A Two -part reflection on trees, stars, time, and human witnessing
Under a green canopy
Breath learns its own measure
Above a slow constellation
Keeps time without a witness
Root and Star listening together
…. Appa
Part -1 Roots That Look at the Sky
The inverted Ashvath described in the Bhagavat Gita Adhyay 15 1-3
The tree stands rooted
Counting fires across the night sky
Waiting still for the rain
……..Appa
Most trees do not merely grow upward.They seem to look.Across cultures, trees have been placed beneath the sky not as passive growths, but as quiet witnesses to cosmic order. In Indian thought, the tree and the star are not separate realms. One anchors, the other guides. One remembers time, the other measures it. When we stand beneath a tree at night, something ancient aligns. The roots hold the earth steady while the crown opens itself to light that has travelled for thousands of years. In that moment, the human being stands between — neither rooted nor luminous, but aware. Ancient Indian thought did not view the sky as distant. Phenology (the concept of seasonal cycles) is at the heart of our “THINK GREEN” philosophy in Agriculture and Forestry. It is because we have forgotten these fundamentals that we face the environmental crisis.Tree and Star Assignment
It brought the heavens down to earth, quite literally, by assigning each Nakshatra a living tree.Nakshatras are not mere sparkles in the sky; they are qualitative fields of time. To each such field, a tree was associated — not as ornament, but as embodiment. The tree rooted celestial rhythm into soil, water, and breath.
Jyeshta nakshatra
The very useful and revered NEEM tree is assigned to Jyeshta Nakshatra
| Star Name (Indian)Nakshatra | Assigned TreeCommon Name | Assigned TreeBotanical Name | |
| 1 | Ashvini | Kuchla | Strychnos nux-vomica |
| 2 | Bharani | Amalaki | Phyllanthus emblica, |
| 3 | Kritika | Udumbara | Ficus racemosa, |
| 4 | Rohimi | Jamun | Syzygium cumini |
| 5 | Mrigasirsa | Khadira | Acacia Catechu |
| 6 | Ardra | Arjuna | Terminalia Arjuna |
| 7 | Punarvasu | Bamboo | Bambusa Vulgaris |
| 8 | Pusyha | Asvattha | Ficus religiosa |
| 9 | Aslesha | Naga Kesara | Mesua ferrea |
| 10 | Magha | Banyan | Ficus Indica |
| 11 | Purva Phalguni | Palasa | Butea monosperma |
| 12 | Uttara Phalguni | Plaksha (white fig) | Ficus virens |
| 13 | Hasta | Ambara (Mango) | Mangifera indica |
| 14 | Chitra | Bilva (bael) | Aegle marmelos |
| 15 | Swati | Arjuna | Terminalia arjuna |
| 16 | Vishaka | Indian Rosewood Sheesham | Dalbergia sissoo |
| 17 | Anuradha | Naga Kesara | Mesua ferrea |
| 18 | Jyeshta | Neem | Azadirachta indica |
| 19 | Moola | Sal | Shorea robusta |
| 20 | Purva Ashada | Palasa | Butea monosperma |
| 21 | Uttara Ashada | Jackfruit | Artocarpus heteroohyllus |
| 22 | Sravana | Asvattha (peepul) | Ficus religiosa |
| 23 | Dhanista | Sami | Prosopis cineraria |
| 24 | Satabhisha | Kadamba | Neolamarckia cadamba |
| 25 | Purva Bhadrapada | Mango | Mangifera indica |
| 26 | Uttara Bhadrapada | Neem | Azadirachta indica |
| 27 | Revati | Mahua | Madhuca longifolia |
The Peepul Tree
Pushya Nakshatra is assigned to Peepul
Stars as Timekeepers
Stars have served as humanity’s first clocks. Their fixed patterns and predictable motions offered order long before mechanical time. Rising and setting, waxing seasons, solstices and monsoons were read in their paths. Nakshatras divided the sky into lived calendars, guiding sowing, travel, ritual, and rest. Unlike human time, star time does not hurry. It repeats without memory or judgment. Stars mark duration, not meaning. They remind us that time is not owned but observed, not consumed but witnessed. Beneath their gaze, civilisations age, trees grow, and moments learn patience. Silence between stars teaches humility and continuity beyond individual lives along
The Banyan Tree
The Magha Nakshatra is assigned to the Banyan tree
A tree is a perfect mediator. Its roots descend like memory, its trunk stands in the present, its canopy reaches the light. In this sense, trees become witnesses — “sakshi”— to both cosmic movement and human life. A tree stands where worlds meet. Its roots listen to the soil, absorbing memory, decay, and renewal. Its trunk inhabits the human realm, offering shade, shelter, and silent witness to lives passing by. Its branches open to sky and light, translating the sun’s fire into breath and balance. In this vertical journey, the tree mediates between earth and heavens, past and future. When aligned with seasons, the moon, and stars, it becomes a living calendar. Without speech or judgment, the tree teaches mediation through presence, continuity, and restraint, reminding humans that harmony is sustained not by dominance, but by attentive participation.This creates a silent, philosophical, seamless connection that our ancients knew and experienceda Sky as a pattern
a Tree as presence
a Human as awareness.
