnage at Kalinga, had no compunction about using armed force to put down rebellions of the forest tribes.

III

Living Forests and Life in the Forest

Aranya, literally 'that which cannot be battled', explicitly refers to the jungle that had to be cut back regularly to claim and retain land required for human settlement, agriculture and to keep wild, marauding animals at a safe distance. Metaphorically, it referred to the demons one had to battle within the inner self - one's own base nature. The term jungle is derived from a Sanskrit word that literally translates as 'an unruly, almost impenetrable tangled growth of foliage, roots and branches of trees, plants'. There are several words in Sanskrit and other Indian languages that signify different types of forest - vana, vipin, kanan, kantar, dava, atavi and nirjana. Kanan is a landscaped, manicured forest created and carefully tended fOT recreational purposes. Nandan Kanan is depicted as the playground of gods in many mythic stories. Kantara is derived from the same root word that yields Kanta - the wife. Obviously an intimate, personal relationship is implied. Dava is perhaps the thinnest forest where deer could roam free and mingle fearlessly with men. It was in a mrigdava at Sarnath near Varanasi that the Buddha preached his first sermon.

Different types of forests are to be found in the sub-continent, and each has a distinct identity and personality. Himalayan forests in the alpine zone There are several stretch from Himachal Pradesh through Uttarakhand to the Indo- words in Sanskrit Nepalese Terai, and the rainforests in the North East merge into the and other Iridian Arakan and beyond to Myanmar. Dandakarnya that spans the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra, is very different languages that from Mudumalai. Bandhavgarh and Kanha have an ambience other signify different than Nagarhole/ Bandipore. Then again, the mangroves that girdle the types of forest coast in Bengal are a completely different universe. - vana, vipin, Forests in ancient India were classified into different categories/types. kanan, kantar, One list enumerates twelve different kinds 'dvadash vana'. However, dava, atavi and the details of these are missing. Vrinda Vana was the preferred forest nirjana and no more than a thicket of kadamb and kareel surrounded by

8 abundant bushes of holy basil but enough to justify a description of Consecrated Sri Krishna as Vanamali. Darukvana (cedar forest) is mentioned as the forests and site where Jagesh, one of the 12 jyotirlingams, is located. Devotees sacred groves of Siva identify this with Jageshwar in Uttarakhand. Madhu vana enjoyed special was named after a demon that ruled the roost there. Sunderban .- translated as the beautiful forest - refers to the swampy mangrove immunities and that extends all along the coastline in West Bengal and Bangladesh. were designated dev-vana (a forest Consecrated forests and sacred groves enjoyed special immunities and were designated dev-vana (a forest of gods). Prefixes were used to of gods) specify various forests, leaving little ambiguity about their identity and characteristic features: Sal Vana, Tamala Vana, Palash Van, Vrinda Vana and Ashok Vana. All these indicate the predominance of a particular species of trees to be found there. Sita, it is well known, was kept in captivity in an Ashok Vana as Ashoka trees, it is believed, stoke desire in a woman and make the pangs of separation unbearable. Commonly prescribed women's medicine in ayurveda are extracted/ distilled from this tree.

Other prefixes are aids to memory to recall a story encapsulating a lesson. Khandav, for instance, was a geographical indicator as this vana occupied the territory Khandavaprashth - the land that is now better known as Delhi and the NCR. (This forest was burnt down by Arjun, under the guidance of Sri Krishna, using fire- blowing arrows to yield land required for the urban settlement of the magnificent Pandava capital, Indraprastha. The mighty serpent Takshak barely escaped with his life. One of its descendents wreaked revenge on the Pandavas much later ~y fatally biting their only surviving scion, Parikshit).

Kumarvana, which may be loosely translated as the 'Youngster's Forest', has an even more fascinating tale associated with it. A young prince on a hunt accidentally stumbled upon a copulating rishi and his wife. The enraged hermit cursed him that he would lose his manhood and henceforth whenever a male stepped into this forest he would undergo a sex change. This story suggests that the seclusion of the forest allowed persons confused about their sexuality or sexual orientation to discover their real selves or at least indulge temporarily in gender-bending roles. According to another narrative in the Mahabharata, Amba, the princess spurned by Bhishma due to his vow of celibacy, retreated to the forest and performed severe austerities

9 and ensured her 'rebirth' as a man. In her new incarnation as Shikhandin h/she proved to be the nemesis of the veteran warrior. The sub-text of this episode is quite tantalizing. Did Bhishma take a vow of celibacy because he didn't prefer girls and suppressed his natural inclination towards his own sex? Was the celibate 'disarmed' and rendered 'impotent' by the seductive power of an androgynous youth? But we. digress. The forest, unfettered by social/cultural taboos certainly was a realm where sexual fantasies could be lived.

