Banana (Books)

Expressions researched:
"banana" |"bananas" |"plantain"

SB Canto 1

Signs of decoration in special festivals were also collected from the gifts of nature, such as the plantain trees, the mango trees, fruits and flowers.

SB 1.11.13, Translation and Purport:

The city gateway, the household doors and festooned arches along the roads were all nicely decorated with festive signs like plantain trees and mango leaves, all to welcome the Lord. Flags, garlands and painted signs and slogans all combined to shade the sunshine.

Signs of decoration in special festivals were also collected from the gifts of nature, such as the plantain trees, the mango trees, fruits and flowers. Mango trees, coconut palms and plantain trees are still accepted as auspicious signs.

SB Canto 3

Diti frankly said that her whole body was distressed by sex desire because of her husband's presence, just as a banana tree is troubled by a mad elephant.

SB 3.14.10, Translation and Purport:

In that place the beautiful Diti expressed her desire: O learned one, Cupid is taking his arrows and distressing me forcibly, as a mad elephant troubles a banana tree.

Beautiful Diti, seeing her husband absorbed in trance, began to speak loudly, not attempting to attract him by bodily expressions. She frankly said that her whole body was distressed by sex desire because of her husband's presence, just as a banana tree is troubled by a mad elephant. It was not natural for her to agitate her husband when he was in trance, but she could not control her strong sexual appetite. Her sex desire was like a mad elephant, and therefore it was the prime duty of her husband to give her all protection by fulfilling her desire.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.6.21, Translation:

There are varieties of deer, such as karṇāntra, ekapada, aśvāsya, vṛka and kastūrī, the deer which bears musk. Besides the deer there are many banana trees which decorate the small hillside lakes very nicely.

Auspicious ceremonies with decorations of the green leaves of palms, coconut trees, betel nut trees and banana trees, and fruits, flowers and leaves are an age-old custom in India.

SB 4.9.54, Translation and Purport:

The whole city was decorated with columns of banana trees containing bunches of fruits and flowers, and betel nut trees with leaves and branches were seen here and there. There were also many gates set up which were structured to give the appearance of sharks.

Auspicious ceremonies with decorations of the green leaves of palms, coconut trees, betel nut trees and banana trees, and fruits, flowers and leaves are an age-old custom in India. To receive his great son Dhruva Mahārāja, King Uttānapāda arranged a good reception, and all the citizens very enthusiastically took part with great jubilation.

A serpent who is maintained with milk and bananas simply stores poison in his teeth and awaits the day to bite his master.

SB 4.14.10, Purport:

Saintly persons are generally aloof from social activities and the materialistic way of life. King Vena was supported by the saintly persons just to protect the citizens from the hands of rogues and thieves, but after his ascendance to the throne, he became a source of trouble to the sages. Saintly people are especially interested in performing sacrifices and austerities for the advancement of spiritual life, but Vena, instead of being obliged because of the saints' mercy, turned out to be their enemy because he prohibited them from executing their ordinary duties. A serpent who is maintained with milk and bananas simply stores poison in his teeth and awaits the day to bite his master.

SB 4.21.3, Translation:

At the street crossings there were bunches of fruits and flowers, as well as pillars of banana trees and betel nut branches. All these combined decorations everywhere looked very attractive.

According to Vedic civilization, offerings of natural products such as bananas are auspicious paraphernalia for receiving a prominent guest like a bridegroom, king or spiritual master.

SB 4.21.4, Purport:

Offerings of natural products such as betel nuts, bananas, newly grown wheat, paddy, yogurt and vermillion, carried by the citizens and scattered throughout the city, are all auspicious paraphernalia, according to Vedic civilization, for receiving a prominent guest like a bridegroom, king or spiritual master.

When a serpent is fed milk and bananas, its poison actually increases.

SB 4.26.22, Purport:

It is said that when a foolish man is instructed in something very nice, he generally cannot accept it. Indeed, he actually becomes angry. Such anger is compared to the poison of a serpent, for when a serpent is fed milk and bananas, its poison actually increases. Instead of becoming merciful or sober, the serpent increases its poisonous venom when fed nice foodstuffs. Similarly, when a fool is instructed, he does not rectify himself, but actually becomes angry.

