Home | Editor's Page |  Contact Us | Site Map/Search   

 Man and Animal

  History of  forest

  One million years ago when man (Homo sapien) came to exit on this planet; Forest were plentiful and animal life bountiful and they required to be cleared for man's safety and existence, and the  construction of dwellings and cultivation benefits of man . "Adam and Eve " lived in dense jungles; almost leasing a nomadic life using forest leaves to cover themselves and picking up wild-fruits and tubers as food. As civilization progressed and man chose a settled life , clearance of forest for dwellings and cultivation and hunting animals for food has became indispensable. Aryans with their cattle wealth came to India as pastoral tribe  attracted by dense jungles. Besides, the  palaeontological  evidence of the evolutionary progress of plant and animal life, the various excavation ,inscriptions, history, scriptures and literature particularly the famous Harrappa and Mohonzadaro excavations of 4000 B.C; revealed existance of extensively distributed forests and animals than present. The now restricted India Rhinoceros,then roamed through the width and breadth of the country. In vedic period (2500B.C) reference was made to nature , forests and rivers . In the great epic Ramayana Dandalaranya with trees consisting of Aswatha, Sala, Bamblls, creepers ect. Vanaras (Syn. Vanarulu or Vanacharulu) are most highly evolved wild-life of mythologic period , we get from Mahabharata ( 1500B.C.) .

There is a Harin (deer),Jatayu (bird) Hanuman (Monkey) and vital roal in these great epics. There is also the mention of the medicinal plants, including those for reviving the death. There is an Aranya-Kanda in Ramayana and Aranya- Parva in Mahabharatha ; symbolissing the importance of forests even thousands of years ago. The episodes of Khandava - Vana Dahana by Arjuna with the assistance of Lord -Krishna,  (it is reported that Forest -Guards came running to put off the fine), and vivid descriptions of the cattle - wealth of Virata- Raja indicate the then prevailing pastoral life and dense rich- forests of Mahabharatic  times. Sandalwood and diamonds were presented to Dharmaraja by the Southern King. A code of conduct for hunters was stated by Sage Kindama . Even celestial bodies and Rasis (Star- constellations ) are recognished after animals in Astronomy like Vristhika Mesham, Karkatakam ,Pisces,etc.

 Forests and Wild-life in India

 T he great kavya "Abhujna-Sakuntalam" was set in the pristine beauty of 'Kanva-Ashramam' on the banks of beautiful springs and rivers, where the people, plants and beast lived in perfect harmony. In Brahmanas og 800-500BC-Goviksrti-one of the 12 state officers is the head of forests and brat ions. Megesthanes (300B.C) who visited king Chandra Gupta's wild-beasts, to save crops and seeds.' Kautilya's Arthasastra of 300B.C viz,(i) for Brahmins (ii) for meeting daily needs, (iii) elephants jungle. clearance , firing and killing animals vary from $ 25-100 equivalent; forests - "Abhayaranyas" for protection of wild-animals. The hunting, capturing or disturbing the animals were prohibited by law.

Asibited.

 During the reign of Ashoka and Akbar (200B.C and 1526 A.D) avenue planting was prescribed for shadw and aesthetic beauty. Ahimsa-or compassion to all living beings was preached and practised . During Mogha, gardens of India viz Agra (Tajmahal), Delhi (Moghal), Lahore (pinJore) , and Srinagar (shalimar). Beautiful minars, mosques and mausoleums like Tajmahal with floral and animal engravings; were built.

 Forests: In Epics, Literature, Art, Sculpture and Carvings:

 Lord Krishana was identifies in Mahabhagavatha and Bhagavadgita with Aswatha (ficus, or - Pipal) tree symbolising the all pervasiveness and immortality of pipal tree living over centuries.