Both Hindu epics have a section devoted to the forest - Aranyakanda and Vanaparva. Rama is banished in an exile of twelve years and spends most of his time in Dandakaranya - a jungle tract that stretches across present day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. (At least one archaeologist locates Lanka on the fringes of this forest). He was helped in his fight against the tyrannical demon king Ravana by the Vanar Sena - an army of monkeys. The temptation is strong to identify the vanara with van-nara - men of forest with unfamiliar facial features and a very different lifestyle.

The sojourn in the forest at Panchvati is initially pleasant enough and the existence is described as idyllic. But the dense forest assumes a transformed malevolent persona where accursed ghoulish creatures and headless ghosts roam e.mdst tangled vines only after Sita's abduction:

The powerful Nishicharanikar phiranhi banmanhi rulers could of and course, claim Sankullata vitap ghana kanana or, if you prefer bahu khag mrig tanh gaja panchanana Awat panth kabandh nipata euphemisms, tehi sab kabi shrap kai bata 'woo and (Creatures of the night roam the forest dense amidst trees and charm'the tangled vines/Along with myriad birds and animals/Mighty tuskers beautiful and headless torsos-all accursed by some blight). maidens The powerful rulers could of course, claim or, if you prefer euphemisms, they were 'woo and charm' the beautiful maidens they were smitten by, in the smitten by, forest. The list, beginning from Dushyant, is fairly long. There is no in the forest dearth of such cases outside poetic fiction and drama. Raja Mansingh

10 Tomar, who ruled Gwalior in the fifteenth century, was enchanted by During the Gujari, a doe-eyed tribal beauty. He married her and built a beautiful mediaeval palace for her next to his majestic fort. Baz Bahadur's romance with period, many Rupmati seems to be a mirror image of this affair, though it ended Rajput and tragically when Adam Khan, a general sent' by Akbar, defeated him and captured his capital Mandu and Rupmati was constrained to Bundela princes commit suicide when she heard that her consort had surrendered. and chieftains used the forest During the mediaeval period, many Rajput and Bundela princes and chieftains used the forest strategically as an effective defence against strategically as an the expanding power of the Delhi Sultans and Mughal emperors. A effective defence vana durga (forest fort) was considered invincible - Ranthambore, against the Kalinjar and Kumbhalgarh could only be captured by deceit and fell expanding power due to treachery. It was this impregnable protective armour of the of the Delhi forest that emboldened Bir Singh Bundela of Orchha to risk incurring Sultans the wrath of the Mughal-e-Azam Akbar and assassinate his friend Abul Faz'l as he was passing through his territory at the bidding of the rebellious crown prince, Salim (later Jahangir). Led by Shivaji, the Marathas opted for guerilla warfare in the jungle to maul and bleed the Mughals, hastening their demise.

Forsome belonging to the ruling classes,the forest was also a happy hunting ground. The Sanskrit words akhet and mrigaya have different connotations. Royal princes indulged in mrigaya, the ceremonial royal hunt, while akhet provided livelihood to vyadh, the professional hunter who laid traps to catch wild animals or spread his net to ensnare birds. Incidentally, Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, was a vyadh. Rajput and Mughal miniatures provide beautiful documentation of hunting in the forest. Baburnama, Ain-e-Akbari and Tuzuk-e-Jehangiri supplement the pictorial chronicles with detailed descriptions of flora and fauna in the Indian forest. Contemporary photographic documentation by M.5. Krishnan and the Bedi Brothers has made a significant contribution in facilitating the encounter of a much larger audience with the Indian wilderness.

Most Indian principalities had forests that spilt over into the territories of neighbouring native states. The rulers of Mysore and Travancore controlled forests that merged with the forest in Madras Presidency governed directly by the British.

11 The jungles in the Nizam's domain in Hyderabad extended to British territories in the Central Provinces, an area in the jurisdiction of brother princes in that part of the country and in Orissa. The situation was no different elsewhere. Tehri-Garhwal shared its borders, and forest belt, with the hill states of the Punjab, British Garhwal and Kumaon, forming an unbroken stretch touching Nepal: In the eastern part of the country, forests in Bengal and Assam too blurred man-made boundaries on the political map. The Andaman Islands are perhaps the only 'discrete' forest.