One can get whatever he wants from the pārijāta tree—oranges, mangoes, bananas and so on.

SB 4.30.32, Purport:

The pārijāta tree is not commonly found within this material world. The pārijāta tree is also known as kalpa-vṛkṣa, or the wish-fulfilling tree. One can get anything he desires from such a tree. In the material world, one can get oranges from an orange tree or mangoes from a mango tree, but there is no possibility of getting oranges from a mango tree or vice versa. However, one can get whatever he wants from the pārijāta tree—oranges, mangoes, bananas and so on. This tree is found in the spiritual world. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu (Bs. 5.29). The spiritual world, cintāmaṇi-dhāma, is surrounded by these kalpa-vṛkṣa trees, but the pārijāta tree is also found in the kingdom of Indra, that is, on Indra's heavenly planet. This pārijāta tree was brought by Kṛṣṇa to please Satyabhāmā, one of His queens, and this tree was implanted in the Dvārakā mansions constructed for the queens. The lotus feet of the Lord are exactly like the pārijāta trees, or wish-fulfilling trees, and the devotees are like bumblebees. They are always attracted by the lotus feet of the Lord.

SB Canto 5

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had a very sincere devotee whose name was Kholāvecā Śrīdhara and whose only business was to sell pots made of the skin of banana trees.

SB 5.19.7, Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had a very sincere devotee whose name was Kholāvecā Śrīdhara and whose only business was to sell pots made of the skin of banana trees. Whatever income he had, he used fifty percent for the worship of mother Ganges, and with the other fifty percent he provided for his necessities.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.2.9-13, Translation:

In a valley of Trikūṭa Mountain there was a garden called Ṛtumat. This garden belonged to the great devotee Varuṇa and was a sporting place for the damsels of the demigods. Flowers and fruits grew there in all seasons. Among them were mandāras, pārijātas, pāṭalas, aśokas, campakas, cūtas, piyālas, panasas, mangoes, āmrātakas, kramukas, coconut trees, date trees and pomegranates. There were madhukas, palm trees, tamālas, asanas, arjunas, ariṣṭas, uḍumbaras, plakṣas, banyan trees, kiṁśukas and sandalwood trees. There were also picumardas, kovidāras, saralas, sura-dārus, grapes, sugarcane, bananas, jambu, badarīs, akṣas, abhayas and āmalakīs.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.11.28, Translation:

Wherever Lord Rāmacandra visited, auspicious welcome gates were constructed, with banana trees and betel nut trees, full of flowers and fruits. The gates were decorated with various flags made of colorful cloth and with tapestries, mirrors and garlands.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.41.20-23, Translation:

The Lord saw Mathurā, with its tall gates and household entrances made of crystal, its immense archways and main doors of gold, its granaries and other storehouses of copper and brass, and its impregnable moats. Beautifying the city were pleasant gardens and parks. The main intersections were fashioned of gold, and there were mansions with private pleasure gardens, along with guildhalls and many other buildings. Mathurā resounded with the calls of peacocks and pet turtledoves, who sat in the small openings of the lattice windows and on the gem-studded floors, and also on the columned balconies and on the ornate rafters in front of the houses. These balconies and rafters were adorned with vaidūrya stones, diamonds, crystal quartz, sapphires, coral, pearls and emeralds. All the royal avenues and commercial streets were sprinkled with water, as were the side roads and courtyards, and flower garlands, newly grown sprouts, parched grains and rice had been scattered about everywhere. Gracing the houses' doorways were elaborately decorated pots filled with water, which were bedecked with mango leaves, smeared with yogurt and sandalwood paste, and encircled by flower petals and ribbons. Near the pots were flags, rows of lamps, bunches of flowers and the trunks of banana and betel-nut trees.

SB 10.54.57, Translation:

The city's streets were cleansed by the intoxicated elephants belonging to the beloved kings who were guests at the wedding, and these elephants further enhanced the beauty of the city by placing trunks of plantain and betel-nut trees in all the doorways.