 In Skandha-Purana was mentioned , that Lord Vigneswara  was worshipped with leaves of 21 trees like Bilwa , Aswatha, Sindhura, Arjuna, Deva-Daru etc. and Goddess Saraswathi with flowers of different trees like Mandara, Mallika, Vakula, Punnaga, Nilothpala etc. In the same epic, there was the description of " Ashoka-vanam" on the bank of river Kosi , on seeing which according to legend , Sitha has into raptures; and implored Rama to stay there for something and cathe in the cool water of the river .

 In Yajurveda , Bilwa and Tulasi pliants are mentioned for worship. Jammi, Amla and Pipal trees are worshipped . In Kalidasa's "kumarasambhavam" sequence of flowering of forest trees is described (in Ruthu- Samhara) and several beautiful indigenous trees like Ashoka, Kadamba, Parijatha etc. are listed . Again Bammera Pothana in his monumental book Mahabhagavatha listed several trees of forest and compared his Kava to the tender blossom of a Mango tree .( Bala Rasala Sala Nava Pallpva Komala Kavya Kanyakan -etc) Even our National Prayer "VANDE-MATARAM" - refers to Green-Cover as Sasya-Syamalam).

 There is a quaint belif, that trees put forth foliage and flowers, just by the touch of feet of beautiful ladies and to the jingling sound of their anklets. Even now touch me not tree  ( Mimosa pudica) is there which shrivels and shrinks on touch. Gorenta ( Henna) leaves are used for beautification if ladies hands and bridal feet. Various flowers asore and beautiful their hair and braids . Beautiful ladies and to the jingling sounds of their anklets. Even now touch me not tree ( Mimosa Pudica) is there which shrivels and shrinks on touch . Gorenta (Henna) leaves are used for beautification of ladies hands and bridal feet . Various flowers adore and beautify their hair and braids. Beautiful ladies are compared with 'Vasantha-Lakshmi', :Lathangi' ' Poobodi' ect. and their slender parts of bodies were identified with the "beauty in the best " as Bhita- Hemalikanti"etc.and they are even named as "Meenakshi (fish_eyed), Aravinda (Latus) , Mrunalini (Lotus-stalk)etc. The strong men are often referred as "Simha-baludu." 

FORESTS AS CULTURAL HERITAGE

The term Forest includes pastures trees, plants and subhuman life . During vedic period people lived in forests among the trees . The groves in forests were looked upon as habitations of Gods . It is recorded in our scriptures that saints living in forests imparted education to their pupils in their midst . Human beings living in forests treated trees with a sense of deep sacredness . Some trees were picked up by people and given special attention .

   Our ancestors also accepted forests as a fit place for spiritual retreat . They regarded forests as life supporting system for sustainable development and survival of living beings . Plants in forests were treated as gifts of God because of their property of supporting human life . Any injury caused to the plant was considered an act of violence .

  The Sanskrit word Osadhi means a substance in which energy in inbuilt . The word primarily denotes plants and herbs found in forests which has medicinal value . Such plants were held as objects of veneration .

    Not only that Mantras were constituted to honour them . One such mantre reads "on plants, you are like mother to me . kill all my diseases and make me healthy . I offer salutations to you and bow down before you and bow down before you as token of gratitude". this underscores the sacredness and usefulness of  forests in the Indian way of life .

  The words forests and trees appear in our scripture at many places . In the Ramayana sage Vishvamitra asks King Dasratha to take his son Rama with him to protect his sacrifices from defilement by demons .

  This pronounce the sublime India thought that good and evil coexist in the fabric of our life as demons also lived in forests .

   Again in the Ramayana the word forest appears in one of the boons asked by Kaikeyi of Dasaratha when she says that Rama be sent to the forests in exile for 14 years . This turned out to be a blessing for the human race as Rama killked a number of demons including Ravana during his stay in the Forest .

   Mahabharata forests provided abode for the Pandavas when they lived there for one year incognito to escape detection by the Kurus . Forests  are also mentioned in vedic literature , Forests have been co-opted with Ashramas or stations in life of a man .

     The  third part of Vedas which is called Aranyakas, consist of forest books which give philosophical interpretation of  vedic rituals . These forest books were intended for those who belong to the third station of life called Vanaprastha  to prepare them for entering the fourth stage referred as Sannyasa .

