{{Short description|Sanskrit neuter noun}} {{Other}} [[File:Nymphaea nouchali kz02.jpg|thumb|Flower of ''Nymphaea nouchali'']] [[File:Tara Bianca.jpg|thumb|White Tara holding an utpala flower.]] '''Utpala''' in Sanskrit is a neuter noun with two meanings, both given by ''{{IAST|Amarakoṣa}}'' (a lexicon of circa. 400 AD). The first meaning is ''Nymphaea nouchali'', 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><ref>{{cite book |last1=Khare |first1=C. P. |title=Indian Herbal Remedies: Rational Western Therapy, Ayurvedic and Other Traditional Usage, Botany |date=27 June 2011 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-18659-2 |page=456 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njLtCAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Caraka Saṃhitā |date=1996 |publisher=Sri Satguru Publications |isbn=978-81-7030-491-3 |page=766 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGxFAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref>
In Buddhist art the ''utpala'' flower is an attribute of the goddess 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.com/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 pubescens'', syn. ''Nymphaea lotus'' var. ''pubescens'').<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.com/books?id=KxczE2AZ7T8C&pg=PA120 google books]</ref> In Tibet, where none of the tender aquatic plants 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.com/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 nouchali'' (-Mahābhārata, Rāmāyana, Suśruta, Raghuvamsa, Meghdoota, etc.),(2) a seed of ''Nymphaea nouchali'' (-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== {{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 Category:Flowers in religion