SB 10.60.24, Translation:

Rukmiṇī's mind was overwhelmed with unhappiness, fear and grief. Her bangles slipped from her hand, and her fan fell to the ground. In her bewilderment she suddenly fainted, her hair scattering all about as her body fell to the ground like a plantain tree blown over by the wind.

CC Adi-lila

Śrīdhara was a poor brāhmaṇa who made a living by selling banana-tree bark to be made into cups.

CC Adi 10.67, Translation and Purport:

The twenty-ninth branch was Śrīdhara, a trader in banana-tree bark. He was a very dear servant of the Lord. On many occasions, the Lord played jokes on him.

Śrīdhara was a poor brāhmaṇa who made a living by selling banana-tree bark to be made into cups. Most probably he had a banana-tree garden and collected the leaves, skin and pulp of the banana trees to sell daily in the market. He spent fifty percent of his income to worship the Ganges, and the balance he used for his subsistence.

Vermilion, kha-i (fused rice), bananas, coconuts and turmeric mixed with oil are all auspicious gifts for such a ceremony.

CC Adi 13.110, Translation and Purport:

The wife of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, whose name was Mālinī, accompanied by the wife of Candraśekhara (Ācāryaratna) and other ladies, came there in great happiness to worship the baby with paraphernalia such as vermilion, turmeric, oil, fused rice, bananas and coconuts.

Vermilion, kha-i (fused rice), bananas, coconuts and turmeric mixed with oil are all auspicious gifts for such a ceremony. As there is puffed rice, so there is another preparation of rice called kha-i, or fused rice, which, along with bananas, is taken as a very auspicious presentation.

According to the system of worship, when something is offered to deities outside one's home, it is generally not cooked food but raw rice, bananas and sweetmeats.

CC Adi 14.51, Translation and Purport:

Without the permission of the girls, the Lord would take the sandalwood pulp and smear it on His own body, put the flower garlands on His neck, and snatch and eat all the offerings of sweetmeats, rice and bananas.

According to the system of worship, when something is offered to deities outside one's home, it is generally not cooked food but raw rice, bananas and sweetmeats. Out of His causeless mercy, the Lord would snatch the offerings from the girls and eat them, admonishing the girls not to worship the demigods but to worship Him.

Outside Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's door Gopāla Cāpāla placed various paraphernalia for worshiping Bhavānī, the wife of Lord Śiva, such as a red flower, a plantain leaf, a pot of wine, and reddish sandalwood paste.

CC Adi 17.38, Purport:

Since Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was a well-known and respected Vaiṣṇava in Navadvīpa, Gopāla Cāpāla wanted to reduce his prestige by bringing him down to the platform of the śāktas. Therefore outside Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's door he placed various paraphernalia for worshiping Bhavānī, the wife of Lord Śiva, such as a red flower, a plantain leaf, a pot of wine, and reddish sandalwood paste.

CC Adi 17.39, Translation:

On the upper portion of a plantain leaf he placed such paraphernalia for worship as oḍa-phula, turmeric, vermilion, red sandalwood and rice.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 3.43, Translation:

Of the three divisions, one was arranged on a metal plate, and the other two were arranged on plantain leaves. These leaves were not bifurcated, and they were taken from a banana tree that held at least thirty-two bunches of bananas. The two plates were filled very nicely with the kinds of food described below.

CC Madhya 3.44, Translation:

The cooked rice was a stack of very fine grains nicely cooked, and in the middle was yellow clarified butter from the milk of cows. Surrounding the stack of rice were pots made of the skins of banana trees, and in these pots were varieties of vegetables and mung dhal.

CC Madhya 3.48, Translation:

The preparation made with coconut pulp mixed with curd and rock candy was very sweet. There was a curry made of banana flowers and squash boiled in milk, all in great quantity.

CC Madhya 3.50, Translation:

There were soft cakes made with mung dhal, soft cakes made with ripe bananas, and soft cakes made with urad dhal. There were various kinds of sweetmeats, condensed milk mixed with rice cakes, a coconut preparation and every kind of cake desirable.