   It will thus be seen that there is a definite contribution of forests in the evolution of man as per the Indian way of life .

   The trees have a special significance in Indian tradition . In Bhagavatam it is said that a tree is the greatest example of generosity and selfless service because trees give everything they possesses to others like fruit, flower , leaves, roots, bark and even trunk . The tree tell us that we should share our fortunes and virtues with others . The tree provides shade to every one alike who site under it . This is the hallmark of equal vision , a great  virtue taught in our scriptures .

    It is believed that trees are invested with divine attributes  and their worship will influence the well being of their devotees . Pippala tree is held in high esteem and its worship is regarded  equivalent to the homage given to Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara the Hindu Trinity .

    In villsges we find people wors hipping the pippala tree like any other deity . Offerings are made to this tree and a lamp lit under it with utmost faith . Pippala tree became all the more holy after the Buddha sat under the sacred tree in the 6th century BC and attained illumination . From then onwards this tree began to be called Bo or Bodhi tree or Bodhi Vrksa meaning tree of illumination .

  The Banyan tree also has a pride of place in our customs . Under it sat Hindu sages in trance to attain self realization .

  In plants the Tulsi or Basil is worshipped by Hindus, considering Tulsi to be the consort of Vishnu . The tree not only has medicinal properties, but its consumption purifies and protects from danger .

 In the Bhagavad Gita the universe is described as Asvattha or Pippala tree with roots above and branches below . The branches below signifies the 'samsara' which one has to transcend to attain union with God .

 The symbol of existence with an inverted tree is highly thinkable but yet poetic . In the Gita Lord Krishna says that among all the trees "I am the Pippla tree which highlights the greatness of this tree and its significance in our scriptures .

 Mundaka Ulpanishad also speaks of a tree on which tow birds are there one as Jiva or human soul and the other the ultimate Reality , the Paramataman or Brahman or Atman . The lower bird or Jiva slowly moves up the branches to become one with thee higher bird or Paramatman . The process of evolution of human soul is described in this Upanishad with the example of a tree .

  today we are committing violence against forests and trees which were once held in very high esteem . we are committing violence against forests and trees which were once held in very high esteem . We are felling trees indiscriminately csusing degradation of forest . We are forgetting that forests contribute considerably towards improving the economy of the nation and health of its people . There is an urgent need to educate our people that lack of environmental safeguards will result in pollution of air , water and soil . The festival of forests called Vana Mahotsava, which is purely an Indian idea of protecting the forest and growing trees to improve forest consciousness has to be taken more seriously by our people . Trees help in formation of clouds as they maintain minimum level of moisture in the atmosphere . More trees mean more rain .

 Hinduism projects nature as the manifestation of Brahman . Our great king Ashoka inscribed ecological conservation measure on stone to remind citizens that they owe responsibility in protecting ecology . In Jain ethics there is utmost concern for protecting the natural environment .Jainology preaches that we should not destroy any from of living being including man, insects, trees, flowers and even grass . Protection of natural environment cannot be treated in isolation . Only that person who maintains healthy and loving relationship with the individuals around him can understand the importance of maintaining healthyand loving  relationship with the individuals around him can understand the importance of maintaining healthy relationship with  his natural surroundings .

   Man has to develop the ability to live in tune with the surroundings around him including natural surroundings . Man is not an island . He has to depend for his living on his good relations with the world around him - physical and natural including subhuman life .    sorce- bhavan;s journal

PRAYER OF THE FOREST 

Man ! 

I am the warmth of your home in the cold winter night and the protective shade when summer's sun is strong. 

