Of plants that shake, elephants that chase, and oils of magic

AUTHORED by Venerable Thambugala Anandasiri Thero in the Sinhala language, the English translation of the book “Twenty Five Years of Life in the jungle’ is by Kamala Rajapakse, printed and published by Dayawanse Jayakody and Company — Printers.

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A fortnight ago we stopped where Yahapath Hami, a village elder known for his expertise in identifying forest herbs was extolling the virtues of different plants, beginning with the ‘Handun Madala.’ It was described as the monarch of all herbs, growing in moisture containing soil and where from the number of leaves you can tell its age, with one leaf taking an entire month to fully grow. The fact that the plant realm has many ‘lookalikes’ are mentioned, citing for example a grass plant that greatly resembles the ‘Kalanduru.’ Apparently this Kalanduru twin when plucked in a specificmanner and kept tucked into your waist will turn all fleas that may crawl upto you, into tiny acrobats (they will fall off you).

In this chapter we can learn of the sacredness that elders in Sri Lanka held for medicinal plants. Grandpa Yahapath Hami was the epitome of this reverence, admonishing if he saw someone pointing a stick or feet in the direction of a lifesaving plant.

“Reverend Sir, One must respect the medicinal herbs. It is only then that its power is available,” he would explain to Ven. Anandasiri Thero.

Grandpa Yahapath was familiar with the personalities and power of each of the medicinal plant of the forest probably better than modern pharmacists are with those synthetic tablets we gulp. For example he would point out one plant referred to as a mighty king of herbs which would acknowledge by displaying a little ‘shake’ when a human would humbly worship it and liken it to the sun god. The human could then request this plant to positively influence physical wellbeing. After the plant responds by ‘shaking,’ a sprig could be gently plucked in a specific manner and tucked behind the ear or head. If the plant does not respond by shaking then it means the time is not auspicious.