CC Madhya 3.51, Translation:

All the vegetables were served in pots made of banana leaves taken from trees producing at least thirty-two bunches of bananas. These pots were very strong and big and did not tilt or totter.

CC Madhya 3.54, Translation:

Besides the other preparations, there were chipped rice made with milk and mixed with bananas, and also white squash boiled in milk. Indeed, it is not possible to describe all the preparations that were made.

CC Madhya 3.55, Translation:

In two places there were earthen pots filled with another preparation made with yogurt, sandeśa (a sweetmeat made with curd) and banana. I am unable to describe it all.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that one of these servings was offered in a metal dish and was meant for Kṛṣṇa, whereas the other two were placed on big banana leaves.

CC Madhya 3.66, Translation and Purport:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the room, He saw three divisions of food, and He knew that all of these were meant for Kṛṣṇa. However, He did not understand the intentions of Advaita Ācārya.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that one of these servings was offered in a metal dish and was meant for Kṛṣṇa, whereas the other two were placed on big banana leaves. The offering on the metal plate was personally offered by Advaita Ācārya to Kṛṣṇa. The other two servings, on banana leaves, were to be accepted by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda. That was Advaita Ācārya's intention, but He did not disclose this to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Thus when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the food offered in three places, He thought that all of it was meant for Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 3.68, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu thought that all three servings were meant for distribution; therefore He asked for another two banana leaves, saying, "Let Us have a very little quantity of vegetable and rice."

Barley powder, wheat powder, vermilion powder, urad dhal powder and another powder preparation called āvāṭā (made by mixing banana powder and ground rice) are applied to the Deity's body with a brush made from the hair at the end of a cow's tail.

CC Madhya 4.62, Translation and Purport:

After the mahā-snāna was finished, the Deity was again massaged with scented oil and His body made glossy. Then the last bathing ceremony was performed with scented water kept within a conchshell.

In his commentary on this occasion, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura quotes from the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Barley powder, wheat powder, vermilion powder, urad dhal powder and another powder preparation called āvāṭā (made by mixing banana powder and ground rice) are applied to the Deity's body with a brush made from the hair at the end of a cow's tail. This produces a nice finish. The oil smeared over the body of the Deity should be scented. To perform the mahā-snāna, at least two and a half mānas (about twenty-four gallons) of water are needed to pour over the body of the Deity.

CC Madhya 9.296, Translation:

As soon as Śrī Raṅga Purī recalled Navadvīpa, he also recalled accompanying Śrī Mādhavendra Purī to the house of Jagannātha Miśra, where Raṅga Purī had taken lunch. He even remembered the taste of an unprecedented curry made of banana flowers.

CC Madhya 11.200, Translation:

All the devotees were served prasādam on plantain leaves, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributed on each leaf a quantity suitable for two or three men to eat, for His hand could not distribute less than that.

There were curd, fruit juice, coconut, mango, dried coconut, jackfruit, various kinds of bananas and palm-fruit seeds.

CC Madhya 14.26, Translation and Purport:

There were curd, fruit juice, coconut, mango, dried coconut, jackfruit, various kinds of bananas and palm-fruit seeds.

This is the first list of prasādam offered to Lord Jagannātha.

CC Madhya 15.54-55, Translation:

“One day My mother, Śacī, offered food to Śālagrāma Viṣṇu. She offered rice cooked from śāli paddies, various kinds of vegetables, spinach, curry made of banana flowers, fried paṭola with nimba leaves, pieces of ginger with lemon, and also yogurt, milk, sugar candy and many other foods."

CC Madhya 15.86, Translation:

“In this way, from distant villages he collects excellent bananas, mangoes, oranges, jackfruits and whatever other first-class fruits he has heard about."

CC Madhya 15.207, Translation:

First, three mānas of cooked rice—almost six pounds—was poured onto a big banana leaf.

CC Madhya 15.209, Translation:

There were a number of pots made of the bark of banana trees and the leaves of the keyā plant. These pots were filled with various cooked vegetables and placed on all sides of the leaf.