I am the frame work of the roof to your house and the top of your table,  

The Bed in which you sleep and the timber which you fashion your boats 

I am the handle to your hoe  and the door to your hut, 

I am the wood of your cradle  and the boards of your coffin  

I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty

Hear my prayer, 

" Destroy me Not "  

                                                                              Unser Wald  

(Compiled by - U.M.Sahai, IFS  Rajasthan, Jaipur)

    Ashramas System

According to the Hindu view, a man's life is divided into four ashramas; Brahmacharya,  grihasthya, vanaprastha and sanyasa. During each stage, one is enjoyed upon to achieve a goal specific to that stage and at the same time one has to prepare for the next stage and at the same time one has to prepare for the next stage and the goal related to it.

Hundu scriptures take of four prime endeavours of life - dharma, artha, kama and moksha - that constitute the basic driving  force for fulfillment of the fundamental needs of human beings. Dharma is the source for the evolution of human values. Affluence  ( artha ) and desires  ( kama ) provide the basic support  for  worldly enjoyment. Moksha, on the other hand, is the central  point for self - realisation, after getting rid of physical and mental bondage.

   During Brahmacharya, the first ashrama, a man has been ordained to  devote the first 25 years of his life to studies, to ascertain, assess and assimilate valuses ( which sustain society ) of dharma. The next 25 years have been set apart for the grihasthya ashrama, during which a man has been enjoyed to preserve, enhance and observe mundane values rooted in wealth and desires towards the maintenance

of family, Vanaprasths and sanyasa and are both renunciation - oriented ashramas. Both eventually lead a man towards the path of salvation. In the vanaprastha ashrama, the individul, after giving up family attachment, becomes active outside the pale of family.

 During  vanaprastha, one is required to prepare for the ultimate to prepare for the ultimate goal of salvation through acts of service to society , The last 25 years of sanyasa constitute the final step on the ladder to the life of a complete man. A man surrenders his particular identity and leads the life of a wanderer, plunging his own self into the eternal unity of  the universe.

  The objective is to discharge all the three debts  ( i.e. debt of God, to parents and to sages ) so that the life of every Hindu may become meaningful.

 Today, all these arrangements have broken down, with the result an average individual is dogged with fears and frustration. Society has lost all sense of direction willing to come forth to work for social and national causes . A householder  remains engrossed in domesticity till the very end of his life. This gives rise to conflicts in the family. There is hardly any time left for a man to repaly the sacred debt which he owes his community and his nation.

 Every ashram is like a railway junction, where for every train to arrive at the right track and platform, a change of points is needed before hand.

    by the time one attains the age of 60 the grihasthya ashram is over. In India, the average life expectancy is about 70 - 75 years. The intervening time is to be devoted to any sphere of social service of one's liking. A man, at this stage, has time, energy, and the rich experience of life. The society must reap the benefit of his mature wisdom.

  This in essence, is the perception of vanaprastha ashram in modern life. There is no need to renounce family ties and leave for forests to lead a society - oriented life, for which one must prepare oneself financially, physically and mentally during the days of one's grihasthya ashrama itself.

 One should be self-dependent and to ensure this, one must make proper arrangements and take adequate care of one's health. One should mentally prepare oneself and one's family for this eventuality, so that when the time comes, your decision should not look like an abrupt one, but should appear to have been arrived at after due consideration and preparation, it is necessary that an elder should display magnanimity and wisdom in behaviour, approach and action. This is first step towards preparation for Vanaprastha.

  We should have faith in the coming generation and leave behind for posterity an aura of hope and confidence. This has been an unbroken tradition from the earliest times. We should accept this as a fact of  life without the least regret.

The scriptures say ( Manu Samriti )

 Grihasthastu yada pashyed abali - palitatmanah

 Apatyasya chapatyam tada vanaprastham samacharet.

' when a householder finds that his turned loose, his hair has grown grey and his son to has been blessed with a son, that he should, invariably, take to vanaprastha  ( literally, leave for the forests )'

       The word vanaprastha has been defined as exactly the opposite of grihasthya ashrama ( householder's life ). Leaving for the forests is simply its literal meaning. What it signifies is that in this ashram, a person gradually withdraws himself from his family matters to discharge his debt towards sages of yore. He also takes the sacred vow to utilise all his accumulated wisdom experience in the cause of the society. 

