Utpala

Utpala in Sanskrit is a neuter noun with two meanings, both given by Amarakoṣa (a lexicon of circa. 400 AD). The first meaning is nymphaea caerulea, the "blue lotus", also known as kuvalaya in Sanskrit.[1][2] The second meaning of utpala is a variety of medicinal plant known as 'kooṭh' in Hindi and 'kusṭham, vyādhi, paribhavyam or pāribhavyam, vāpyam, pākalam' according to Amarkośa.[3][4]

For other uses, see Utpala (disambiguation).
Flower of nymphaea caerulea
White Tara holding an utpala flower.

In Buddhist art the utpala flower is an attribute of the goddess Tara, who very often holds one in her hand,[5] as other Buddhist and Hindu figures may also do. Later, the utpala becomes specific to the Green Tara form, while the White Tara holds a white lotus flower (probably nymphaea lotus).[6] In Tibet, where none of the tender acquatic plants that may be known as lotus can grow, utpala became a general term for all of them.[7]

Monier-Williams gives the following meanings of utpala: (1) the blossom of the blue lotus nymphaea caerulea (-Mahābhārata, Rāmāyana, Suśruta, Raghuvamsa, Meghdoota, etc.),(2) a seed of Nymphaea caerulea (-Suśruta), (3) the plant Costus speciosus (-Bhagavata Purāna), (4) any water-lily, any flower, (-lexicons) (5) a particular hell (-Buddhist literature), (6) name of a Nāga, (7) names of several persons, including an astronomer, (8) its feminine form utpalā meant a river (-Harivamśa), (9) its feminine form utpalā also meant a kind of cake made of unwinnowed corn (-lexicons);

An unrelated homonym, compounded from ud "apart" + pala "flesh" means 'fleshless, emaciated' (-lexicons) and is the name of a particular hell (-lexicons).


Notes
  1. Amarakoṣa 1.10.37
  2. For electronic edition of Amarakoṣa definition see: .
  3. Amarakoṣa 2.4.126
  4. For electronic edition of Amarakoṣa definition see: .
  5. Donaldson, Thomas Eugene, Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Odisha, p. 356, 2001, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 81-7017-375-2, google books
  6. Getty, Alice, The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography, p. 120, 1988 (reprint), Dover Pictorial Archive Series, Courier Corporation, ISBN 0486255751, 9780486255750, google books
  7. Beer, Robert, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, p. 170, Serindia Publications, Inc., ISBN 1932476032, 9781932476033, google books

References
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