Ashvattha (अश्वत्थ, IAST: Aśvattha) is an Sanskrit-origin Hindu boy-name meaning “The sacred fig tree; that which does not last till tomorrow”. From aśva (horse or tomorrow) and stha (standing, lasting), Aśvattha names the Peepal tree (Ficus religiosa) — the cosmic tree of life in which Viṣṇu Himself declares His presence.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The Peepal or Aśvattha tree holds an exalted place in Hindu sacred ecology as the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment and, more anciently, as the tree declared by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be His own vibhūti: 'aśvatthaḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇām' — 'among all trees, I am the Aśvattha' (Bhagavad Gītā 10.26). The Bhagavad Gītā also presents the cosmos itself as an inverted Aśvattha tree (15.1-4), whose roots are above in Brahman and whose branches spread downward into creation. Etymologically, a-śva-stha may mean 'that which will not be the same tomorrow,' pointing to the ever-changing yet eternally rooted nature of saṃsāra.

Lord Viṣṇu bears this name in the Sahasranāma, echoing Kṛṣṇa's own declaration in the Gītā; the Aśvattha is also worshipped directly as a divine presence in village and temple traditions across India. Pronounced ash-VAT-tha, it is an uncommon but meaningful masculine name for devotees drawn to the tree's sacred symbolism.

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Scriptural source

Ashvattha appears in the Vishnu Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Vishnu.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Ashvattha aligns with the Krittika nakshatra, under the Mesha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 3.