CC Madhya 15.215, Translation:

There were baḍās made of mung dhal, of urad dhal and of sweet bananas, and there were sweet-rice cakes, coconut cakes and various other cakes.

This misunderstanding made Rukmiṇī very unhappy, and her whole body was affected. Her fan and bangles fell to the floor, and she also fell down like a banana tree knocked down by high winds.

CC Madhya 19.202, Translation and Purport:

"While Kṛṣṇa was joking with Rukmiṇī in Dvārakā, she was full of distress, fear and lamentation. She had also lost her intelligence. She dropped her hand bangles and the fan she was using to fan the Lord. Her hair became disarrayed, and she fainted and fell suddenly, appearing like a banana tree knocked down by high winds."

This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.60.24) refers to Kṛṣṇa's speaking to Rukmiṇī in His bedroom. Just to test her sincerity, He began to joke with her, presenting Himself as poor, incapable and unfit to be her lover. Not understanding that He was joking, Rukmiṇī took Him seriously and thought that He wanted to leave her company. This misunderstanding made her very unhappy, and her whole body was affected. Her fan and bangles fell to the floor, and she also fell down like a banana tree knocked down by high winds.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 6.53, Translation:

Raghunātha dāsa brought chipped rice, yogurt, milk, sweetmeats, sugar, bananas and other eatables and placed them all around.

CC Antya 6.57, Translation:

In one place, chipped rice was soaked in hot milk in each of the large pots. Then half the rice was mixed with yogurt, sugar and bananas.

CC Antya 6.58, Translation:

The other half was mixed with condensed milk and a special type of banana known as cāṅpā-kalā. Then sugar, clarified butter and camphor were added.

CC Antya 6.91, Translation:

When the shopkeepers of many other villages heard about the festival, they arrived there to sell chipped rice, yogurt, sweetmeats and bananas.

CC Antya 6.93, Translation:

Anyone who came to see how these funny things were going on was also fed chipped rice, yogurt and bananas.

CC Antya 12.125, Translation:

He had cooked fine rice, mixed it with ghee and piled it high on a banana leaf. There were also varieties of vegetables, placed all around in pots made of banana tree bark.

Thinking Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was uncomfortable sleeping on bark of plantain trees, Jagadānanda made a pillow and quilt for Him.

CC Antya 13 Summary:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives the following summary of the Thirteenth Chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Thinking Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was uncomfortable sleeping on bark of plantain trees, Jagadānanda made a pillow and quilt for Him. The Lord, however, did not accept them. Then Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī made another pillow and quilt from finely shredded plantain leaves, and after strongly objecting, the Lord accepted them.

CC Antya 13.5, Translation:

Because He was very thin, when He lay down to rest on the dry bark of plantain trees, it caused Him pain in His bones.

CC Antya 13.12, Translation:

After asking Govinda to put aside the quilt and pillow, the Lord lay down on the dry plantain bark.

CC Antya 13.17, Translation:

Then Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī devised another method. First he secured a large quantity of dry banana leaves.

CC Antya 16.34, Translation:

Jhaḍu Ṭhākura's wife then took the mangoes from their covering of banana tree leaves and bark and offered them to Jhaḍu Ṭhākura, who began to suck and eat them.

CC Antya 16.35, Translation:

When he finished eating, he left the seeds on the banana leaf, and his wife, after feeding her husband, later began to eat.

CC Antya 16.36, Translation:

After she finished eating, she filled the banana leaves and bark with the seeds, picked up the refuse and then threw it into the ditch where all the refuse was thrown.

CC Antya 16.37, Translation:

Kālidāsa licked the banana bark and the mango seeds and skins, and while licking them he was overwhelmed with jubilation in ecstatic love.

CC Antya 18.104, Translation:

“Among the fruits were many varieties of coconuts and mangoes, bananas, berries, jackfruits, dates, tangerines, oranges, blackberries, santarās, grapes, almonds and all kinds of dried fruit."

