Why the Shalmali tree (Indian silk cotton tree) has thorns on its trunk is mentioned in a story in Hinduism. As per the Mahabharata, Bhima, the second of Pandavas, decided to play a prank on Draupadi. One day he put a log of Shalmali tree and covered it with a sheet. The Shalmali tree did not have any thorns on the trunk then.
Bhima then feigned that he had great pain in his body. Draupadi hurried to the bed chamber and without even removing the sheet, started massaging the log of wood thinking that it was her husband.
She kept massaging but got tired pretty soon. Finding Bhima’s body to be inert and getting tired pretty quickly, she removed the sheet and saw that all this time she had been massaging a log of shalmali tree.
Bhima had been hiding in the room and on seeing Draupadi’s face at finding a log of wood, he burst out laughing.
Feeling ridiculed and annoyed, Draupadi cursed the shalmali tree to have thorns.
Bhimasena took the log and planted in the garden and it grew into a tall tree but with thorns.
From that day, onwards the shalmali tree came to have thorns.
The tree has numerous medicinal properties and is widely used in Ayurveda.
Shalmali tree is widely mentioned in the Mahabharata.