https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrita
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Amrita+nectar
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Amrita+nectar
Spilled Nectar:
Guḍūcī (Guduchi, Tinospora cordifolia): It is Hanuman who is best known for reviving the slain warriors at Lanka, but in one version, Indra is prayed to bring life to the fallen. He descended, sprinkled amṛta upon the field, and departed, carrying the nectar-vessel; as he flew back to Svarga, a few drops spilled. Where these drops touched, a most excellent medicinal plant – called guḍūcī, amṛtavallī, and somavallī – sprang forth. This herb grows on mango or neem trees – staying close to Indra, it seems, as these trees are also His!
Guḍūcī (Guduchi, Tinospora cordifolia): It is Hanuman who is best known for reviving the slain warriors at Lanka, but in one version, Indra is prayed to bring life to the fallen. He descended, sprinkled amṛta upon the field, and departed, carrying the nectar-vessel; as he flew back to Svarga, a few drops spilled. Where these drops touched, a most excellent medicinal plant – called guḍūcī, amṛtavallī, and somavallī – sprang forth. This herb grows on mango or neem trees – staying close to Indra, it seems, as these trees are also His!
Harītakī (Terminalia chebula): The story told in text Bhāvaprakāśa is that once Indra was so enthralled by the matchless performance of the celestial dancers that his cup slipped absent-mindedly from his hand. The resulting drops of nectar formed the herb harītakī, a plant with many healing properties, whose tridoshic nature makes it appropriate for use by everyone.
Indracana (Marijuana, Cannabis indica): I was surprised to see this one, but one legend of bhang‘s star ingredient is that it first grew in a spot where immortal nectar spilled to Earth. One name for cannabis is indracana – Indra’s food – and the plant has sported different colours in each age or cosmic cycle: white, red, yellow, and finally green for our own Kali Yuga. It is interesting too that, reminiscent of the gender-shifting Indra, marijuana produces male and female flowers on the same plant.
Kiṁśuka (Flame of the Forest, Butea monosperma): A tale tells that Soma was taken from Indra and spirited far away; Gāyatrī Devī volunteered to retrieve the lost Soma, and flew to Mūjavana mountain in the form of eagle. She found the plant, stealthily grasped it in her talons, and again took flight, but the vigilant sentries of the Moon saw her and fired arrows to stop her. One arrow hit the creeper, spilling Soma and birthing the kimshuk tree.
The flame of the forest is considered a form of Agni, the tree displaying beautiful orange-red flowers that look like tongues of fire. Hence Brāhmaṇas of Kerala use kimshuk twigs in their daily agnihotra rituals. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa explains that a vessel of this tree is the form of the Brāhmaṇa, that by which the sacrificer gains the world of the Devas.
It is said that if a man collects the tree’s root when Aśvinī nakṣatra reigns (mid-September to mid-October, roughly) and ties it upon his arm, any woman he touches will fall in love with him. Perhaps it grants the radiance of Soma and the enchantment of Indra!
The flame of the forest is considered a form of Agni, the tree displaying beautiful orange-red flowers that look like tongues of fire. Hence Brāhmaṇas of Kerala use kimshuk twigs in their daily agnihotra rituals. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa explains that a vessel of this tree is the form of the Brāhmaṇa, that by which the sacrificer gains the world of the Devas.
It is said that if a man collects the tree’s root when Aśvinī nakṣatra reigns (mid-September to mid-October, roughly) and ties it upon his arm, any woman he touches will fall in love with him. Perhaps it grants the radiance of Soma and the enchantment of Indra!
Nimba (Neem, Azadirachta indica): When amṛta emerged from the Churning of the Ocean, Indra and the Devas drank of it, and then Indra took charge of the vessel, to keep henceforth. He was carrying the pot to heaven after this event, and his very first action as Official Amṛta Guardian was to spill the stuff. But, since everything Indra does has some sort of fruitful result – fertility-lord, remember? – a wonderful being emerged, the neem tree. And neem in turn does not live well without Indra, shedding most or all of its leaves in times of drought. Even its flowers are Indra-like, changing genders in the plant’s lifetime and exuding a heavenly fragrance. Like the other products of Indra’s “mishaps,” neem is both medicinal and beautiful.