Nectar of Devotion

Kholāvecā Śrīdhara was doing a small business selling cups made from the leaves of plantain trees, and his income was almost nothing.

Nectar of Devotion 1:

There was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya known as Kholāvecā Śrīdhara, who was a very poor man. He was doing a small business selling cups made from the leaves of plantain trees, and his income was almost nothing. Still, he was spending fifty percent of his small income on the worship of the Ganges, and with the other fifty percent he was somehow living.

In the kaiśora age, Kṛṣṇa's thighs challenged beautiful bananas.

Nectar of Devotion 26:

In the kaiśora age, beginning from the eleventh year and continuing up to the end of the fifteenth year, Kṛṣṇa's arms, legs and thighs became marked with three divisional lines. At that time Kṛṣṇa's chest challenged a hill of marakata jewels, His arms challenged pillars of the indranīla jewel, the three lines of His waist challenged the waves of the River Yamunā, and His thighs challenged beautiful bananas. One gopī said, "With all these exquisite features of His body, Kṛṣṇa is too extraordinarily beautiful, and therefore I am always thinking of Him to protect me, because He is the killer of all demons.

Nectar of Instruction

There is no benefit in feeding a snake milk and bananas because the snake will never be satisfied. On the contrary, by taking milk and bananas the snake simply becomes more poisonous.

Nectar of Instruction 4, Purport:

The Māyāvādīs and other atheists do not want the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to develop because it educates people in God consciousness. Such is the policy of the atheists. There is no benefit in feeding a snake milk and bananas because the snake will never be satisfied. On the contrary, by taking milk and bananas the snake simply becomes more poisonous (kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam). If a snake is given milk to drink, its poison simply increases. For a similar reason, we should not disclose our minds to the serpent Māyāvādīs and karmīs. Such disclosures will never help. It is best to avoid association with them completely and never ask them about anything confidential because they cannot give good advice. Nor should we extend invitations to Māyāvādīs and atheists nor accept their invitations, for by such intimate intermingling we may become affected by their atheistic mentality

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Everywhere in the city there were profuse decorations of banana trees and betel-nut trees. These two trees are considered very auspicious in happy ceremonies.

Krsna Book 54:

The entire city appeared jubilant on the occasion of Lord Kṛṣṇa's marriage with Rukmiṇī. Everywhere in the city there were profuse decorations of banana trees and betel-nut trees. These two trees are considered very auspicious in happy ceremonies. At the same time there was an assembly of many elephants, who carried the respective kings of different friendly kingdoms. It is the habit of the elephant that whenever he sees some small plants and trees, out of his sportive and frivolous nature he uproots the trees and throws them hither and thither. The elephants assembled on this occasion also scattered the banana and betel nut trees, but in spite of such intoxicated action, the whole city, with the trees thrown here and there, looked very nice.

Due to extremely painful fear and lamentation, Rukmiṇī lost all her powers of reason and became weak and she fell down straight, like a banana tree cut down by a whirlwind.

Krsna Book 60:

Rukmiṇī was conscious that her husband was not an ordinary human being. He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the three worlds. By the way He was speaking, she was afraid of being separated from the Lord, for she had never heard such harsh words from Kṛṣṇa before. Thus she became perplexed with fear of separation, and her heart began to palpitate. Without replying to a word of Kṛṣṇa's statement, she simply cried in great anxiety, as if drowning in an ocean of grief. She silently scratched the floor with her toenails, which reflected reddish light on the floor. The tears from her eyes mixed with the black cosmetic ointment from her eyelids and dropped down, washing the kuṅkuma and saffron from her breasts. Choked up on account of great anxiety, unable to speak even a word, she kept her head downward and remained standing just like a stick. Due to extremely painful fear and lamentation, she lost all her powers of reason and became weak, her body losing so much weight that the bangles on her wrists became slack. The cāmara with which she was serving Kṛṣṇa immediately fell from her hand. Her brain and memory became puzzled, and she lost consciousness. The nicely combed hair on her head scattered here and there, and she fell down straight, like a banana tree cut down by a whirlwind.