->Normal Name: Adding short description: "Sanskrit neuter noun" (Shortdesc helper)

2021-11-01T15:49:57Z

Adding short description: "Sanskrit neuter noun" (Shortdesc helper)

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{{Short description|Sanskrit neuter noun}}
{{Other}}
[[File:Lotus en fleur (Phnom Penh) (6998209695).jpg|thumb|Flower of [[Nymphaea caerulea]]]]
[[File:Tara Bianca.jpg|thumb|White [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]] holding an utpala flower.]]
'''Utpala''' in [[Sanskrit]] is a neuter noun with two meanings, both given by ''[[Amarakosha|{{IAST|Amarakoṣa}}]]'' (a lexicon of circa. 400 AD). The first meaning is ''[[Nymphaea caerulea]]'', the "blue lotus", also known as ''kuvalaya'' in Sanskrit.<ref>''{{IAST|Amarakoṣa}}'' 1.10.37</ref><ref>For electronic edition of Amarakoṣa definition see: [http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/amar/amar1.itx].</ref> The second meaning of ''utpala'' is a variety of medicinal plant known as '{{IAST|kooṭh}}' in Hindi and '{{IAST|kusṭham}}, vyādhi, paribhavyam or pāribhavyam, vāpyam, pākalam' according to {{IAST|Amarkośa}}.<ref>''{{IAST|Amarakoṣa}}'' 2.4.126</ref><ref>For electronic edition of Amarakoṣa definition see: [http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/amar/amar2.itx].</ref>

In [[Buddhist art]] the ''utpala'' flower is an attribute of the goddess [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]], who very often holds one in her hand,<ref>Donaldson, Thomas Eugene, ''Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Odisha'', p. 356, 2001, Abhinav Publications, {{ISBN|81-7017-375-2}}, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DbxE8zOuRbUC&pg=PA356 google books]</ref> 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]]'').<ref>Getty, Alice, ''The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography'', p. 120, 1988 (reprint), Dover Pictorial Archive Series, Courier Corporation, {{ISBN|0486255751}}, 9780486255750, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KxczE2AZ7T8C&pg=PA120 google books]</ref> In Tibet, where none of the tender aquatic plants [[List of plants known as lotus|that may be known as lotus]] can grow, ''utpala'' became a general term for all of them.<ref>Beer, Robert, ''The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols'', p. 170, Serindia Publications, Inc., {{ISBN|1932476032}}, 9781932476033, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-3804Ud9-4IC&pg=PA170 google books]</ref>

[[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) [[Naraka (Buddhism)|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==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Citation
| last =Monier-Williams
| first =Monier
| author-link =Monier Monier-Williams
| date =1899
| title =A Sanskrit-English Dictionary
| place =Delhi
| publisher =Motilal Banarsidass
| url =http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/
}}.
*{{Citation
| last=Śāstri
| first=Hargovinda
| date=1978
| title={{IAST|Amarkoṣa}} with Hindi commentary
| place=Vārānasi
| publisher=Chowkhambā Sanskrit Series Office
}}

[[Category:Buddhist iconography]]

Utpala - Revision history

->Normal Name: Adding short description: "Sanskrit neuter noun" (Shortdesc helper)