In an age where astrology floats in abstraction and ecology struggles for relevance, the Nakshatra–tree correlation reminds us that we once had a time, we the Bharatiya, when knowledge grew slowly, like a trunk, ring by ring. Perhaps the future of cosmology is not in new calculations, but in remembering which tree belongs to which star. Before clocks divided the day, the sky divided time. Stars as dots were always there. Nakshatras were not invented to predict fate, but to observe rhythm. Farmers, forest dwellers, and seekers looked up to know when to plant, when to wait, and when to let go. Time was not rushed — it was read. Trees to follow such a calendar. They shed, flower, fruit, and rest without argument. Their obedience is not submission, but attunement.In this way, nakshatras and trees speak the same language. One marks the sky’s pulse, the other responds on earth. Between them, human life once found balance.This blog begins a series that explores that connection: tree and star, earth and sky, growth and destiny. Not as belief, but as lived metaphor.The roots hold the soil
The branches hold the stars
Where does the tree reside …Appa
……To be Continued
Part 2– Man, Tree and Stars – The future of Ecological Balance ….
Cosmic energy manifests in myriad forms, many or most are unknown to mankind. As the momentum of Science unravels many a phenomenon, mankind gets wiser & more curious.
The Nakshatras and their deep rooted connection with Trees is one such exploration by the minds of our ancient sages, whose study and absorption of knowledge beyond the obvious is becoming theses in the most advanced labs around the world.
Ram Iyer’s reaching out to the sky whilst delving deep into the ocean of wealth in our scriptures makes it very interesting & enlightening.
Dear Prof Iyer
Not only you are the early responders but also your feedback is so very articulate and all encompassing
thank you for your support
This is just full of knowledge appa.. what an article..highly informative..
Thankyou Ms.Geeta
I will share whatever I have accumulated in my life, tidbits of information, repositories of small knowledge pockets…All for the sake of Nisargshala …it will be their archive
This is just full of knowledge appa.. what an article..highly informative..
What a masterpiece it is!
This article reflects your profound knowledge and your own attunement with trees and the stars .
Thankyou Hemant
The idea of such articles, with a lot of support from you, is to get back on track what we have diluted in our pursuit of knowledge — we have become assembly-line production from play school to PhD.I hope one day our ancient Gurukul becomes a reality
नेहमीप्रमाणे सुंदर लेख आप्पा..
Very well explained Shreemad Bhagvadgeeta Sholk
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्।।15.1
and I liked very much when you said Trees are like “Sakshi” साक्षी भाव..such a nice concept..
Overall felt this Article to be like मुक्तकाव्य and you’ re doing मुक्तचिंतन, just like एखादा झरा निर्मळ वाहतोय..
Waiting for next episode!
Dear Rahul
Your finding time to browse what I write and also post your views is a silent testimony to your having liked the article
Thank you so much, Rahul
Very well written. Trees have witnessed the test of time and lived longer than mankind and known civilizations. They are an important part of our life and environment. The connection between stars and trees is something new for me. It was very interesting. Thanks.
Dear Lalli
Great to receive your thoughts all the way from KANEYDA
Dear Appa
From Canopy to Constellation is not an article in the conventional sense; it is a reflective essay that blends ecology, cosmology, and philosophy into a coherent meditation on time and human awareness. Written in an unhurried, lyrical register, Ram Iyer’s piece revisits ancient Bharatiya knowledge systems to argue that trees and stars once functioned as living calendars—anchoring human life to rhythm rather than speed. The article stands out for its restraint, depth, and refusal to sensationalise either spirituality or environmental concern.
Its an essay which reclaims an older Bharatiya way of understanding time, nature, and human presence. Moving fluidly between poetic invocation and measured prose, the piece reminds us that trees and stars were once not metaphors but living instruments of awareness—roots anchoring memory, constellations marking rhythm, and humans standing attentively between the two.
Rather than treating ecology, astronomy, or spirituality as separate domains, the essay restores their original continuity. Trees are presented as silent witnesses (sakshi), mediating between earth and sky, while the Nakshatra system is approached not as predictive astrology but as a qualitative calendar—guiding sowing, waiting, and rest through observation rather than urgency. The detailed Nakshatra–tree associations ground this philosophy in lived practice, returning celestial order to soil, season, and breath.
A notable strength of the essay lies in its restraint. It does not argue or instruct; it recalls. Environmental imbalance is traced not to technological failure alone but to the loss of patient seeing—of phenology, rhythm, and attunement. Time, here, is not something to be managed, but something to be witnessed.
The closing reflections resist conclusion, leaving the reader with a question rather than an answer—an appropriate gesture for a work that privileges awareness over certainty. As the opening movement of a larger inquiry, this essay sets a thoughtful foundation for what follows, inviting readers to reconsider where they stand—between root and star—at a moment when such remembering has become urgent.
Thank you
Dear YB
One can easily say that your comments are a seamless extension of the in-depth analysis of the very blog itself.
I like the way you sift through the article
From Canopy to Constellation explores the traditional Indian understanding of the relationship between trees, stars, and time. The essay shows how ancient knowledge systems connected celestial observation with ecological practice through the Nakshatra–tree associations. These links helped people align agriculture, seasonal cycles, and daily life with natural rhythms rather than abstract measurements of time.
The author argues that trees and stars functioned as practical and symbolic guides: stars marked time, while trees responded to it on earth. Humans stood between the two as observers and participants. By combining philosophy, ecology, and poetry, the essay suggests that environmental balance depends on attentiveness and continuity, not control. The work highlights the relevance of traditional ecological knowledge in addressing modern environmental challenges
Dear Sir,
One of the key aspects of a person of your stature reading , is a threadbaare analysis.It is indeed a good fortune to have YOUR eyes to my penmanship.
Thank you ever so much