  For a person who has either retired or is going to retire in the near future, vanaprastha ashram will have a salutary effect on his physical and mental well being. It will also add to his enthusiasm and boost his morale ; the depression born out of loneliness born out of loneliness will go.

     Those who are in the age group of 45 - 50 years will have to make the necessary plan and mental preparation for joining this constructive work quite early so that there is no vacuum in their life after retirement.

   While oplting for vanaprastha, we should be financially self - reliant, physically fit and mentally alert, On  reaching this stage, we should change our outlook, abjure our love for dominance and desist from interfering into the daily life of our family members.

  Kalidasa has described a vanaprasthin  as a muni, one who observes silence. talk less, here more, and render service with a sense of duty and a smile.

    Moksha  ( salvation )  is the ultimate gole of life. Moksha is a state of desirelessness and has been defined in different ways. 

   According to Tulsidas, where there is God, there are no desires, and where there are desire, there is no God.

       Therefore, a life devoid of worldly desires opens up the way to salvation.

     This indeed is the meaning of the ashrama system in today's contex. Experience it, and chant the following universal prayer day and night ; you will inwardly happy :

    Sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramayah  

      Sarve bhadrain pashyantu ma kashchit duhkha - bhak bhavet.

         ' May all be happy and lead a life free from disease  and devoid of worries ; may fortune always simle on all, and none come to any harm or suffer from any sorrow or misfortune.'  SOURCE - J.V. Gupta     BHAVAN'S JOURNAL

   Vedanta - A  Living Philosophy of Life 

   All culture in India has been  rooted in Vedanta. Whatever  courage, heroism, self - sacrifice or greatness is to be found in our history  or seen in our people, has sprung from Vedanta  which is in our blood and tradition. Vedanta  is undoubtedly a living philosophy  of life in India, a part of the mental structure of our people.

  The people of India get it not from a study of books but from tradition. It is in the air, so to say of Indian and Asia. The foreigner has to get it from books and he necessarily sees so much subtlety in it that he may well swear that it is impossible that such a doctrine could ever be the actual cultural basis or living spiritual basis or living spiritual principle of the daily life of any people of modern times. Yet this is the fact in India. The greatness of Gandhiji and the strength of movement were entirely derived from and rooted in Vedanta. However much foreign civilization and new aspiration might have affected nutriment has not dried up or decayed or changed. The lives of  the rich as well as of the poor, of the  leisured classes as of the peasants and not labourers, of the illiterate and not only of the learned, are in varying measure sweetened by the pervasive fragrance of this Indian philosophy.

    Paradoxical as it may seem, even communities born to avocations deemed dishonest and disreputable have evolved a code of honour of their own, and are Vedantins to the extent of sincerely respecting it. This curious moral enclave in sinful lives touches the heart, and makes a great pity of what is doubtless just a matter for sheer reprobation.

    The Upanishads are quite large in number, but about twelve may be called the principal Upanishads and they are now available in collected book from with fairly accurate  translations. It would be a mistake to expect ancient works to be like the books of our times.

  The principal Upanishads were written thousands of years ago - scholars are not certain about the exact time. In India, as in the rest of the world, the environment and the lives and habits of men  were all very different then from what they are today. We may not forget or overlook this difference in attempting to understand and interpret the Upanishads or for that matter any book of ancient time. To interpret and judge things written more than three thousands years ago in the light of today and bring to bear on them modern doubts, discoveries  and controversies would be utterly stupid.

   We should remember that what is now doubted or disputed was then a subject of question or controversy. Any literature, sacred or secular, must be juxtaposed with the real life of the place and period before it can be rightly understood. We should throw our minds back  thousands of years, and try to recreate by an effort of imagination the world of  Upanishadic  period - the way in which men lived and thought, and the way they disciplined themselves - so that we may understand and appreciate what was said by the rishis or seers.  

