Sunday, August 6, 2000		Article

THIS is one tree that has defied death several times. Standing amidst acres of the now barren sandy tract, about 15 km from Hisar, an old peepul tree has weathered many a storm since 1973 when it first shot into limelight after appearing in an old Brahmin’s dream. It is believed to be the tree under which a warrior Babreek, widely believed to be a grandson of Bhima of Mahabharata fame, demonstrated his unique skill with the bow and arrow in the presence of Lord Krishna and Arjuna by roping all its leaves with a single arrow.

For 27 years now, this tree has survived several attempts by government officials to axe it. The latest attempt was made a few weeks ago when the entire area was cleared of thick forest cover to convert it into a research farm. While thousands of trees were mowed down by giant earthmoving machinery, no machine operator was prepared to cut down this huge tree. It is now the only tree visible on several hundred acres of land around it. The tree is located at Bir Babran in the farmland originally attached to the Central Sheep Breeding Farm, previously known as the Indo-Australian Sheep Breeding Farm. The land has now been given to the Chaudhry Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University for research farming.

Even before this tree shot into fame in 1973, legend had it that the Bir Babran village was named after Babreek, the warrior grandson of Bhima. (Bir in common parlance means a forest and Babran is said to be the distorted name of Babreek). It is said that before the Mahabharata war Lord Krishna and Arjuna were scouting the area for warriors in the garb of saffron-clad sadhus. They were resting under this tree, when a young athletically-built horse rider accosted them.

He told them that he was the grandson of Bhima and his mother had sent him to join the Mahabharata war. He said his mother had directed him to join the losing side and convert defeat into victory through his skill with the bow and arrow. Lord Krishna is said to have asked him to demonstrate his skill. Babreek looked at the huge peepul tree and told them that he could rope all the leaves with a single arrow. He then shot an arrow which began piercing each leaf.

According to the folklore, Lord Krishna hid one of the leaves under his foot. The arrow after piercing the leaves began to hover over Lord Krishna’s foot. Babreek then asked him to lift his foot or else the arrow would pierce the foot too. The arrow then collected that leaf and jumped back into Babreek’s quiver. The young warrior’s exceptional skill surprised both Lord Krishna and Arjuna.

However, his insistence that he would side with the loser made them think deeply. They realised that if Babreek joined the Kauravas he could single-handedly convert Pandava’s victory into defeat. Lord Krishna then hit upon an idea. Since he was posing as a sadhu, the lord asked Babreek for alms. Babreek asked him to name anything that he could give. The lord asked for his head and got it. However, the lord told him that in return Babreek would be known as Shyam Baba and that devout Hindus would worship him forever.

Since then Shyam Baba has been worshipped in various temples. The most famous temple is located at Khatuji in Rajasthan. It is also said that before giving his head in alms to the lord, Babreek requested that his head be placed atop a tall tree so he could watch the war. The lord is said to have accepted his request and the head was put atop a tree from where the beheaded warrior watched the goings on in the war. This peepul tree is different from a normal tree of this genus. Its young leaves develop small round brownish spots which, over a period, become small holes. While legend has it that these holes are the result of piercing by Babreek’s arrow, the non-believers term it as an unknown disease.

Baaj Singh whose dhani (house located in a field outside the residential area of a village) is located about 150 metres from the tree, says he shifted here from Ferozepore in 1950 when his family was allotted this land. As a child of eight he used to accompany his father to the bir to graze cattle late in the evenings. He said he and his father noticed that on poornmashi (full moon day), their cattle got restless after hearing the sound of hoofs. It was accompanied by a tinkling of bells that are generally tied to a horse’s neck. It appeared as if a horse was moving from the tree towards a pond some distance away. On the bank of the pond is a mark which resembles the mark of a hoof. Several other old villagers recount similar experiences.

This tree stands in the middle of a bowl-shaped area which is believed to have been a pond during the Mahabharata period. What remains of the pond is now an old well built of small fired bricks. The well’s water is no longer fit for drinking. The well is surrounded on all sides by a round narrow tunnel-like structure which has a small opening towards the west. The side wall of the opening has a stone on which something has been carved. Nobody has yet been able to decipher it. The carving has been damaged considerably over the years and it is now hardly visible to the naked eye.

A long and narrow drain-like structure is built on the western side of the well. It appears that in the days of yore travellers drank water from the well while this drain quenched the thirst of their horses and other animals. However, the purpose of the tunnel-like structure around the well continues to be mystery. Baaj Singh remembers that as a child he used to enter the tunnel for playing hide-and-seek. He said it had a hard floor. The roof and the walls were plastered. The roof of the tunnel-like structure caved in the last year.

The tree remained an enigma till 1973 when Pandit Ram Gopal, a Brahmin of Hisar, began to see a peepul tree in his dreams. It had a well underneath it and a supernatural power directed him to look for the tree. He tried to take his mind off the dream but it continued to haunt him day after day until a few friends offered to help him locate it. Their search led them to Bir Babran where Baaj Singh’s father and another Sikh woman Chann Kaur showed him this peepul tree. The pandit took a vow of silence for a month and started meditating under it.

Chann Kaur recalls that for a month he only drank a cup of cow’s milk a day. In the beginning she and other villagers suspected him of being a fraud. However, they kept watch over him during the nights until they were convinced that the pandit was not eating anything on the sly. After a month the pandit passed on a written message to the villagers to dig the area around the tree. The next day the villagers dug a pit and 20 feet below they found the head of an idol made of black stone. Chann Kaur says the pandit fell unconscious when he held it. The land belonged to the Indo-Australian Sheep Breeding Farm which was run by Australians. As crowds began to throng the tree, the worried farm officials physically removed the pandit and the idol outside the farm. The idol was later temporarily shifted to the Rani Sati Temple in Hisar awaiting its consecration in a temple. It continues to be there since.

But the government never allowed a temple to be built. The idol still lies at its temporary abode. Villagers say the Australians ordered labourers to axe the tree and demolish the well. However, they claim, the farm hand dropped dead after the first blow of the axe. Thereafter, every attempt to fell it failed. It is learnt that officials argued with earthmover operators to mow the tree down recently when the entire area was cleared of trees. However, they refused to do so. The blessed tree is now more conspicuous than ever before.

Hundreds of families which shifted from Hisar and surrounding areas to Mumbai, Calcutta, Assam and Gujarat come here every year to offer prayers and hoist red and yellow flags atop the tree. Brij Mohan Gupta, who is now settled in Calcutta came here last week to hoist flags. He says he owes his success in business to the blessings of the tree. His family,therefore,comes here every year. He has been doing so for 20 years now.

The villagers too offer prayers at the tree, irrespective of their religions. Most of the villagers are Sikhs who were allotted land here in the early fifties by the then Punjab Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon. But they pray here regularly and want a temple built. There are many rich devotees who are willing to foot the bill but the government is not prepared to give a chunk of land for the purpose. Officialdom still treats the whole story as a hoax, yet no one is willing to pass the death sentence on the tree.