Parijata

Krishna and Satyabhama on the bird Garuda steal Indra's Parijata tree (centre), Krishna uproots the tree from heaven as Indra and His wife Indrani look on (right),

The word Pārijāt (Sanskrit: पारिजात) refers to the night-flowering coral jasmine, Indian coral tree or simply fragrance. It is not to be confused with parijāt (Sanskrit: परिजात), whose meaning is "descended from", "begotten by" or "fully developed". The flowering species of nyctanthes arbor-tristis is called parijata.

In Hindu mythology, the celestial Pārijāt tree is the tree of the universe which is owned by Indrani and planted in svarga located between heaven and earth, which tree, also known as Kalpa-taru, is believed to yield all objects of desire. This tree is identified with the Mandāra tree.

From the Bhagavata Purana, the Vishnu Purana and the Mahabharata it is learnt that the elaborate process of Samudra manthan of primal waters of the cosmic ocean yielded the Pārijāt tree as one of the three valuables, this tree, said to have blossomed atop Mount Meru in the garden of paradise and identified with the Indian coral tree, was claimed by Indra no sooner it rose to the surface and emitted its fragrance.

Krishna is believed to have stolen the Pārijāt flower from Indra’s paradise to which act pārijāt-harana (removal of the Pārijāt tree from heaven), which has two forms in the Harivamsa, relates; according to the puranas, at the behest of his wife, Satyabhama, Krishna had uprooted the pārijāt tree from the Nandana-vana of Indra and brought it to Dwarka.

In Hindu astrology, the word, Pārijāt, refers to a Rāja yoga based on the Planetary Dispositor Principle. This planetary combination called Pārijāt yoga arises if the lord of the sign occupied by the lord of the Lagna (Ascendant) and the lord of the sign occupied by the dispositor of the lord of the lagna both, or if the lords of the navāmsas occupied by these two lords are situated in a kendra or a trikona from the lagna-kendra in their own or exaltation signs. Parasara states that the person blessed with Parijat yoga will be fond of battles, strong-willed, full of determination, fearless, adept and successful, kind-hearted, forgiving and generous, have faith in Dharma and Karmas, a proud possessor and enjoyer of wealth and comforts and the one who leads a royal life during his or her middle and last part of life. Pārijāta yoga is a combination of the Parvata yoga and the Kahala yoga. Gautama Buddha was blessed with this yoga.

References

Parijat Tree in Hindi, Parijat Tree History and Parijat Tree Benefits. (Parijat Tree Significance)