From the beginning of Indian civilization the Bodhi-tree or the same, the ashvattha tree, was believed to be endowed with supramundane qualities. Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment under the ashvattha tree. Other Buddhas attained enlightenment under different trees like the sirisa tree and even bamboo.
A side note, the oldest canonical works of Buddhism make no mention of such a tree. The Bodhisattva, i.e., the Buddha-to-be, instead, found a peaceful stretch of land on which to pursue enlightenment.
It is in the Digha-Nikaya of the Pali canon that we find explicit reference to the ashvattha tree under which Gautama (P., Gotama) won Buddhahood.
Connected with the ashvattha tree, in the canonical literature it is mentioned that the Bodhisattva sat on the Bodhimanda (i.e., bodhi-essence) which surrounded the Bodhi-tree. Supposedly the Bodhimanda marks the center of the earth, otherwise familiar to us as the axis mundi. Incidentally, we also learn that the Bodhimanda is devoid of growths which carries with it certain symbolic meanings.
The ashvatta tree is mentioned, too, in the Katha Upanishad making it related to Brahmanism. It is an inverted tree, meaning that the roots are above and the branches are below. Brahman is also the ground of the ashvattha tree which strikes us as being somewhat like the Bodhimanda.
“This is the eternal Ashvattha Tree with its root above and branches below. That root, indeed, is called the Bright; That is Brahman, and That alone is the Immortal. In That all worlds are contained, and none can pass beyond. This verily, is That” (II. iii. 1).
“Whatever there is—the whole universe—vibrates because it has gone forth from Brahman, which exists as its Ground. That Brahman is a great terror, like a poised thunderbolt. Those who know It become immortal” (II. iii. 2).
Least some Buddhists think the Buddha had nothing whatsoever to do with Brahman (those who don’t read the Pali canon) this following passages from the Pali canon might be of great interest.
“Formerly I was deluded: now delusion exist no more: that is good. Thus in this very life he is free from craving, he is released, he has become cool: he, by the self (attanâ), abides (viharatî) in experience of bliss (sukha), by becoming Brahma (brahmabhûtena)” (A. i. 197).
“The Lord knows what should be known, sees what should be seen, he has become vision, become knowledge, become dhamma, become Brahma, he is the propounder, the expounder, the bringer to the goal, the giver of the Deathless, dhmma-lord, Tathagata” (M. i. 111).
However a few modern scholars who have tried to cut Buddhism’s ties with Brahmanism can’t dispute the popularity of the term “Brahma” used throughout the Pali canon and that the term is never used in a bad light—in fact, quite the opposite. On this subject Jennings writes, in his book, The Vedantic Buddhism of the Buddha:
“It should never be forgotten that Buddhism is a reformed Brahmanism, as is evidenced by the invariably honorific use which Gautama makes of the title ‘Brahmin’ and it therefore takes for granted certain Vedic or Vedantic postulates. The background of Buddhism, as that of Brahmanism, is Brahma, the impersonal divine unity underlying and harmonizing all individualities, all egoism, all difference, and all strife.”
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