The British colonial masters adopted the ways of Indian princes and shikar (big- game hunting) became an essential ingredient of the Raj lifestyle. Many Indian rulers used shikar parties to ingratiate themselves with the overlords. Viceroys and governors as well as visiting dignitaries vied with one another to bag the largest tiger or set a new record for downing the largest number of duck or grouse. A few hunters later had a change of heart and turned conservationists (for example, Jim Corbett), The systematic destruction of Indian wildlife dates back to this tradition of lavish opportunist hospitality. The brunt was borne by the tiger but several other species were driven to the verge of extinction. Mahesh Rangarajan has eloquently described how the reserved forests were extensive hunting grounds marked out for the privileged and how they excluded the commoners and poachers

Forest Food

The forest sheltered and nourished man for millennia before he learnt to take care of his basic needs. Pre-historic cave paintings at Bhimbetka Pre- historic and elsewhere remind us of our ancestors' life in the primeval forest cave paintings as food gatherers and hunters. Their evolution to becoming tillers at Bhimbetka of the land growing diverse crops, domesticating cattle, settling in and elsewhere villages and cities, came much later. Those who spent their lives in remind us of our the jungle subsisted primarily on kanda, mu/a, pha/a - tubers, roots ancestors' life and fruits. Yet their menu was by no means bland or boring. Poor Sabari may indeed have had nothing more than ber to offer Rama in the primeval when he came to her home as a quest, but the bounty of nature forest as food in the wild was varied and plentiful and included a wide range of gatherers and grains: amaranthus, madua, buckwheat, maize, bamboo, mushrooms hunters and green leaves. Nuts came from pine, walnut, areca, flowers and

12 fruit along with figs, berries, plantain and the intoxicating mahua. Somarasa is an For tempering herbs, such as jambu, dun, gandreni were used. The excellent example list of medicinal and aromatic (agaru-chandan-khus) plants - plus of a highly valued other 'super food ingredients' - brahmi, punarnava, satavari, ghrit euphoric elixir kumari, sarpgandha, ashwagandha, shilajit, khadir, haridra, bibhitika, amlaki, daruchini, tejpatra, lavanga makaradhwaj - the list is that was ritually almost unending. prepared with a root obtained Geographical indicators and/or seasonal tagging were routinely added for proper identification of produce from specific microclimatic from the not regions. Thetreatment/process of ingredients before or during cooking easily fathomed ensured purity and 'performance'. Somarasa is an excellent example depths of the of a highly valued euphoric elixir that was ritually prepared with a root forest obtained from the not easily fathomed depths of the forest. All the six basic flavours (shadras) were incorporated in the daily fare. These included salt, sugar (from honey, ripe fruit, liquorices) while sour-unripe or citrus fruit provided pungent, astringent and bitter flavourings.

Contrary to popular misconception, food in the forest was not confined to a satvik diet of the brahmcharin and sanyasin. Game a I [he meat provided by domestic cattle (a treatise of Ayurveda make a distinction between anupa and jangaan formed an integral part of the diet representing the rajasik element. Rakshasa, baital and pishacha dwelling in the forest subsisted on a tamasik fare of carrion and stale leftovers.

Return to the Forest

Civilized Man has returned to the forest time and again in search of commercial riches or miracle cures. Scholars in diverse disciplines ranging from l.evi-Strauss. and Leaky to Konrad Lorenz, have approached the forest to unveil the mysteries of the human mind, origins of Man or the roots of aggression.

The kindling of interest in imperiled bio-diversity and the proliferation of scientific 'bio-prospecting' are nothing more but re-treading a beaten track. Verses penned by Kalidasa documenting the riches in Himalayan forest - bhasvanti ratnani mahaushadhinsch - were only revealing what the myths and legends have

