Sanskrit neuter noun
Utpala in Sanskrit is a neuter noun with two meanings, both given by ' (a lexicon of circa. 400 AD). The first meaning is "Nymphaea nouchali", the "blue lotus", also known as "kuvalaya" in Sanskrit. The second meaning of "utpala" is a variety of medicinal plant known as " in Hindi and ', vyādhi, paribhavyam or pāribhavyam, vāpyam, pākalam' according to .
In Buddhist art the "utpala" flower is an attribute of the goddess Tara, who very often holds one in her hand, 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"). 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.
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.
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