   The principal teaching of the Upanishadas is this : Man cannot achieve happiness through mere physical enjoyment obtained through wealth or the goods of the world or even through the pleasures attainable by elevation to the happy realms above through the performance of the sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas. The potency of these sacrifices was a matter of implicit belief in those times. Yet, the attainment of these worlds of pleasures through Vedic sacrifice is not the object of the Upanishad teaching. In fact, pleasures in super terrestrial words were regarded as hardly higher in real value than sensual enjoyment on earth. The Mundakopanishad, after a glowing description of the welcome accorded in swarga to the performer of sacrifices - how he is borne there on the rays of the sun and told in loving terms that he has earned the pleasures he is going to enjoy - goes on to say :

    Perishable and transient are the results achieved by sacrifices. The person of small wisdom, who having won them, congratulates himself on having eternal bliss, is caught up again in decay and death. He only enjoys the fruits of his deeds in a distinguished place in swarga  and when they exhausted he returns either to this world or enters a lower one.

 Absolute happiness can result only from liberation and it follows therefore that spiritual enlightenment alone, which frees the soul from all illusion, can liberate the soul by breaking the bond of karma, the unending chain of work and results, and unite it again to the supreme Being, which is moksha (liberation ).

  It is necessary to point out that enlightenment does not mean learning , much or little. Indeed, enlightenment does not mean learning, much or little . Indeed, enlightenment ( jnana ) is not an intellectual  state, but a state of spiritual awakening which comes through moral rebuilding. Purity of life and a mind free from selfish desires are essential for enlightenment is possible.

 " Enlightenment  does not come from extensive study or by learned discussion or through the intellect. It comes of itself when one's self intensely yearns for realization, but not unless the mind has turned to control itself and to be at peace with the world." -- Kathopanishad.

 The path of enlightenment therefore runs through stages in which the self gets more and more truly freed from the longings that often seem to disappear but hid themselves only to reappear in other forms. The mantras or verses of the Upanishads may appear in same places to conflict with one another , but these contradictions disappear when it is remembered that the whole is a process of teaching by stages. All education  was through oral teaching in those days. The disciples lived in intimate companionship with  the teacher and the scripture was little more than an economic guide to the teacher , and not a textbook to be kept in the student's library. To the teacher as well as to the pupil, it was a help to memory, not a comprehensive treatise. The system of education when the Upanishads were composed  was a highly evolved process, but  the medium was not, as now the reading of book bought at bookshops or taken out of libraries. This made a difference as to the content of books and what was left for oral guidance.

   Separate cuts based on the worship of Siva or Vishnu are of no consequence in Vedanta. Whatever may be the significance of the later controversies as to who represent the Supreme Being, the Siva or Vishnu of our mythology, these controversies do not find a place in the Upanishads. Vedanta has indeed no place for such disputes. Vedanta is not mere philosophy. It is both philosophy  and religion. Yet there is no controversy in it about forms of worship. Vedanta is the common heritage of the people of India. In this treatises, Sankara the great Vedantin, uses the word Narayana to indicate the Supreme Being.

Others in their books give to the Supreme Being the name of Siva, Names and images, whether mental or sculptured, even the sacred and mystic syllable "Om" itself, are but crutches to help the faltering fleet of infirm faith on the way to realization - mere aids to concentration, and protection against doubts and distractions. Indeed, Je hovah, Allah and the God of the New Testament might well be made the central namepiece of the teaching of the Upanishads and the sense of it would remain unaltered. Pious men of all religions should indeed study the Upanished and the Gita  in that very manner, to whatever faith they may belong, only substituting their accustomed name wherever the Supreme Being is referred to. This really means that the Upanishads  contain the quintessence of all faiths in which the divine thirst of the soul for the nectar of immortality has found expression. They contain the answer to the  yearning appeal :

From appearance lead me to Reality

From darkness lead me to immortality

Brihadaranyakopanishad, I, III-28.