13 documented for millennia. When Lakshmana lay comatose on the battlefield he was revived by sanjivini booti prescribed by Sushena Vaidya brought by Hanuman. Folklore regarding the origin of various beneficial plants encapsulates valuable information. Much of the ecological knowledge was undoubtedly received by early scholars of ayurveda from the children of the forest - vanavasi, girijana and' adivasi communities such as Bhil, Gond, Muriya, Santhal, Baiga, Oraon, Toda, Naga, Mizo, Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and many more - nowadays lumped together as anusuchit janjati. In many cases all they did was to give it a Sanskritizing gloss. Bhavprakashnighantu's entry on bahera, a wild berry, is a good example of such knowledge. Such are the benefits of vibhitika (to call it by its Sanskrit name) that the adage tells us 'yasya grihe mata nasti tasya mata vibhitika ': it can protect and nourish the motherless home like a mother. It also says:'Once when Indra was drinking amrit a little liquid spilt over and where these droplets had fallen on earth the plants of vibhitika sprouted'. Seven varieties are listed in Bhavprakashnighntu - Abhya, Jivanti among them. Many pharmaceutical companies are out in the wild trying to 'steal' such secrets before other competitors do so.

For the tribal population in India, who identify themselves as children of the forest, the jungle is like a mother's womb. Those who lived in harmony with nature had nothing to fear from the dreaded 'Law of the Jungle'; they knew Instinctively that nature isn't always red in tooth and claw. The forest in Indian myths, legend and folklore has never been a dreaded area of darkness where cruel predators lurk to devour helpless prey. Goddess Aranyani - worshipped in various forms of vanadevi The forest in - protected all creatures that dwelt in the forest.

Indian myths, The Hindi poem Satpura ke Jangal by Bhavani Prasad Mishra (1913- legend and 1985) captures the Indian idea of forest and its deep imprint on our folklore has never mind. It begins with the image of a dense forest stretched out in the been a dreaded Satpura range of mountains, literally in the heart of India, 'half asleep' area of darkness and ill at ease where silence is eloquent: Ghas chup hai, kash chup hail mook shal palash chup hai. Tangled vines ridden with cobwebs where cruel obstruct the path and make the wayfarer apprehensive about snakes predators lurk to lurking in the undergrowth. There are other inconveniences such as devour helpless insect bites and the roars of predators invisible in the bush. Yet, it prey is made clear that this is not where death and danger dwell. This

14 is home to the dark and strong Gonds, who are its children. As spring Undeterred by deprivation, impervious to the discomforts, they approaches, and live in harmony with it. There is no effort to romanticize the the intoxicating forest or underplay the hardship that are an inseparable part of smell of the life here - kasht main ye sane jungle. As spring approaches, and the intoxicating smell of the mahua spreads, the jungle wakes up mahua spreads, to their drumbeats and songs echoing through the woods. Soon the jungle wakes all are in a frenzy - the grass, the bushes, the trees abloom, the up to their breeze rustling through the branches and the leaves. The poet drumbeats and invites the reader to enter the maddening foliage and presents songs echoing a glimpse of the dark sea that remains unseen deep inside. The through the refrain 'Satpura ke ghane jungle, Neend main doobe hue se, Unghate anmane jungle!' keeps reverberating in the mind long woods after the poet has been read or recited.

The last word on such compositions must be reserved for this gem from A. K. Ramanujan's translated anthology titled Poems of Love and War, (OUP 1996, 'What he said to his charioteer on his way back'; pp.76-77):

Rains in season, forests grow beautiful ....

Friend, drive softly here. Put aside the whip for now.

Think of the stag, his twisted antlers like banana stems after the clustering bud and the one big blossom have dropped, think of the lovely bamboo-legged doe... ready in desire: if they hear the clatter of horse and chariot, how can they mate at their usual dead of night?

15 This rambling essay has no scholarly pretensions .. What is offered in this recall, partial in more ways than one, is a 'mingling of memory and desire', temptations and hesitations of an individual on the threshold ofVanaprastha. Nonetheless, debts to teachers, ancestors and companions need to be acknowledSJed. Thesecan never be repaid.

I owe much to Kapilaji who once talked to me at length about 'Forests of India' setting the forest of my ignorance ablaze. My late mother Jayanti Pande, Or. Shakambhari Jayal and Ramu Gandhi, have at different times guided me through this bewildering maze. I was seduced into reentering the forest 'left behind' by my loving son Indrajit during his doctoral research. Eapan George and Ooc Murali have inspired and generously supported my haphazard work on forest foods. Premola Ghose and Ira Pande have been most encouraging. To all of them, my sincere thanks. None other than me is responsible for the flaws.

Pushpesh Pant is a Professor at the Centre for International Relations, JNU. He has authored several books on a wide range of subjects, from food to current affairs. He is deeply committed to Kumaon and the Himalayas.

16