      The tradition in Hinduism is that it is not open to any Hindu, whatever be the name and mental image of the Supreme Being he uses for his devotional exercises, to deny the existence of the God that others worship. He can raise the name of his choice to that of the highest, but he cannot deny the divinity or the truth of the God of other denominations. The  fervour of his own piety just gives predominance to the name and from he keeps for his own worship and contemplation, and he treats the others as Gods deriving divinity there from.This reduces all controversy to a devotional technique of concentration on a particular name and mental form or concrete symbol as representing the Supreme Being. It makes no difference in the content of Vedanta to which all devotees equally subscribe.

 Devotees of other Gods who worship them with true sincerity really 'worship Me ; though not in the regular way ; says sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

 Just as all water raining from the skies goes to the ocean worship of all Gods goes to Kesava, explained Bhishmacharya in the Mahabharata.

 source-                                                                                                                                                                                        bhavan;s journal                                                                                                                                                                                   
Vedanta - A  Living Philosophy of  Life  
by  C. Rajagopalachari

Link: Vedanta - A Living Philosophy of Life
http://www.bhavans.info/periodical/bj_selection20.asp

  Guinness book of world records

  Uttar Pradesh Plants 10 Million Trees In One Day
 

India's most populous state planted more than 10 million trees in a single day Tuesday as part of an environmental awareness drive, authorities said. Farmers and students were mobilised to plant the record number of trees across the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 160 million people. "In fact, we have overshot the target," said state forestry chief V.N. Garg in the capital Lucknow, adding nearly 10.5 million saplings had been planted.

The official said the planting was being sent to the Guinness Book of records for a possible mention.

"The sites can also be seen on Google Earth and the detailed reports (on plantation figures) are being sent to the office of the Guinness book of world records," Garg said.

Less than a tenth of the state's landmass is under forest cover, compared to the national average of 23 percent.

Garg said thousands of farmers and students planted 60 percent of the trees, with the Uttar Pradesh forestry department accounting for the rest.

India's record was previously held by the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where more than 850,000 trees were planted in one day in 2006.

       Why Leaves Change Color

      For years, scientists have studied how leaves prepare for the annual show of fall color. The molecules behind bright yellows and oranges are well understood, but brilliant reds remain a bit of a mystery.

In response to chilly temperatures and fewer daylight hours, leaves stop producing their green-tinted chlorophyll, which allows them to capture sunlight and make energy. Because chlorophyll is sensitive to the cold, certain weather conditions like early frosts will turn off production more quickly.

Meanwhile, orange and yellow pigments called carotenoids—also found in orange carrots—shine through the leaves' washed out green.

"The yellow color has been there all summer, but you don't see it until the green fades away," said Paul Schaberg, U.S. Forest Service plant physiologist. "In trees likes aspens and beech, that's the dominant color change."

Scientists know less about the radiant red hues that pepper northern maple and ash forests in the fall.

Ruddy mystery

The red color comes from anthocyanins, which unlike carotenoids, are only produced in the fall. They also give color to strawberries, red apples, and plums.

On a tree, these red pigments beneficially act as sunscreen, by blocking out harmful radiation and shading the leaf from excess light. They also serve as antifreeze, protecting cells from easily freezing. And they are beneficial as antioxidants.

Trees produce them in response to stresses in the environment like freezing cold, UV radiation, drought, and fungus.

But red leaves are also signal of distress. If you see leaves of a tree turning red early, in late August, the tree is most likely suffering from a fungus or perhaps a ding from a reckless driver.

Stress management

Why would a tree put its energy toward making new ruddy anthocyanins, just when the leaf is about to fall off?

"People have speculated that maybe it's something that helps leaves deal with stress," Schaberg told LiveScience. "If making the anthocyanins helps the leaf stay on the tree a little longer, it may help the tree absorb some of the good things before it falls off. The tree can use those resources for the next growing season."

By nailing down the correlation between red leaves and environmental stresses, fall foliage may become more than just a pretty sight.

Scientists hope studying anthocyanins will clue them into the degree to which some trees are stressed, which could provide a better picture of environmental problems early on. Like Dr. Seuss's character the Lorax, which spoke for the trees, leaf color could one day tell us what trees are feeling